I had a strong suspicion that Princess would calve last night and put her in the birthing stall so I could check on her easily. I went out around 10:30 and she was contentedly chewing her cud and resting peacefully. I intended to get back up around 1 am to check on her again but didn't wake up until just shortly after 2 am. I got dressed and went out to the barn. When I got close, I could hear Princess making those soft "momma moos" that cows make shortly before and after their calves are born. (Nothing sweeter than those "momma moos"!) I shined my flashlight in the stall and there was the sweetest little baby already up on it's feet and being cleaned off by momma. The calf was full of energy and momma was very much in the moment, so I tried not to disturb them. I wanted Princess to bond immediately with this calf, something she did not do with her first calf. So, as hard as it was, other than to check to see the sex of the baby, I stayed out of the way. In fact, I went back to the house for about 45 minutes and then went back to down to make sure the baby was getting colostrum. I was not sure that Princess was letting the calf nurse. Since that was an issue in the beginning with last year's calf, I wanted to make sure. When she would not let me put the baby on her in the stall, I decided to move her to the stanchion and try it there. I was able to successfully get the calf to nurse. I went back to the house but was still unsure if Princess was going to let the calf nurse without my intervention so I set my alarm so I could sleep for about an hour and a half and then went back down to check on things. I was thrilled when I finally saw baby running from teat to teat and nursing on both sides of momma while Princess stood still except for all the kisses she was giving Princess Grace.
