"Macho does not prove mucho." - Zsa Zsa Gabor

Several interesting things happened today but they all pretty much pale in comparison to the afternoon's action.
Pam left about 10 a.m. to do the week's grocery shopping in town and I worked installing the trim on the new wall. About 1:00 she sent me a message via Facebook that she was on her way home. Shortly after that I went out to the barn to check on Sundae, something I've been doing every couple of hours since Monday when she started acting weird.

I immediately noticed that her tail was up and there was a slimy discharge from her vulva, a sure sign labor is near. In fact, within minutes I noted contractions.
Here we go!
As soon as Pam pulled in I alerted her that we were finally underway, that labor had begun. She came down and joined me in the kidding room.

The problem: last time Sundae kidded she started in the middle of the night, so we didn't see what it's like. By the time I got out to the barn at 5 a.m. she'd already had the first one (Apple Jacks) and was working on the second (Burrito).

Watching Sundae go through labor was NOT what I (we) expected. Mostly, it takes a lot longer than I thought and she works a lot harder than I imagined. I hurt for her! After about two hours of labor we finally saw.....a tail.
That is NOT good.
Goats are supposed to be born like a diver going into the water with their front legs over their head, coming out first. Tail first is breech and requires assistance. Someone (not me) has to push the kid back in the womb and then turn it around so it comes out front feet first. Yeah, like I know how to do that! So I called Marta: "I'm on my way."

By this time I was feeling the stress of sitting with a woman in labor for the last two hours struggling with what I now knew was a major problem. I needed a break so I left the kidding room and walked over to the coop to see how many eggs we got today. No sooner did I get over there than Pam yelled, "She's pushed it out!"
That's crazy amazing and VERY good news.

Marta showed up about five minutes later and pronounced everything in good order. Cannoli is a black doe with a few discreet white spots, including one on her lip and a couple of white "boots." She weighed 9 lbs. 6 oz.

About 25 minutes later Cannoli was joined by Donut, a brown doe. She also weighed in at 9 lbs. 6 oz. Donut came out head first, still not right but better than full breech.

Incidentally, these pics were taken after they were cleaned up. They come out all wet and slimy. We dry them off with old towels, giving an assist to mama who licks and licks and licks.

We got them dried off, cut the umbilical cords, dipped the kid's end in iodine, and made sure they were started suckling. After visiting some with Marta she left and we were confident everything was under control.

Pam went back into the house to put the groceries away and I went back to the barn to give Stella and Dolly their evening feeding. I peeked over the wall to see a third kid laying in the straw! Triplets!!

Eclair (three pastries starting with the next three letters of the alphabet) is brown with white spots and weighed in at 9 lb. 4 oz. I got him (two does and a buck) dried off, cut and dipped the umbilical cord, and sent Marta a message.
"What?? I've only seen that once, where there was a third kid after the placenta had started to come out."

The first 48 hours they get colostrum from mama that gives them essential immunities and extra rich nutrition. Then we'll have to bring Eclair into the house for a few days and bottle feed him. Sundae can't supply milk for all three without getting too weak, especially because of her mouth issues and problems eating. Once Eclair learns milk comes from us and not his mama he won't try to nurse and we can put him back out in the barn. But we'll have to bottle feed him for the next three months until he's weaned. Yeah, it's a hassle but a bottle baby gets very tame and attached to the humans that feed it.

It's now 7:30. I'm exhausted but Sundae has to be worse. And there *may* be a problem. I went out to the barn 20 minutes ago to check on everyone and her placenta isn't out yet. That can cause real problems but I don't know what to do about it so I've sent Marta a message.
WE'll watch everyone pretty closely for the next 24-48 hours and then assume nature will keep things rolling. If we see that all three kids are getting their portion from mama we'll relax until Monday when Eclair will come into the house for a few days.

Whew!