Samantha Johnston – Johnston Farms
I am sure many of you HarvestHERs and farmwives will find this story relatable if your Farmers are anything like mine…so here we go!
Since we are fast approaching our daughter’s second birthday, I often spend a few moments each day reflecting on the day she was born, and the months prior, which brings me to this story I’m sharing with you all.
After a long journey through infertility, we found out we were expecting. Overjoyed but keeping it a secret from our families until ten weeks. Simply because the ten weeks fell during Christmas, and that was an exciting present to have wrapped under the tree. We didn’t share with the rest of the world until 20 weeks, (yikes I know right?) We then announced that our dog was getting a human baby SISTER in July of 2016.
No one could believe we kept it a secret long enough to find out the gender. We wanted to make sure there were no challenges late in the pregnancy, since I was a “first calf heifer” and all. Yes, you read that correctly, first calf heifer. It is comical to think about now, as all of our life revolves around farming, and animal reproduction, our sense of humor is pretty phenomenal.
The doctor had warned us all throughout the pregnancy that we were going to likely have a rather large baby, (after all, my husband is 6’7”) we were prepared for this heifer to need assistance calving. He also would confidently state “I can deliver a calf, it can’t be much different from that.”
The day she was born, it was a bit of a surprise, as I ended up needing a C-section. Of course, all my husband could say was “that vet hospital bill is going to be more than a few cow-calf pairs at the sale barn” (insert eye roll emoji)
Nine days prior to her due date, I was walked across the parking lot from the doctor’s office, to the hospital OR, to gown up for this baby. We were not prepared in the sense that “today was the day” even though we had all we needed packed in the truck for weeks.
I should have prefaced this story by stating: this life changing event occurred smack dab in the middle of wheat harvest, hay season, and equipment needing repairs. However; farming families know what it is like to fly by the seat of our pants, and plans are few and far between, and a challenge to keep.
Prior to my husband rabbit-suiting up, he told my doctor “If my wife was a cow, we would have culled her by now.” The doctor laughed and went on. Moments later she walks in as I lay on the operating table, to tell me “sweetie, I am sorry but I had to Google what “culled” meant, and I can assure you, we will NOT let that happen to you!” We all laughed and laughed, the OR nurses got a kick out of my situation being compared to a cow being culled and sold for slaughter. (see definitions below)
Finally, after many laughs and a great surgeon, this first calf heifer had her new 8 lbs 5.2oz baby.
We named her Sutton, as the meaning of the name is: “From the southern farm, or homestead.” It was a perfect combination of what we were looking for in a name. We planned for her initials to be S.B.J. to reflect our names, and something less-common.
Her “coming-home” outfit was a cute little onesie that said “going home to take care of the farm” and that we did.
Brandon stayed home with me for three days after the return home with our newborn baby calf. After all I had this thing down pat. (Not really, but someone had to go mend fences and bale hay.)
As soon as I was able, I loaded that newborn calf into her car seat and we drove to the alfalfa field to have our first family picnic in the field. Shortly after I was back to working cattle, little tot in tow, never missing a beat.
The past two years have been fabulous, with many references to our “calving” experience, and how our little farmHER has brought more joy to our homestead than anything.
I hope you all have gotten a few good laughs from my story, and as always, feel free to write me a line or two with any questions!
A little cattle vocabulary:
Calf: young bovine, usually less than a year old.
Cow: A female bovine who has given birth to at least one calf. We use the term “cows” all the time to refer to more than one bovine; technically a cow is a girl 🙂
Cull: verb
past tense: culled
- Reduce the population of (a wild animal) by selective slaughter
- Send (an inferior or surplus animal on a farm) to be slaughtered.
First Calf Heifer: A female bovine who has given birth to her first calf. At this point she can also be called a cow.
1. Be ready to go at the drop of a hat...sometimes without a lunchbox.
2. Has removed the word impossible from her vocabulary!
3. Can hold a baby, take care of a toddler and drive a tractor or combine all at the same time.
4. Must be able to cook for a crew - large or small.
5. Must be able to read minds.
6. Must be able to banter with a parts man until he realizes you DO know what you're talking about.
7. Must be the entertainment director for those rainy days.
8. Be a wife, mom, friend, helper, cook, problem solver, taxi driver or extra crew hand at all times.
9. Can handle the call that makes you react, "You need what? When?" Dropping everything you're doing to make it happen.
10. At the end of the day say, "I really do love this life".