Pigwifery

It is a good thing that I’m typing this and not saying it.  I’m not sure how to say the term Midwifery.  Is it Mid Wife e ree or is it Mid Wiff e ree?  I’m not sure.  But since we aren’t delivering a human baby I think putting pig on the front of the word is fitting…..because Jay is studying up on his Pigwifery skills right now.  Bonnie is due January 15. 

Yes, hopefully in a few days we will be adding a litter of piglets to the ole homestead.  Yay….I think.  Camryn will love it and Cade and Jay are so excited they are about to pop.  Baby pigs are very cute so I am looking forward to that but otherwise I’m on the fence about the whole thing.  Mostly because I’m surrounded by dreamers and I am known to my family as the worrier/dream crusher/negative ninny.  Actually I think the proper term is called a realist but whatever.  So while the others are counting their show pigs before they are hatched I’m over here hoping that they get here alive and the weather doesn’t return to what it was like at the beginning of the week. 

I wish I had a camera that would’ve documented every step of this blessed event.  For some that might be boring, for those who know Jay you would have enjoyed seeing this whole thing unfold.  It all started back in July at the Gala pig show.  Jay admits to sucking up to a man who owns some really good pigs during the show by agreeing to help with it.  That meant that when Cade and Clyde came of the ring Jay was busy with the show.  I had Camryn because she was in her “no one but mom” phase and pig who didn’t want to have his picture taken.  I also found out later, after explaining to Jay how mad the picture lady got, that she specifically told them NOT TO FEED THE PIG PRIOR TO THE SHOW.  What did Jay and Cade do?  They fed the pig.  I probably didn’t help the lady’s temperament either when I tried to stick a bawling, squaling Camryn in the picture to.  We were not on that lady’s Christmas list that night.  I told Jay never again!!!  I’m sure by next year he won’t remember my threat.  At least maybe he will remember TO NOT FEED THE PIG though. 

My 15 minutes of extreme stress sweating paid off though and this guy agreed to breed Bonnie.  When I went to the Joyce Meyer Conference in September Jay snuck Bonnie to this guys house.  He purposely didn’t tell me because I’d worry about how we’d get Cade to practice.  He took care of the whole thing and told me after the fact that it all went wonderfully.  Then at one of Cade’s games the mother that helped Jay out with Cade told me a different story.  When he picked Cade up she said Jay looked like a wreck and Camryn had screamed the whole way back to Miller. 

I lost count of the number of days Bonnie spent at that guys house locked in a trailer waiting to come into heat.  I was afraid we had another animal with a bad reproductive system….that tends to happen to us with animals and humans.  Finally though the guy called and said he had AI’d her and we could come get her. 

Then the days of trying to decide if she was bred started.  Since this was Jay’s first go around he wasn’t sure what to look for.  He read and got advice but with most things, it’s hard to know what you are looking at without much experience.  Bonnie’s bottom was the most watched and talked about thing in our family this fall.  Then sometime in November another ag teacher came over to borrow something.  Jay got his opinion on Bonnie – this guy didn’t think Bonnie was bred.  We were all pretty disappointed. 

Then Jay started hunting up someone who could ultrasound a pig.  Apparently in Oklahoma that is common but in SW Mo it isn’t.  Jay finally talked to someone who told him a regular vet should be able to do it with the same equipment that you use on a cow, you just use it on the outside.  Jay talked our vet into ultrasounding Bonnie.  Jay set the appointment with the vet and nothing was going to keep him from getting Bonnie checked.  And the $25 fee paid off.  It confirmed Bonnie was pregnant.  They couldn’t tell how many pigs were in there so that part will still be a surprise. 

Then the Bonnie watching really started.  I started seeing things on Facebook and the internet where Jay was liking and researching pigs. He’s been looking at pictures and reading about pig delivery.  He even made it to where Bonnie couldn’t jump down from her house anymore because he was afraid she’d shake the pigs loose.  I told him when I was in labor with Cade he told me to go ahead and go to work but he was worried about Bonnie?  His response “I knew you’d be ok but I’m not sure about Bonnie.”  It is a good thing we have the type of relationship where we can kid each other like that.  Can you imagine how some people might have taken that comment?

We are finally nearing the end…or maybe it is the beginning of this pig adventure.  We are thinking about leaving Cade at home that day to watch Bonnie.  We will have to have someone else on call though because I know Cade.  The first sign of something coming out will absolutely freak him out.  I can already hear the panic in his voice because he would be so worried about Bonnie and the babies.  If we left him completely alone while Bonnie was having them I’m afraid we’d come home and find Cade had a stroke…..and I’m partly serious about that.  I know what he would do because it is what I would do.   

Hopefully in a few days Facebook and the blog will be filled with cute pictures of velvety baby pigs.  And hopefully all of our nerves survive.  I think pictures of these pigs might be pretty close to pictures of our kids for Jay.