# Water broke. No contractions



## Honna77 (Mar 17, 2013)

My 6-year-old Alpine, Annabelle was exhibiting every sign of labor for two days. Except she has not contracted! She paws, she is up then down, she isn't eating much, she has a great deal of discharge. (Clear to yellowish without a smell) but she had not had good or regular contractions. I was maybe willing to let it go for a while because she was in no distress but a friend with years of goat experience reached in to do an exam and in NOT finding a baby close or the cervix open, she basically forced her hand through the cervix and then "stripped the membranes". (This is what it would be called in a woman but a goat....?) 
Anyway, that set her off into good contractions for about half an hour until she had a big bag of water protruding. The water broke but then the contractions stopped. To the point Annabelle ate some food and laid back down for a nap. This was several hours ago and now the vet said we should do a c-section but cautioned us that the mother rarely makes it out alive.
This is my question.....
If she is not pushing or stressed and the kids have not come down very far but the water is definitely broke would we need to do anything or wait for for her to start this show? How long can a kid have a dry bag but be born alive?
Thank you?


----------



## Tayet (Feb 9, 2012)

When did your friend check her? If it was a while ago, I would definitely check again! Good luck, I hope everything is OK with her.


----------



## Tayet (Feb 9, 2012)

P.S. Welcome to The Goat Spot!


----------



## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

Wither she is seeming stressed or not those kids need out ASAP and mom needs help. I would reach in and see if you can feel a kid.


----------



## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

Did the vet examine your doe? If there was a water bag protruding, there should be a kid behind it. Have you friend check again.


----------



## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

A person wonders if the kid is stuck somehow? I have seen incidences of too-short umbilical cords to allow safe delivery. Could be hooked together (twins)? She should've been able to feel something, or at least tried to grab and pull something up. 

Do you have any oxytocin available??

She may also gave low calcium levels too.


----------



## Honna77 (Mar 17, 2013)

We are headed this morning to get an ultrasound and decide what to do from there. I reached in too and felt nothing to grab. Cervix closed back up.


----------



## Tayet (Feb 9, 2012)

I hope everything is fine!


----------



## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

Oh no! Thinking of you! Hoping everything turns out ok!


----------



## pubgal83 (Oct 31, 2012)

Oh no! I hope everything turns out ok. Keep us posted.


----------



## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

im so sorry..How scary, so glad you have a vet involved..many years ago I had a doe have C section with no issues at all.....prayers are with you..keep us posted...


----------



## Honna77 (Mar 17, 2013)

So we are back from an emergency C-section. Three huge babies all dead. We revived the little boy but he is limp as a rag. Annabelle is now on a soft comforter on my garage floor barely conscious and making the most godawful moans. The doc gave her nothing for pain as he thought she would be dead by the time I got her home. I know goats have a sensitivity to many meds but is there something I can give her? Aspirin? Anything? I will have to tube it down her because she is not awake enough to swallow anything. Not even water. The vet didn't even give her an I.V. So I know she must be dehydrated too.


----------



## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

That vet should have given you banamine. She can and probably is going into shock from the pain. Goats can live through C-sections just fine if the vet is competent. Get the banamine NOW. And while you're at it find a new vet.


----------



## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I agree with xymenan...any vet who can send her home with out pain meds is not worth the license he carries...that poor mama..she needs banamine to help her deal with her loss and pain...My vet came all the way out here (12 miles) to give an IV to a goat he thought would never make it but tried for my sake...my goat lived and still is here...three kidding later...goats are strong and fighters...Banamine is by vet only ...she may need antibiotics as well


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree

I am so sorry for your losses.


