Three Little Piggies

On August 2nd, I got a phone call from Robs' partner telling me that the babies were on their way.  I could hear Robs in the background working on her computer, so I figured there was no reason to worry.  Robs had undergone IVF and had two eggs implanted, thinking one would take, like when they had their first.  Only, they got one heck of a surprise.  Not only did both eggs take, but one had split.  Instead of one baby, they were getting a set of identical twins and a singlet.

The triplets were at the 31-week mark, just a week shy of their goal, but Robs sounded in good spirits and was trying to finish up a project for work before they wheeled her into the OR for her C-section.

I didn't hear from Mandy the rest of the day and started to get worried.  The docs had been able to identify some issues via ultrasound with a couple of the babies and I started thinking the worst.

I finally got to talk to Mandy on Saturday, the day after the babies were born, and found out that they were all alive, but that Robs had started to bleed out during her C-section and was currently in the ICU.  I headed down to Denver to meet the babies and make sure my Robs was okay.

Since I don't have blog names for the babies, I'm going to continue to refer to them by their ultrasound names, Babies A, B, and C.

Baby A was born first, at 1:26 pm and was perfectly healthy, for being a 31-week old multiple.  She was tiny, but the biggest of the three, at 3 lb 6 oz and 16 inches.

Three weeks old, with Mommy Robs

Baby B was born immediately after her identical twin, Baby A, at 1:26 pm.  She was 3 lb 5 oz and 15 3/4". They had been watching Baby B carefully on ultrasound because her heart seemed to be shifted to the left.  Turns out, she only has one lung.  She spent 8 days on a vent and had a chest tube, but is now only on oxygen and doing well.

Three weeks old, with Mommy Robs

Baby C had it rough.  She was born at 1:27 without pulse or respirations. She was only 2 lb 6 oz and 15".  The docs resuscitated her, but basically told Robs and Mandy that she wasn't going to live through the night.  Mandy doesn't come across as deeply religious, but she is, and she had faith that Baby C was going to make it.  By the time I talked to her on Saturday, not only was Baby C alive, but she was doing well.  I got to the NICU with Mandy just as they were extubating Baby C.  No more vent!  The NICU nurse told us that sometimes the babies "just need a minute" to make the transition and that's what Baby C needed.

24 hours old with Mommy Mandy

3 weeks with Mommy Robs

After getting to meet the girls, I went to see my Robs.  It was very hard to see someone so vibrant laying in ICU, pale as a ghost.  Mandy told me Robs actually had some color compared to the day before. All I could think was "wow".  I can't imagine how scared Mandy had to have been the day before, watching her partner bleed out and being told that her baby wasn't going to live through the night.  I'm glad Mandy's best friends were there with her, and that Robs' parents were there for Robs.  I felt incredibly guilty for not leaving work when Mandy called me, but with Robs being so incredibly healthy (other than being pregnant with triplets), I figured I would just be in the way.

The last three weeks have been rough, but the girls are now doing well and the NICU nurses are doing their best to let Robs and Mandy still have their "firsts" with the girls, such as their first baths.

It's going to be amazing to watch these little ones grow up.

It's Been A Minute, Hasn't It?

I don't know when I lost control of my time.  Seems like it was just June and here it is the middle of August.  How the hell does that happen?

I owe a book review (it really was a good book and deserves a good review).  Okay, two, actually.  My bestie had triplets and my niece" falled off" of Ranger (his words, not mine).  And I finished my book, but am losing my mind trying to format it.

I swear, I'm going to get back on track, because I have the most beautiful baby girls to introduce you to and an orthopedist story that no one will believe.

Maybe tomorrow :)

What a Day!

I'm not sure if I mean that in a good way, or a bad way.

This morning, I did my thing at the Outdoor Show and felt *eh* about it until I watched the video, then I realized it wasn't as horrible as I thought it was.  So that was good.

Then I ran off to Denver to see Robs and the babies (!) - all three of them.  I tried calling Nebalee on my way to Denver, but didn't get an answer.  However, when I pulled into the hospital parking lot, I get a text from Nebalee saying she was almost to the hospital.  I was perplexed, as I don't recall telling her that Robs had had the babies, but, hell, I might have.

And then a series of confusing texts followed:

N: We are almost at the hospital.

GD: What hospital?

N: Longmont (this was confusing to me because Robs is in Denver, not Longmont.  That's when I started to get a hint that we were not talking about the same thing.)

N:  Looks like probably surgery. (Surgery?  WTF is she talking about?)

N: I'm barely hanging on.  

GD: What? (I'm totally thinking something happened to Mom - sorry Mom, but you ARE bionic and sometimes things happen to make you more bionic.)

N:  Sorry thought you called because Mom called you.  Your timing was exactly on.  (Whew, Mom wasn't hurt, but WTH happened to Bill?)

GD:  So. What the hell happened?

Turns out Asset took a dive off of Ranger this afternoon and got banged up pretty badly, resulting in a broken arm and a whole lot of skin missing from her face.  Luckily, she had a riding helmet on and Autobot had insisted that it be adjusted to fit her just before she climbed on Ranger.



