Dear Readers,
Ohhhhh, how do I begin? I had been waiting for sooo long it seems. I did the best I could to prepare. I dreamed. I prayed. Then it happened. It was Saturday evening, March 31, 2018, the night before Easter Sunday. I was going to retire early that night due to a cold that I had been battling for several days. I was getting little sleep. As usual, I made my normal routine check on Charity around 8:30 pm. She came walking up to me as soon as I entered her stall and I gently examined her. "Wow! She's progressing fast!" I told myself as stepped back to watch her behavior. I was hoping for a little Easter foal but wasn't sure if it would happen or not. Now as I stood there observing her as she walked restlessly around the stall there was no doubt that this was her night. I quickly texted the folks in the house with the exciting news. It wasn't long before my right hand sister, Jasmine, entered the barn with some towels. She and I made us a place to sit in the corner on a pile of clean straw as we awaited what was soon to come. I told Jasmine I was nervous. She told me not to be. :) Charity was nervous too and would walk in circles, stopping every now and then to receive some affection from Dapple, an older pony that I had let stay with Charity for extra company. The two are so cute together as Dapple is very motherly. Then the contractions began. I kept telling Jasmine that any minute now and the water will break. But, no water! Things were starting to get tense. I could tell that Charity was becoming VERY uncomfortable, pushing with nothing coming. I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and tried to dial my Vet's phone number. After a few times of punching in the wrong number I finally made a connection only to receive an answering machine. (Of course, I still left a message). Then I called Mom and told her that something was WRONG! (Those are words that I dread.) Jasmine and I got Charity up and started walking her in circles to keep her from pushing. This was also an attempt to reposition the foal as we think that it was in a breach position (probably its head and legs turned back). IT WORKED! Soon Charity dropped to the ground and the water broke followed by more strong contractions. Then a foot appeared. But, only one! :( We quickly got her up again and soon a nose appeared. Charity continued to push with slow progress. The foal's opposite leg was still back in the birth canal! With desperation I tried to pull with each contraction, but to my disadvantage (and the foal's) Charity stopped pushing to relax for a minute. I can't blame her for that but I knew that the foal could NOT be stuck in the birth canal for very long as it would not be able to breath, due to its lungs not being able to expand and contract. And trying to pull a foal out is pretty tough when you don't have help from the mare. After a few minutes she lay down again pushing with a powerful force. I was very determined that the foal was going to come out, and NOW. I pulled as she pushed and inch by inch the foal slid out. My heart was sinking as I felt how limp the foal was. Dad and I quickly tore the sac open around its face and tried desperately to bring it to life. It was too late. We watched the red and white paint colt take its last breath. Tears came to my eyes as I realized this was not a dream. "Why did this have to happen?" I often asked myself as I think back upon that stressful evening. Our pastor's wife gave me some comforting words the following day. She reminded me that God must have had it all happen for a reason. "Maybe something worse was going to happen later in the foal's life. You never know." That's right. Romans 8:28 tells us that "All things work together for good to them that love God." Even though seemingly "bad" things happen throughout our lives we can be reassured that God makes no mistake. So, with that in mind I can say through the tears of sadness, "Thank You, Lord, for whatever you are doing." I told Dad too that I am so thankful that things didn't turn out worse. Charity didn't suffer any damage and is doing very well. "Count your blessings, name them one, by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done."
Posted by: Lacy
