Well, its Friday . . .

It's been almost a week since my accident.  It has been a pretty painful week.  Lots of painkillers.  It's finally to the point that I can manage the pain.  Even with the meds though the pain is still there.  It's just less.  For the most part, I can breath with out pain now.  A laugh or hiccup still has it's challenges.  I have to be careful what I do, how I bend over  to pick something up.  I can't do too much yet but hopefully that will change soon.

Over all it's a little better each day.  Thank you God!

I haven't been able to do much around the house these days.  Sorry about the dirty house if you've come by.  Thanks you SO SO much to those who have helped with childcare, bringing meals, helped with laundry, sending notes, phone calls, etc.  I, and Mark,  appreciate it so much!

The Culprit and The Calf

Here is the calf almost a week old.  Mark was on our side of the fence when he took this picture.  Mother cow is still very concerned and protective.  Every step the calf takes she is right there.  Yesterday, this was the furtherest she has been from her calf, when awake.  After the picture, she slowly started to relax around us.  They say that some cows hold a grudge.  It sure has felt that way.  It was good to see her relax for a bit.  

As you can see the calf is doing just fine.  In the past it has been interesting watching the mothering behaviour of the cow.  We were worried the first time.  It seemed as though the mother had totally forgotten about her calf.  What they actually do is put their calf down for a nap in a tuft of grass somewhere in the field, in a quiet location, away from others.  They are actually very hidden.  They can nap there for hours, or most of the day when they are so young.  It's an instinct to protect them in the wild, and probably from us humans too.

In spite of it all, he is a cute calf.

A Death Defying Moment

Well, I tried to post this on facebook but was blocked for some reason, so I thought I'd blog it instead.  Although it wasn't nearly this long on facebook.

On Saturday morning our neighbor called us. He said one of the cows, our Hereford, had birthed, close to his property. The calf didn't look well. We had our doubts about this pregnancy, because of the lack of utter growth and the size of the cow. A couple days earlier I had noticed that her sides looked a little bigger and more rounded so I was still hoping something was going on.  After all it was her first time calving. Looking back, that is probably why her body wasn't showing the typical signs or at least to the full extent. 

So I headed out to check on them.  When I got to the cow, I noticed a black lump on the ground a little ways back. I thought it had probably died, but wanted to get a closer look. I talked with the mom cow and together we walked closer to the calf. She seemed totally fine with me being there. She is usually a calm layed back girl. I saw that the calf was breathing.  Good sign.  But I didn't see the cows instinct click on, to protect at all cost. I didn't get close enough to touch the calf.  The cow turned to look at me.  All of a sudden she charged at me.  She rammed her head into my chest, which sent me about four feet.  Then she continued to run on top of me.  I tried to get up, but she came again. She ran over me three times.  

During the middle of it all, I remember calling to God for help.  I honestly thought and felt like I was going to die. 

Finally she seemed to stay a little back and I tried to get to the fence.  I thought she was going to come again. I was thinking if I could only get to the fence and have something to lean against, then maybe  I could kick at her to stop it.  We looked at each other, and she shifted her body.  I quickly said "no" "ah-ah".   She stayed there.  It felt like it took forever. But I'm sure the whole ordeal was a lot quicker than it felt.  

It's not that I don't have any experience here.  We've checked on the cows and calves many times before. Infact there has only been a couple birthings that we have not been apart of.  We are usually ready to help out if the mother or calf is in distress.  I have also helped move the cows around to transfer them to another farm. Even a week ago I was helping another farmer move cows. He came over to move them into the trailer.  We had the trailer in the right spot, the fencing panels were in place, we just needed the cows in.  The three of us worked at it for almost an hour.  One of the shy girls always seemed to stay behind.  Finally the other farmer said we'd try again the next day.  

After they left, I saw all the cows, not just the ones we wanted to move, start get more comfortable with the new set up.  Cows are curious animals.  So I went back out.  I used my body language, grain and my voice, and soon they were all in.  I called the farmer. He was impressed. But unfortunately he was busy at the time so we let them go.  We didn't want to leave them in the fence for too long so they wouldn't get nervous, worried or anxious, creating a bad experience for them, and making it harder for everyone involved to go through this again the next day.  

The next day came.  As soon as I heard the trailer pull up, I got my boots on and headed out.  We had left the fencing up from the day before, so they'd have more time to get used to it.  The cows could come and go as they pleased.  We put water in there and a bit of grain, making it a comfortable and desirable place to be.  