No one knows what caused Ranger to jump, and it apparently wasn't a big jump, but it was enough for her to lose her balance and make her acquaintance with the ground with a little help from our friend gravity.

She's hanging in there (so is Nebalee), but it's going to be tough to keep her still for the next couple of days.  Still and Asset do not get along.

Tomorrow's my defensive pistol match.  Let's hope it's a much less exciting day.

Someone Pinch Me

Holy cow, the last week has been ... odd.

But in a totally good way.

I went back to work on Monday and was told by the big boss that once I got settled in he needed to talk to me.  Now, we've had some "re-arranging" of the campus, so I was a bit worried.  He laughed and told me it wasn't a bad thing.  And it wasn't.  It wasn't excellent, like a promotion or a big fat raise, but it wasn't bad.

We're finally going to be able to start being in charge of our own advertising, instead of being told how to do it, and my boss wanted me to do a videotaped interview about our upcoming Family 9Health Fair.  I was up for it.  And then he told me it would be the next day.  Wow.  That was fast.  Good thing I'm passionate about the 9HealthFair.  On Tuesday, I met the interviewer and the camera man and we pulled off the interview in one take.  We had five minutes allotted for time and our one-take interview was 5:02.  'Bout as good as you can get.

The next day (Wednesday), I got a Facebook message from someone I'd met at a blogger roundtable, asking if I would be interested in doing a presentation on guns at the upcoming Great Outdoors Show.  No brainer.  Of course I was interested.  I contacted her and we set up a time for me to do a radio interview on Thursday to run on Friday.

The interview was fun and was conducted by a D.J. who is also a shooter, which put me at ease right away.  I think we spent more time talking "off the record" than we did on.  I also found out today that I'll be taking the stage on Saturday right before RJ and Jay Paul from The Swamp People.  How crazy is that?

I'll have a ton of people in the audience for my talk, but I know they'll be saving their seats for RJ and Jay Paul.  It's all good, though, because they're gonna have to hear what I have to say about shooting.  So it's really a win-win for me.

On top of it all, I got a phone call from Estes' Other Mother and the mares are already at CSU.  The baby horse planting will happen tomorrow.

And ON TOP OF THAT, I'm still working on my book and hope to have it out by the middle of August.  Whew. 

AAAAANNNNNDDDDDD...my non-Parrothead husband bought me tickets to go see Jimmy Buffett in October.  I can't tell you how much that means to me.  It's a hell of a culture shock for a non-Parrothead to attend a Buffett concert.

When did I step into the Twilight Zone?

Working Vacations

I tend to schedule vacation time so that I can go "work" at other "jobs".  Our staycation in May was pretty rare; it's not often I schedule time off of work with nothing planned other than having fun.

Last week, I took the week off so I could work a private health fair that earned me enough money to pay for my new baby. It was a few really early mornings, and I don't like mornings.  I think it's uncivilized to be up and moving before the sun bothers to make an appearance.  However, I enjoy working with the crew I had and I'll enjoy my new baby even more, so it was worth it.

As I was going through my emails last week, I came across a two-fer coupon for a Michael Jackson tribute show, HIStory II.  Jay and I had talked about going, but took one look at the prices and decided not to.  Buuuuutttt, with the two-fer, the price wasn't so bad.

So we went.

And had a great time.


I love to do stuff like this; if I ever won the powerball (in addition to everything else I'd want to do with the money), I would totally buy season tickets - the 2013-2014 line up for the Lincoln Center is amazing.

Now, I'm packing up to head down to Julie Goodnight's place - it's time to shoot the Colorado Episodes of her TV show, Horse Master with Julie Goodnight.  Heidi, her producer, always works us hard, but I learn so much and have a ton of fun that it's absolutely worth it.  If you're a horse owner and you haven't watched it, you should give it a go.

I can tell you honestly that nothing on the show is faked; I've been working with the show for about five years.  Each episode is filmed in a 24-hour period.  Julie watches the horse and rider/handler, gives some teaching (like in a clinic), the horse and rider go work on the new skills, and come back the next day for the "after" footage.  The change in the horses and riders/handlers is astounding.

Not A Perfect Day

Yesterday, I lost the equine love of my life.

Despite that, and the ensuing heartbreak, I have a lot to be thankful for.  First, Mom immediately identified the colic and started treatment.  One of the wranglers from the livery was able to give Estes some IV banamine to ease her pain until the vet arrived.

Bill called me at work and my coworkers were wonderful; I had another instructor cover my class, so I was free to head up the hill as soon as I got my class started on their project.

The vet beat me to the lodge by about 45 minutes, so by the time I got there, Estes was gorked out of her mind and in no pain.  Mom had stood with Estes' head in her hands for three hours by the time I got there.  I loved on Estes and allowed her to graze (even though the vet wasn't super excited about it) for five minutes or so.  My mindset was that if this was her last day on earth (which we didn't know at the time), I was NOT going to deprive her of a few mouthfuls of grass, especially if she wanted it.