----------



## hallsthirdacrefarm (Mar 30, 2011)

Report that vet to your licensing board


----------



## Honna77 (Mar 17, 2013)

Thank you everyone for your input. A much needed place of calm, cool heads in my hellish day. Annabelle passed on a few minutes after a friend that owns horses gave her a shot of Benamine left over from a stallion castration a few weeks ago. I think she was in so much pain that she was fighting death because she was delirious and in agony. As soon as she felt herself getting comfortable, she let go. I had a bad feeling about the c-section last night when I talked to the vet about her. Which is why I put it off until this morning when she actually started to push in Ernest with no results. If I had done it last night, the babies might have still been alive. As it is, the buckling I revived is starting to lose interest in consistently breathing. So I think in about an hour, I will have lost 4 goats in a matter of 16 hours. Start to finish. 
Annabelle was my first goat. I traded her from a family for a little wether sheep we were raising to eat and then couldn't bring ourselves to butcher. She was beautiful and aloof and Wiley as the devil but she was my great companion. Because I fell in love with her, we got another goat....and another.......and another. Her milk tasted like a melted vanilla milkshake. She was an ambassador for people that were interested in homesteading or hobby farming. 
All babies dead and Annabelle gone. I have nothing left of her.


----------



## Axykatt (Feb 1, 2013)

You still have your memories of your time together and a wonderful herd you acquired because of her. :hug:


----------



## jennnaragsdale (Mar 5, 2013)

So sorry for your losses! It does get better with time but for now let yourself greave and have a good cry or 10 :-(

Sent from my iPhone using GoatSpot


----------



## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

This brings tears to my eyes. I'm so incredibly sorry this happened and that you had a vet that was incompetent. You're always led to trust them since they have schooling and should know better but sometimes that's not the case. At least she had a moment of peace before she went and you were there to comfort her. I'm sure she heard your voice. I've been in your position before its never fun and you feel like you can't breath, keep thinking this is some cruel dream but we learn things from the hard times so at least its not all for nothing. I hope a cyber hug gives at least a tiny bit of comfort since I can't give you one in person. :hug: You still have something of her in your heart. She will never truly be gone.


----------



## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Omg, and nobody should ever force their way through a closed cevix and break or strip anything. The vet... so much wrong here.


----------



## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

goathiker said:


> Omg, and nobody should ever force their way through a closed cevix and break or strip anything. The vet... so much wrong here.


I was thinking the same thing.

cannot understand why an experienced goat breeder would do that in the first place but then leave the doe?!

Such a sad story


----------



## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

I have had 2 c-sections here, both does survived and rebred and delivered multiples, several times. I'm not sure about your vet, obviously, he's lost a lot of goats via c-section, so I would search for another. And, no, you don't violently push your hand through a closed cervix. I have helped a doe "dilate" before (breech kid, rear fee first), slowly with a cupped hand, take a little while.

I'm so sorry for your loss, you have your memories, and I hope they will sustain you in your grief. :grouphug:


----------



## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

My heart is breaking for you ... when the sharpness fades, and it will, remember the sweet times and how much she knew she was loved. I wish I could hug you in person ... :hug:


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

So sad


----------



## pubgal83 (Oct 31, 2012)

I am so sorry for your losses. That is such a sad story, I hate to see anyone have to go through that. Keep your head up.


----------



## Honna77 (Mar 17, 2013)

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. This has been a difficult time. Mostly because of the unexpected nature of it. Annabelle had very large twins last year and I swear to you, she spit them out. 4 HARD pushes. No yelling. No mess. She didn't even look like she had given birth afterwards except for her huge udder. I bragged about what a champ she was. She got so huge this year I just knew she had 3 or 4 but I thought that was actually going to work in her favor because the babies would be smaller. Instead, she had 3 BIG kids in there all arguing about who would come out first. I am still kind of shell shocked. I took all of my girls up into the woods yesterday for our daily ramble and I kept looking to see where Annabelle was.


----------



## Mamaboyd (Oct 10, 2013)

I am so sorry for your losses. :hug:


----------



## sandhillfarm (Feb 25, 2013)

So sorry for your loss! I know how you feel. I would look at her feed/hay fescue? and look into things like selenium/copper defiencies. Our ground here is so bad an even with loose minerals they still need injections. Again so very sorry for your loss...


Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


----------

