Still no foalie, and only one day to go!

I got to the yard at 10.15pm last night and had to go into Hannah’s stable because I had forgotten to fit the camera when I left. As I got to the door I noticed she looked a little agitated and her stable was an absolute disaster area.

I skipped her out, tidied her bed, and then went to the caravan for a well earned cup of tea with Sue. I honestly thought that last night was the night!

I checked on her every hour, but she seemed a lot more settled and started eating her haylage and then finally went to sleep at around 3am. I continued to check on her, but I knew that it had just been a false alarm… can you imagine how tired I am this morning?!

There is no wax still, and no sign of her running milk. Her bag was more swollen this morning than it has been and her quarters have noticeably slackened now, although still not to the extent I have seen on some photographs of mares ready to foal down. I think the caravan is going to be my home for quite a bit more time yet!

The caravan saga begins

Last night was my first night staying in the caravan. Sue Williams’ Mum and dad have kindly let me borrow their caravan until Hannah has her foal and I cannot thank them enough. It has a heater, television, kettle and a very comfy double bed that I slept in last night.

I got to the yard at 11.30pm last night (wanted to be there for 11pm but had fallen asleep on the sofa). It was a really cold night last night, and as I had not been sure what I was going to do, I had not left the heater on in the caravan. It took quite a while to heat up, but by then I was lay on the sofa watching Wags Boutique with a cup of tea and my CCTV screen at my side.

I set my alarm to go off every hour so that I could check on Hannah and get to know her routine at night. The last check was 4.30am and she was fast asleep and very quiet so I decided that I would go back to sleep until 7.30am.

I woke up to the sound of heavy rain on the roof, howling wind and someone opening the gate to tip their wheel barrow on the muck heap. I stayed in bed for a little while longer watching Hannah on the camera and then got up and made myself a cup of tea.

Wandering out to feed the girls with my cup of tea in my hand, I went straight into Hannah’s stable to have a look at her. She had something sticky all over her udders, but still no sign of ‘real’ waxing up or running milk. Her muscles in her bottom have definitely slackened even more and you can now see the head of her tail, but I don’t think she is going to foal in the next few days if I am honest.

However, I will be staying in the caravan until the foalie arrives as she now has her foaling alarm on at night and I need to be close to the stable in order to hear it go off. Sue is staying with me tonight and bringing hot chocolate and carrot cake… so it looks as though we will be having a little feast watching Hannah happily snoozing!

Hannah had a restless night

Hannah was really quite restless last night. I went up at 11pm (after Lewis had finished) and she was stood breathing really heavily, her head down and her flanks heaving quite a lot. She kept looking around at her tummy and then putting her ears back as she tensed it up. I honestly thought this could be the first stages of labour.

I wanted to give her some peace and quiet for a while so I went home, had a cup of tea, and then drove back at 1.30am. She was still breathing heavily, but definitely much calmer and no longer tensing up her tummy. I knew that whatever it was had not passed, and she would be quiet for the rest of the night.

Her muscles around her tail have slackened off a little more this morning and are now quite spongy but they are not as concaved as I have seen in some pictures I have seen. There is still no sign of waxing up or running milk, and she seemed quite calm when she went out in the field this morning. However, she was very ‘slow’ this morning and seemed to be dragging her feet and quite stiff in her back end.

Her udders are still very warm and have a very strange smell to them. It reminds me of the waxed table cloths that children have at their parties, but as I have already mentioned, there does not seem to be any wax around the udder itself.

Not long to go now

Hannah is getting ready to foal now. Her bag is absolutely HUGE, her stomach looks as though it has dropped even more and the bump has moved backwards. I don't know how many more sleepless nights I can take!

Sue's Mum and Dad have kindly given me their caravan so I can stay over at the yard when she looks as though she is ready to have her foal. It has a TV, cooker, fridge (for the ever important champagne) and shower! I am very grateful as it allows me to keep an eye on her and keep the foaling alarm close by when it finally comes on Monday.

Until then, there is nothing I can do but sit and wait...

Bagging up

Hannah is looking so fed up at the moment, I think she has finally had enough of being in foal. She is restless, cannot get comfortable in her stable and is not eating much now. Her bag has started to fill quite a lot, and one side is now hard all the way down to her udder. She also looks to have lost a lot of weight over her hind quarters and looks very 'hippy'. However, I am still hoping she makes it to her due date as the weather is so cold at the moment it would be a great shock to the foal should it come out in the next few days.

Hannah is getting out for an hour or so every day, but she is quite bored on her own in the field and does start running around if there is any banging going on in the school. Hopefully once the foal comes she will settle more and not be so worried about things.

I will keep the diary updated as often as possible over the following few weeks, as she is changing so rapidly.

6th February 2007

Hannah has become quite restless over the past few days, and has gone off her food. He bag has become extremely hard and full, but there is no wax appearing on the end of her teats yet.

She still has over 20 days to go before she is due, but I have a feeling she is not going to wait that amount of time now. Even though she has only just started bagging up, it seems to be coming thick and fast. Also, the fact that she has gone off her food is a big indicator that something is not right because Hannah lives for her haylage!

I am going to sort out her foaling bucket today and buy a foal slip, just in case!

Rapidly changing shape

With 27 days to go until Hannah’s foaling date, she is changing shape every day. He stomach has started to drop even more, her quarters have slackened, and she is showing signs of bagging up.

Hannah is now going out in her own field for a few hours every day which seems to be helping her stiffness. She also appears to be much happier now she is getting out every day, she was obviously feeling fed up when she was staying in.

I am not organised at all for the actual foaling, even though I started off completely on top of things. So far her CCTV has been fitted (but not turned on yet), her foaling alarm ordered and she now has her Nedz Bedz bedding which is lovely and thick.

This weekend I have planned to sort out her foaling bucket and leave it outside the stable and buy a foal slip and rug (just in case the weather is dreadful on the foal’s first day out). I don’t know whether it is unlucky to buy things like this before the foal is born and is healthy, but these are things that it will need straight away should everything go nice and smoothly (fingers crossed!)

Apart from looking huge, Hannah is actually looking really well. Her coat is extremely shiny, her feet seem to be doing quite well considering she has always had poor hooves and she is keeping condition over her hip bones where she usually loses it.

Not long to go now though…