Once the trailer was in place again, we got to work.  The other farmer, our friend, said I should go for it since it worked so well last time.  I shrugged, smiled ok and got to work.  I got three of the cows in with little trouble.  They love grain. It's like drugs to them. These cows don't get much of it.  They are grass fed. The last one was the youngest and hadn't had grain much yet.  I took my time and coaxed her in.  She was timid so I went slow and gentle. Then the others started to come back around.  They had finished their portion of grain and came back for more.  I let them out and tried the whole process again.  This time the girl followed quicker.  I had them in!  Still using the above approaches. One of the cows that we had gotten in was one that we wanted to stay on the farm.  She was the leader of the herd.  We needed her to lead the others were we wanted them to go.  Cows are community animals, and have their rank and order.  She was also a mother.  Her own calf was about three weeks old.  You'd be surprised how agile a three week old calf is.  They are walking and boucing around the day they are born. The Mother was by one of the panels.  We opened it up.  She walked out.  We closed the panel.  Perfect!

Now we had the three Angus that we wanted.  Our friend took another panel and started moving towards them, to lessen their space.  Soon we had all three at the back of the trailer. We waited.  They didn't want to go in. Not even for grain this time. The farmer talked softer. We explained to my oldest son that we need to be quiet now.  The cows started to get anxious, and move around a bit.  I started talking to the closest one.  Her name is Miss Licky.  She is younger too, but very friendly.  Whenever we were by the fence she'd always come say hi and sometimes try to lick us.  She loved Sophia and her dresses.  Soon got the name Miss Licky.  (Or Mrs Vicky, because they are Mark's, my husband's, favorite chips). I started talking to her softly trying to calm her down.  Then I gently started stroking her shoulder.  It was a cool moment.  I felt her calm down and then she walked right in.  The others followed. Jack pot!  The whole thing only took about a half hour or so.  We closed the back of the trailer and they were off.

I love cows.  It makes me happy to see them grazing in the field through my kitchen window. I've gone into the field before to sit on the grassy hill and just watch them or take pictures. Just enjoying the scenery. It's peaceful. Two years ago, our small herd would be on the other side of the pasture.  I couldn't even see them.  I'd call them and they'd come to me and follow me around.  They were very friendly that year.  We had fun feeding them corn from the neighbours field out of his leftover corn crop. What can I say, I love animals, and always have.  Now back to the current situation.

Then my next thought was, I've got to get out of here.  I know I was in shock, because I walked home and jumped over the fence!  Walking back I remember thinking, wow, this doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would to have a 1000 lb cow running over top of you. Well, the pain started pretty much as soon as I got home.  I went straight upstairs.  Mark was in the bathroom.  I didn't want to barge in but then reality hit me.  I barged in and broke down.

Mark suggested I lay down for a bit.  I did for about 30 seconds, then I got up, trying to figure out what to do, the pain was getting worse.  Maybe still in shock? Would a bath be ok? I debated if that was wise of not. It probably sounded like gibberish.  Then Mark suggest we go get it checked out.  I got him to call my parents for child care, I didn't want the kids to come along.  Mom thought a cow was sick at first, but when she realized what had happened, she worried and waited for us all to come to there place to drop off the kids.  I'm sure she would have looked after the kids for a sick cow too, just not as urgently.

When we got to the hospital there was a small line-up at admissions. Right before we got to the counter an older women budged in front of us, going on a rampage that she had been there for an hour and a half, and many people had gone in to see the dr before her.  What good is a hospital if they don't take care of their patients, she went on and on,  that her problems were just as important, etc, etc. They tried explaining to her but she wouldn't listen. Finally another nurse came and escorted her somewhere else.  

They took me to do the paper work right aways.  I was considered a trauma.  The nurse ushered me to a bed, while Mark finished up the paper work.  She covered me in warm blankets.  At one time I think I had 6 blankets on top of me!  It would be nice to have a blanket warmer at home, it was so cozy.  Two other nurses came in and quickly got me hooked up to machines.  The doctor came in, and I was happily surprised that it was our friend, Dr. Murray Nickel.  Smiles were shared but quickly dropped as he got right to work. 

I was poked and prodded.  They brought in an ultrasound machine to quickly check organs.  I had blood, and urine tests and x-rays.  My blood pressure was checked automatically every half hour.  My finger was hooked up to continuously check my oxygen levels. Then we had to wait for everything to come back.  We were there for 6 hours. I was given gravel and morphine for the pain.  It reminded me of watching ER.

