Mama drama

File this one under “careful what you wish for, it just might come true!” When I mentioned the other day that things around the farm had been a little dull and repetitive of late, I perhaps said it a bit too loudly. Way to go and apply the jinx meathead! After 14 years and hundreds of births, the vast majority of them normal and even unassisted, we can say this morning that we have now experienced our first birth by cesarean section in our time as alpaca breeders. Though I’m sure there are some things out there that we haven’t seen yet  —  most of which we are no doubt better off not contemplating — this was a big old box that we had yet to check off in our years of birthing these creatures. We’ve seen most every other type of birthing scenario from twins to dystocias (including multiple breech presentations) and yes, we (in that case our vet) have even had to cut up a stillborn cria a couple of times in order to get it out of the dam without causing permanent damage to her reproductive tract. Those last scenarios were admittedly grim but necessary.

Fast forward to the present. Our five year old female, Seraphim, had been put onto what amounted to alpaca bed rest several weeks ago after we had had to fix a uterine torsion on her twice over the course of several days. For those unfamiliar with what that is, a uterine torsion is when the uterus develops a twist in it. In it’s less severe form it is at minimum painful for the female in question. A really bad torsion though can put a female into shock when an artery in the uterus gets pinched off and threaten both her life as well that of her unborn cria. Having said that, torsions are generally not too big of a deal and most often we correct them and then go on to have perfectly normal births either days, weeks, or months later as the case may be. Seraphim’s case, unfortunately, would prove to be more complicated though. She, along with a buddy (Sonoma drew the short straw) from the expectant mama maternity group, had been confined to our warm room at the Arena where she wouldn’t be able to do any naughty torsion-causing things like rolling down the hillside. Things had gone according to plan for the last couple of weeks with no signs of any further trouble. Something which had lulled us into a false sense of security…

Then yesterday morning Jen noticed that Seraphim was displaying signs of early labor. A lack of progression several hours later led my better half to go in and check the presentation of the cria, which was when she realized that all was not as it was supposed to be. I have to say that few things on this farm give me the shivers as much as hearing my wife call for veterinary backup. Jen really enjoys her role has head midwife here so when she says that she doesn’t understand exactly what she’s feeling and wants help, that’s bad. The only thing worse than that was when Jen and our vet, Barbara Leclair, went in again an hour or so later and came out with a hands covered in bright red arterial blood. That’s just never a good sign. Normal births with experienced dams are not supposed to be very bloody. So it was that we loaded Seraphim onto our small trailer and rushed her to the clinic 30 minutes away where she was met by Barb and seemingly her entire staff including our friend and every day veterinarian Susan Johnson, who actually (bless her heart) interrupted her day off to come and play. Though it was touch and go with Seraphim’s breathing becoming very shallow at one point during the surgery and blood all over the room where the c-section was performed, in the end both she and her new little girl came out of it alive and well. Albeit with a nasty scar on her side and a groovy new haircut she’ll have to live with until next May. In the end it turned out that Seraphim’s uterus had twisted again but the quick consensus was that the cria needed to be delivered immediately (a opposed to trying to untwist the torsion, then deliver the baby vaginally) or both her life and that of her dam’s would have been at great risk. All’s well that ends well!

The great unknown today is what the future reproductive status of Seraphim will be. As of this morning she had still not expelled her placenta though we are hopeful that that will come today helped on by a shot of oxytocin. She will at minimum be given the next 6 to 8 months off to heal and recover, though I would imagine that within 4 to 6 weeks we will probably start getting some looks at her uterus on ultrasound to see how things are looking in there once the initial physical trauma has healed some. There are definitely known cases of alpacas going on to have normal pregnancies and births after a c-section though for us these are uncharted waters. For now we’ll just nurse Seraphim back to health and enjoy her little girl. Given that mom was eating and drinking as soon as she arrived back at the farm — less than an hour after being sutured up — we are cautiously optimistic. I’ll certainly update the story as things move along…