My seven-year-old grandson begins his 4-H experience this year as a Clover Bud--a program for children who are not yet 9 years old. He has a young calf that he has bottle-fed which he will show at the county fair next week. He is the fourth generation in our family to participate in 4-H--his great-grandfathers, grandparents, parents, and now our grandson.
I joined 4-H when I was nine years old. My dad and his siblings had been in 4-H when they were young and my two older cousins were already in the program, so I was excited to take part as well. Our club the Whitecrest Hijacks, named for a small community down the highway to the east a few miles from the ranch, had about 10 members which met monthly for meetings. I took market beef and sewing for my first projects, giving both Dad and Mom responsibility for my progress.
In late November Dad helped me choose a steer from a group of calves that our dads had selected from the ranch herd. For a child's first year in 4-H, they would let that child choose a calf first, and later on the person in their last year got to choose first. I named my calf Chip. We had another steer to keep him company; I called him Dale. Since I was the only one in our family in 4-H, my Dad focused his energies on getting me and Chip ready for fair. One of the first things we needed to do was train him to lead, something a calf does not naturally want to do. We spent a number of days over Christmas break accomplishing this. Dad and my uncles also broke all of the sale bulls to lead, so there were a lot of animals learning to respond to the tug of the halter.
I had to feed Chip in the morning before school and evening chores consisted of feeding Chip, helping Dad with other chores and brushing my steer as soon as he finished his grain. This helped tame him down and developed a great coat of hair that would make him look sharp at fair. This continued through the school year and then in the summer began the training for the show ring. Dad had a string of bulls and a heifer that he showed at the state fair, so as he took each one of his animals around the yard, I would take Chip every time. Dad had us both well trained by the time fair arrived.
At county fair, the judge selected Chip as the Grand Champion steer. Dad was quite pleased and I was delighted as well. We took Chip to the state fair and there the judge choose him for Champion Hereford steer. So, my 4-H career started on a very good note. I continued in 4-H for the next nine years, finishing after senior year in high school. I have many good memories of being in 4-H; I learned responsibility and many skills that have served me well over the years. I look forward to seeing my grandson have some similar experiences.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Our First Baby
We were married at the start of my junior year in college and my husband's third year of vet school, so we both had two years to finish our degrees. In our Sunday school class at church of young couples, one couple had a new baby. We all oohed and aahed over this precious little one and started thinking about starting a family of our own. However, sage advice from my dad offered strong encouragement to wait until we were finished with school, and I have always been glad that we did wait.
Following our graduation on June 1, we left town to interview for a mixed vet practice in western Kansas. John took the job and we moved shortly thereafter to begin "real" life. He began to learn the ropes and roads of the country practice and I substitute taught in the local school. Now that we were getting settled in, we decided that we were ready to start a family. Four months later I suspected that I was pregnant and after several more months I went to the doctor. The small community we lived in had a six room hospital and a wonderful family practice doctor. He confirmed that we were expecting a baby due May 24. We were thrilled; this child would be the first grandchild for both of our parents and first great-grandchild for my dad's parents. Needless to say we were all quite excited. I experienced some morning sickness, but generally, I felt great.
I often would either go with John on his vet calls out in the country or assist with c-sections on cows at the clinic. Donning his coveralls when I helped to keep from getting too dirty, I gradually could not zip the coveralls up any more. After one particularly late and stressful night, I had some early labor pains, so my days of vet assistant were over. John would bring his stethoscope home so we could listen to the heartbeat and offer insights on the similarities of human and animal pregnancies.
Monthly checkups went well. A nurse in the community taught childbirth classes which was surprising in light of it being in a rural area and the idea being relatively new. We gladly attended classes later in the pregnancy eager to learn all we could to better prepare for the birth. These classes helped me understand what would happen and how to work with the labor process.
A week past my due date, the doctor found that my blood pressure had gone up causing some concern. Being over-due and now the blood pressure issue discouraged me, nine months pregnant in the Kansas summer heat. The baby had missed the due date, my mother-in-law's birthday and now it was John's birthday. We invited friends over for strawberry short cake to celebrate his birthday and take our minds off our troubles. After our friends left and we had gone to bed, I began to feel what I anticipated were labor pains. Sure enough, as the night wore on it was clear I was in labor, but my veterinary husband who had been called out many times in the middle of the night wanted to wait until morning to go to the hospital.
We waited until after 8 am to go to the hospital. My doctor was out of town, but his son who had just completed his residency in obstetrics was there for the delivery. John was in the delivery room and the two guys discussed the similarities and differences of the deliveries they had done. The doctor decided he needed to use forceps and this prompted a discussion of how many pounds of pressure applied with jack when pulling a calf! Soon our first child was born, an 8 lb. 6 oz. baby girl 20 1/2 inches long. We named her Jennifer Ann. Her head was covered with peach fuzz, her tiny ears scrunched to her head and a tiny rosebud mouth. She chose her own birthday, missing her dad's by one day. One year after our college graduation, we were now parents. How blessed we were!
Following our graduation on June 1, we left town to interview for a mixed vet practice in western Kansas. John took the job and we moved shortly thereafter to begin "real" life. He began to learn the ropes and roads of the country practice and I substitute taught in the local school. Now that we were getting settled in, we decided that we were ready to start a family. Four months later I suspected that I was pregnant and after several more months I went to the doctor. The small community we lived in had a six room hospital and a wonderful family practice doctor. He confirmed that we were expecting a baby due May 24. We were thrilled; this child would be the first grandchild for both of our parents and first great-grandchild for my dad's parents. Needless to say we were all quite excited. I experienced some morning sickness, but generally, I felt great.
I often would either go with John on his vet calls out in the country or assist with c-sections on cows at the clinic. Donning his coveralls when I helped to keep from getting too dirty, I gradually could not zip the coveralls up any more. After one particularly late and stressful night, I had some early labor pains, so my days of vet assistant were over. John would bring his stethoscope home so we could listen to the heartbeat and offer insights on the similarities of human and animal pregnancies.
Monthly checkups went well. A nurse in the community taught childbirth classes which was surprising in light of it being in a rural area and the idea being relatively new. We gladly attended classes later in the pregnancy eager to learn all we could to better prepare for the birth. These classes helped me understand what would happen and how to work with the labor process.
A week past my due date, the doctor found that my blood pressure had gone up causing some concern. Being over-due and now the blood pressure issue discouraged me, nine months pregnant in the Kansas summer heat. The baby had missed the due date, my mother-in-law's birthday and now it was John's birthday. We invited friends over for strawberry short cake to celebrate his birthday and take our minds off our troubles. After our friends left and we had gone to bed, I began to feel what I anticipated were labor pains. Sure enough, as the night wore on it was clear I was in labor, but my veterinary husband who had been called out many times in the middle of the night wanted to wait until morning to go to the hospital.
We waited until after 8 am to go to the hospital. My doctor was out of town, but his son who had just completed his residency in obstetrics was there for the delivery. John was in the delivery room and the two guys discussed the similarities and differences of the deliveries they had done. The doctor decided he needed to use forceps and this prompted a discussion of how many pounds of pressure applied with jack when pulling a calf! Soon our first child was born, an 8 lb. 6 oz. baby girl 20 1/2 inches long. We named her Jennifer Ann. Her head was covered with peach fuzz, her tiny ears scrunched to her head and a tiny rosebud mouth. She chose her own birthday, missing her dad's by one day. One year after our college graduation, we were now parents. How blessed we were!
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