I was cautiously optimistic that she was looking better, though I knew it was probably due to the drug cocktail flowing through her system.  I went to bed hoping that she'd be feeling better when it was time to give her her 3:00 am dose of banamine.  She was resting quietly and didn't seem to be in any distress in the wee hours of the morning, so I loved on her and gave her the meds.

At 6:30 am, Compass called and said I needed to get over, that Estes was down.  I'm thankful that Compass was up that early and thought to look over at our pen.  By 7:00, her pain was gone.  If Compass hadn't been up working with her horses, Estes might have continued to lay in her shed in pain until I got up at 8:00.

Things just kind of fell into place.  I had the means and ability to end her suffering and I was surrounded by people who cared.  Mom and Bill were amazing.  I was alone when I put Estes down, but they were there within seconds, sobbing right along side me.  I know it hurt them as much as it hurt me to lose her.

I don't know what I would have done without them.  While I managed to find the strength to do what needed to be done, I did not have the strength to cover her with a tarp.  I couldn't do it.  So Mom and Bill did.  Estes had bled on her halter and I was going to just throw it out, but they took it off of her and Bill washed the blood out for me, all without saying a word.

They helped me figure out what to do with a 900# carcass, which wasn't easy.  I don't own any property, so I couldn't bury her - I had to figure out what to do.  Mom put in a call to their neighbor who owns heavy equipment and had to leave a message.  He does a lot of construction projects around the area, so they were prepared to go hunt him down to see if he could load Estes onto the truck.  Rarely does he ever check his voice mail, so it was a surprise when he called back.  Bill told him what we needed and he was at the lodge within five minutes.

Bill oversaw the details that I couldn't handle.  I stayed in the lodge while their neighbor put her on the back of the truck and then Mom and Bill re-tarped her and strapped her down.

I was going to follow the truck down to the rendering plant, but Bill suggested that maybe he follow me.  It's the little things that I wouldn't have thought of.  I'm glad that I wasn't behind the truck, watching my tarped baby ride along.

At the rendering plant, Bill stayed with me while I paid for her disposal and then I climbed back in the truck so I didn't have to watch them unload her.  I did, however, watch them once they got her off of the truck - I couldn't NOT watch them take her away, but they did it gently and, I feel, with dignity.  She still managed to look regal.

Not only am I super thankful that Mom and Bill were with me every step of the way, I'm unbelievably grateful that there are people who do the jobs that the rest of us couldn't imagine doing.

Jay and the kids were shell-shocked, I think.  Really, so was I.  Yesterday I was numb.  Today, the numbness is gone, replaced by a deep sense of loss - almost that something has been ripped away from my soul.

My online friends rallied and brought me comfort throughout the day.  Mrs Mom wrote a beautiful piece about Estes that I would not have been able to compose. 

Ashinator posted this on Facebook, which still makes me cry:

this morning, the world lost one firecracker of a horse and holy cow- her and my mom were quite the pair. my whole heart is going to miss Estes, but knowing she's safe and at peace across the rainbow bridge makes it all just a little bit better.

And Rachel spent a great deal of the night texting with me since I couldn't sleep.  She also sent me this amazing picture of me and Estes:

Despite it being a horrible day, it could have been much worse if things hadn't fallen into place the way they did.

Today, this is my theme song.  It's called "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On" by Jimmy Buffett.  I suspect it will be my theme song for the next bit as I adjust to not having her in my life.

Dang it!

Today, as we were getting ready to go out on our trail ride Washoe let his Wonder Idiot side take control and was being a jerk for Digger.

I was at the mounting block, with my back turned to them when I heard a dull thump.  Thumps are never a good thing, but it wasn't the whump that comes from someone hitting the ground, so I didn't think much of it until I turned around and saw this:

Washoe, in full Idiot mode, was giving Digger a hard time and as Digger was trying to get him under control, Washoe the Wonder Idiot hit Ripley with his shoulder.  It wasn't a hard hit, but 900# against a lightweight car like Ripley... well, it's not a surprise that Ripley was the one who sustained the damage.

The first words out of my mouth were, "Jay's going to kill me."

Ripley might be my car, but she's Jay's baby.  As you know, he's done some really cool things with her and he can spot a scratch at twenty paces.  There was no way on Earth that he wasn't going to notice this big ol' honkin' dent.

After dinner, I was still stressed out about the dent, so I made Monster go out to see if he could pop the dent out.  Monster took one look at it and said, "Jay's going to be so pissed."  Pretty much verbatim what Ashinator said.

After explaining the seriousness of the situation to the rest of the family who has not lived with Jay, popping out the dent became a family affair.

Bill

Monster

Deejo

Luckily, Bill had some specialized "pound out the dent" tools and we were able to get most of the dent out.  Of course we weren't able to get all of it out, but it is much less noticeable than it was before.

Jay's not a happy camper that his baby has her third dent (I thought this was only her second dent, but apparently there's a miniscule one on the door crease).  He muttered something about Washoe going to the glue factory (I was going to take Washoe to the Purina factory, myself).

If I'm lucky, I'll not have to sleep on the couch tonight.