Lamb Envy

Last night, in between waking up a dozen times to listen to Phoebe pawing, sighing, panting, and thrashing around in her pen every bit as if she were going into labor at any moment, I dreamed that she finally gave birth to two miniature adult sheep. But this morning, she got up, banged on her pen to be fed, and despite a full udder and sunken flanks, is no more in labor than I am.

I guess the sheep win the guessing game this year! Sometimes I look at a ewe and say, "Yes, she's close, but it won't be tonight," only to come out the next morning to new lambs. And sometimes, like now, the sheep will show all the signs of imminent labor---except actual labor!---for a week.

Meanwhile, my friend Monica had another ewe give birth since yesterday. Now I'm starting to get lamb envy!

I think it's time for a little reverse psychology, don't you? Here goes:

I positively declare that Phoebe is not going to have her lambs until July at the earliest! In fact, she is probably not pregnant at all. That huge udder is a clever ruse just to get attention. She's not going to give birth to lambs any time soon at all.

(Do you think it worked? Is she going into labor right now, just to prove me wrong?) :-)