Mama
Cass is in month four of pregnancy. I can't quite believe it. Not
going to lie, there has been a lot of transference of my pregnancies and how
awful they were and Cass. Maybe that is why I have been hesitant about
writing about it before now. Cass is nineteen years old and this is
her fourth pregnancy and so yep, she is a mature, higher risk pregnancy and I
don't want to jinx it. None of my pregnancies were easy and I lost a
daughter at 27 weeks gestation and knowing that can happen to me, I have
transferred that awful episode to poor Cass. However, she is helping me
heal and showing me it can be OK. So her story so far.
The day she left she had
already come into season, I freaked out, phoning the vet, not sure if that
meant she was ovulating and did that mean we had missed the window. The
vet and their staff were amazing at hand holding me through the situation and
keeping my nerves on an even keel (just about). She arrived at Paton
& Martin and the vet saw to her the following morning. She was
ovulating and ready to be inseminated. Chicago does not do live cover and
we had already decided that artificial was going to be better for her as she
had trauma attached to the previous coverings. The lovely vet was going
to Chicago's stud that day, so picked up the freshly produced goods and brought
them back to Cass and inseminated her that night. They phoned to say it
had all been done and hopefully it was successful. Because Cass is so anxious
about being away from home, we had already decided that it would be better for
our own vet to do all the after care and had the pregnancy not taken, we would
deal with that if it happened. She was
ready to come back to us the following day, but her ride was not ready. My amazing hauler Kevan rearranged his whole
day and picked up Mama Cass and brought her home. She was so pleased to be back. She was showing signs of being in season, so of
course I freaked out and again my ever so patient vet Maia assured me it was
normal and no, she was not loosing any of the goods whilst showing she was in
season!!!
I
could see the change immediately. She
was pacing and concentrating. Literally,
pacing the arena, the pasture, she kept looking to me to give her reassurance
this was going to be OK. I am like,
Cass, if this is how you are going to behave for the next eleven months, one,
it is going to be the longest pregnancy ever and two, you will have no feet
left! Chrissy jumped in to check in with
her and was she was far to busy to chat, she was concentrating. Yep, that mare was concentrating on that
pregnancy taking. After a couple of
weeks Cass just dropped into her body and was so peaceful. It was so beautiful to watch. Then she started eating, man this mare was
packing it away!!! She kept out of the
way of the boys, especially when they were being rambunctious. Dr Maia came out and did the first ultrasound.
I knew she was pregnant, I could feel it, I could see it. Cass would let me know if she wasn’t. She was so quiet and content and was cooking
that little bean inside of her. It took
some time for Dr Maia to find the little bean (as we were very early, maybe I
was slightly impatient….) and Cass is 17.1 hh’s and Maia’s arms are quite
short, so digging around inside trying to find a tiny foetus was no mean
feat! Anyway, there was a splodge there
and yay, Cass was pregnant!
Something
else that Cass was asking for in those early couple of weeks was to have her
belly rubbed, well under her hind legs.
She would lift her leg up for me to rub right underneath and she would
want for me to rub her belly. Cass has always
been super protective of her stomach and under her legs, so this was a
first. She would come up to me and
position herself and then ask for rubs, then move and pull her hind leg up, so
funny to watch, but such a privilege to share.
Month
One Pregnancy (according to University of Guelph Pregnancy Wheel)
Growth
HOW BIG AM I?
- Size:
0.15 mm – 1.9 cm (0.006 – 0.75 inch)
- Weight:
negligible
- Size
comparison: Pea
Notes: Although so small it’s hard to detect their
weight, the tiny cells that become your foal are busy multiplying and
organizing themselves this month.
Milestones
WHAT DO I
LOOK LIKE?
- Your foal is currently an embryo and
is quite active compared to other species.
- The embryo enters your mare’s uterus around
day 6 and moves around (moving between the uterine horns up to 10-20
times/day) to tell the mare she’s pregnant. The embryo stops moving &
settles in place around day 15-17.
- Vets can usually confirm pregnancy by
ultrasound around days 12-14 but may have to search to find the active
embryo.
- Your foal’s basic bodily structures develop by
day 23 and your vet can detect their heartbeat by day 24.
Into month
two…..I was still freaking out on a daily basis, any tiny little sign that she
may come into season, I was having a panic attack. So, maybe more information that required, but
Cass and my cycles had synced up, doubly weird as horses are supposed to be 21
days, but 28 days and she came into season.
So even weirder, Cass showed signs of being in season after her
pregnancy the day I would start my cycle.
Literally one tiny sign and then it was over. This happened for month two and three. Month four, she was just a bit marish. Squealing, but I found it so funny that on my
cycle date, she would show signs of season and freak me out every single
time!!! Now we are in month four, I am
chilling out a bit about the whole situation, but there is a still a little anxiety
happening, I a not going to lie! We had
a second ultrasound done (sorry Maia) to check on the heart beat. Up to 60 days the mare can abort the foetus
or it can die, so we wanted to check.
Again, the baby was bouncing around in there like they were in a trampoline
park. Also, baby decided it would be fun
to move so you couldn’t see a heart beat, but had to do cross sections through
the foetus to find where the heart was.
Anyway, it was there, we kind of think it was beating, but honestly,
Cass would let me know. She would be frantic
if she lost the baby or anything was wrong.