 I'm not good with hospital procedures.  I get weepy, especially when I'm in pain.  Especially when they are happening to me!  I'm pretty good at being there for others, when its done to them! :)

When going into the hospital I prayed that God would help me handle everything that the staff had to do to me.  I was quite calm and at peace the whole time.  Thank you God! I'm sure the gravel and morphine helped a little too.  At one point, one of the nurses was doing blood tests.  She had problems getting to my vein. Mark said it looked painful but another nurse was still talking to me so I didn't notice.  I thought it felt a little different but maybe they just had another technique. I guess I was kinda out of it.  I'm sure God used this nurse to distract me. She was a really good nurse, very caring and informative.  

Things seemed to slow down as we waited. I couldn't eat or drink anything until my tests came back.  We were there for 6 hours. I rested.  I'm sure Mark got bored.  At one point we looked at his phone pictures.  We went thru the 500 photos he had on there! WOW.  My phone got thrown out of my pants pocket somewhere in the field.  Later on Mark and Steve, my brother, went back to look for the phone. They went in as a pair and took along a bat to hit the cow with, if need be.  My phone was fine, but they couldn't find the case.  Oh well, that can be replaced. So far down on my concerns list at this time.  In the mean time Drew found one on Papa's desk.  He asked my Dad if I could use it until I got a new one.  I'll see what he brings home today. We called or texted my parents and the kids progress reports. During the first call, Drew said if we were still at home, he'd still be chasing that cow around the field! My Mom said he was very mad at the cow.  He hadn't even been told the complete story. 

Finally the tests were all back.  No bones were broken, no internal damage, as far as they could see, and I was alive!  The only thing was a minuscule amount of blood in my urine, but it was so small that it would clear out soon.  I do need to go to my regular dr this week to check on it.  I think it probably has more to do with hormone/pelvic/women's organs that I am having health concerns with.  But that's another issue. 

Now I'm just in a lot of pain, but am completely amazed that that's all that I have to deal with right now.  I'm back home, and trying to manage the pain in my chest, back and side.  I was told I need to manage it wisely, because if I don't and can't take deep enough breaths, I could develop pneumonia. Definitely don't want that, and don't think my family could take too much more.  The job of a mom is never done.  Thanks so much to my parents for taking the kids the last two days!  

I keep on thinking about what happened and what it might have looked like.  The sounds of hooves rushing on me and past me are fading away. Thank you God that you take some memories away!  I can't believe that a thousand pound cow ran over my body and all I have is a lot of pain. I have a partial black eye.  I have scratches on my chest that look like the size of a hoof.  How did that not break my bones and or crush my body, or puncture a major organ?  I know without a doubt that God protected me and saved my life for the second time.  The first is when He died for me on the cross.  I have always thought that I'm only alive because of Christ in my life, and now I know it's true!  My body is the proof right now. The more I think about it, I know that there was something like a mighty blanket lying between me and the cow. Maybe angels, maybe Jesus.  It's just uncomprehendable. It's a miracle.

This morning I read in my devotional that God alone is qualified to hold our lives in his hands, that he fulfills his responsibility to care for us with excellence. What good timing! There's just a few verses from there too :

"O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. " - Jeremiah 32:18-19

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you." - Isaiah 54:10

"They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness." -Psalm 145:7

Good thing I read my devotions today.  It feels like God has a plan for me, if that's just to keep doing what I'm doing or he has something different for me, time will tell. I pray that Jesus will continue to heal me and show me the next steps.  I really appreciate your prayers on this healing journey.  I know I'll have to be patient, and trust God with the pain and daily life stuff.  Ups and downs will still come. 

I was talking to Drew as they stopped in for a visit and to pick up some more supplies.  He seemed a little anxious, overly excited which can mean he needs to talk about something. We sat down to chat. I said that I was really hurt but am going to be fine, that God was with me and protected me. He said he knew that already!  I asked him how did he know that?  I thought maybe my Mom had talked to him. He said he didn't know how, he just knew that!  Wow. Thank you God for also taking care of my kids.

Well,  I think that I can officially call myself a cowgirl as I was beaten up by a cow and lived to tell about it!  And no, I will not be signing up for the running of the bulls in Spain!!  

That all for now.  It was quite long, but it's a big thing in my life right now and even for myself, it was good to right it all down!  

May God bless you all in your journeys.

(Cowgirl) Ana (Andrea) ; )