This post contains images of a live lamb birth, and a newborn lamb. Proceed with caution.

In the short time Dodger had been at our ranch, he was … busy. We were fresh from the loss of Willee, and knew that Sadee was due any day. We researched everything we could about what we might have done wrong. I said, “Sheep have babies all the time in the world. What about those shepherds who have hundreds of sheep, I’m sure they’re not sitting out in the fields assisting with birth and encouraging the lamb to nurse?” We decided that when Sadee gave birth, we would just stand back and not intervene. Sadee had given birth before, when she lived with Omar. In fact, she is Wallee’s Mom 🥰 So we knew she knew what to do. We vowed to stay “hands-off” unless the situation became dire.

The Tuesday after Josh’s Dad and Debbie left back to Cheyenne, Sadee went into labor. Every other Tuesday, I process payroll. It is my busiest day. So, naturally, it happened that day. Josh went out to feed the animals that morning and noticed something was different about Sadee…

I was sitting at my desk inside, and had Josh FaceTime me since I couldn’t be out there.

It all happened very fast- from the time Josh saw the sac to the time she slid out onto the ground was only a few minutes!

This was such a special experience! She was alive, and healthy, and standing and nursing right away. We moved her and Sadee to their own section of the paddock where they wouldn’t be bothered by Frostee or Rachel. (Poor Rachel was a little shocked, I think!). While Sadee was birthing, Josh let Frostee out of the paddock to run around the yard. I think she was freaked out, too!

As we decided, we stepped back and watched. And waited. We made sure we saw baby nursing several times a day. We put the water bucket up high where she couldn’t get to it. We hoped and we prayed. We read several places that the first 72 hours are crucial. If the lamb can survive that time, it’s chances of survival increase greatly. So we waited three days to name her. Josh’s Dad and Debbie have a dog named Jemima. They suggested we name the new baby after her. And so, Jemima was born!