The changes
I saw in cases personality over the pregnancy have been wonderful. I have never asked Cass to participate in the
therapy work and quite honestly a year ago, I never thought she would be able
to. However, Cass suddenly started to
offer herself up for work. Generally
with women, and specifically anything to do with children, fertility,
family. Not only would she offer herself
for the work, but she has become a very powerful healer. I will post about a retreat we had at the
farm, but she ear marked two of the participants to work with and they both had
the above theme, not only did she allow them to explore what was going on, but
she took their pain, suffering and allowed them to leave lighter. I have been asked again and again if Cass is
OK working with clients, are they
putting too much on her as she is pregnant.
I reassured my clients that she will walk away when she is done and I
always work with her in between as well. Offering Masterson to help release
what she has taken. I work this way with
all my horses and ensure they are looked after after they have done client
sessions. Also, a very big part of my
equine welfare is all my horses have a choice in whether they want to participate
or not. If they are not feeling it,
someone else steps in or we do something else.
I never make any of horses work.
They get to choose.
Month
Two Pregnancy (according to University of Guelph Pregnancy Wheel)
Growth
HOW BIG AM
I?
- Size: 5 - 7.5 cm (2 – 2.9 inches)
- Weight: 3 - 5 g (0.1 - 0.2 oz)
- Size comparison: Caterpillar
Notes: Although
still very small, your foal will be recognizable as the fetus of a horse by
this month’s end.
Milestones
WHAT DO I
LOOK LIKE?
- Your foal is referred to as a fetus beginning
on day 40.
- They start developing facial features like
ears, eyelids and nostrils. The elbow and stifle joints will be
identifiable.
- Your foal becomes active as a fetus, with head
nods beginning at day 40 and limb movements beginning by day 46.
- Your foal’s heartbeat can be clearly detected
by day 42, as a distinct and faster beat than your mare’s.
In
month three, poor Cass managed to impale her head on a post in the roundpen trying
to escape the antics of the boys. Bloody
everywhere, it was not pretty. Not bad
enough she needed stitches, but bad enough for me to freak out. Luckily my younger daughter was home and she
is a first aider for humans, but it transfers sometimes. She helped to stem the bleed and I cleaned
her up, sent pictures to the vet and got instructions. However, due to being
pregnant, she couldn’t be on antibiotics and we gave her the minimal of
painkillers. Poor Cass, she was very
brave and let me clean her head twice a day and put polysporin on the wound.
Apples
started to fall from the trees, Cass has been feeding the baby a lot of
apples. It doesn’t matter how many I pick
up, Mama Cass can smell them a mile away.
Cass spends her days now hanging out only with quiet horses and the
minis and munching away at hay somewhere.
I haven’t had to rake up in her enclosure for a month or so, as she snuffles
it all up! The other thing that I am feeling
so strongly and maybe I will be wrong, as it is 50 / 50, is that Cass is
carrying a girl (filly). I get girl vibes
all the time and so Cass’s baby is now nicknamed Pomme. As I am sure she is going to come out looking
like an apple! I felt like I should give
her a name that suits the journey, strength and love that has brought Cass to
this stage of her life and now cooking this baby Pomme, a Greek goddess or a
star constellation like Cass, but for now, Pomme works.
Month
Three Pregnancy (according to University of Guelph Pregnancy Wheel)
Growth
HOW BIG AM
I?
- Size: 7.5 – 15 cm (2.9 – 5.9 inches)
- Weight: 60 - 120 g (2.1 - 4.2 oz)
- Size comparison: Chipmunk
Notes: Measuring the
weight of the fetus may help determine the fetus’ age when the breeding date is
unknown.
Milestones
WHAT DO I
LOOK LIKE?
- Your foal’s hooves start developing. The sole
and frog will be evident.
- Your foal is very active, moving around in the
allantoic sac and changing direction an average of 5 times/hour. Your foal
displays neck arching and limb movements and is thought to be practicing
the coordination they will need in the real world for nursing, chewing and
moving.
- Your vet may be able to determine whether your
foal is a filly or colt beginning at day 60.
In
month four she has been even more conscious of protecting her body and now refuses
to be the first one out of the stall if there is any chance that one of the geldings
could possibly get to her. We have been putting
everyone in at lunchtime due to the heat / smoke / being done with summer for a
couple of hours of nap time and she has loved that. Totally refusing to come out of her stall
afterwards. No idea what she is going to
be like as she gets further into her pregnancy!
Cass is actually starting to look like she is pregnant now rather than
having a hay belly (or that is what I am telling myself anyway). She is quiet and wants belly rubs and head
scratches. Still has very strong opinions but that is her choice to have those
and I am not going to stop it. I do insist on a brush at least once a week
though, got to keep looking shiny Mama Cass.
Month
Four Pregnancy (according to University of Guelph Pregnancy Wheel)
Growth
HOW BIG AM
I?
- Size: 12.5 -23 cm (4.9 - 9 inches)
- Weight: 0.9 – 1.3 kg (2 – 2.9 lbs)
- Size comparison: Kitten
Milestones
WHAT DO I
LOOK LIKE?
- Your foal is growing fine hair on their
muzzle, lips, chin and eyelashes.
- Your foal starts growing larger, and so can
not roam around as freely in the allantoic sac. The foal is still active,
but the activity is more confined.
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