It's a boy..

Well, I must confess..I am just a little disappointed that Abbey had a boy but I still love him. He is very cute! We have named him Adam. It hasn't even been 24 hours and I have been so stressed out! I am so afraid I am going to do something wrong to hurt Abbey or the calf! She loves the calf to pieces but is not letting it nurse, or at least last night she wouldn't. I put Abbey in the stanchion last night and tried to get the little guy to suck, he got a little bit but couldn't seem to latch on real well. Then I tried to milk some colostrum from Abbey and couldn't manage that either! So I used a teat drainer...I hope that was ok. I really don't know. But I figured it was better to get some colostrum in the calf than worry about that at the time. Adam drank a half gallon. So this morning I went out with my pail and wipes and bottle and the trusty teat drainer(in case I wasn't able to milk it out by hand). I tried milking her and couldn't. My husband tried and she eventually ended up putting her hoof right in the pail so...we moved on to plan B. I used the teat drainer and held the bottle right up there to catch it. Tried to feed Adam but he didn't want any at all! So, I am hoping that means that she let him nurse last night. He seemed very spry this morning, was up and running around. I am learning as I go and I am thankful for my friend Tammy who I can call and ask questions! Everything seems to be ok as far as Abbey and the calf being healthy. Like Al said..give it time..it hasn't even been 24 hours yet! But, I guess I thought the actual milking part would be easier. Abbey doesn't like it, I don't know if it hurts her or what. She doesn't seem to mind the teat drainer as much as me trying to milk her by hand. Something that kind of shocked me was I had some of her colostrum in the pail and she was drinking it!! I wasn't expecting that and I hope it is ok. It's like dark pink, which would have freaked me out had Tammy not told me that could happen. Looks like strawberry milk, lol! I thank God for my husband's support, he is SO wonderful! I was a real turd to him last night and he was so sweet the whole time. Of course I apologized but..boy did I feel bad about it! He didn't deserve that! So..things aren't going smooth at all yet. This should be interesting to look back on once I learn more of what I am doing. I knew this would be hard and stressful but I didn't even realize how much! This will be a great opportunity to work on patience and milking skills(of which I have NONE!). God bless.