This is what day 366 looks like (on a maiden, we have older girls less days pregnant who's bellies hang much lower):
The thing that bugs me about her being a maiden, is that I can't see the cria move in there. Our other girls, if I wait long enough, I'll see something that is clearly cria (baby) moving, not just the dam (mom) breathing. This reassures me the cria is well. With Maddie, I can't see this, so I worry even more that something is wrong. J has done some balotting (sp??) to see if there is a baby in there. We can feel a cria, so she is pregnant. We've observed Maddie's belly growing bigger, so the cria is growing. J has felt movement. Last night he really grabbed at her belly and about 2 minutes later, the cria kicked and moved about. It was clear it was cria (alien like movements) on Maddie's side. So the cria is alive and growing.
Maddie is starting to get side indentations like pregnant girls get. There is a spot right behind their ribs that sinks in when they are pregnant. I have a hard time getting a good picture of it. For one thing, Maddie is black, and black is hard to get good pictures of. It's hard to show the dimensions in black. Also, being a maiden, her indentation is not as distinct as it is on older girls.
One thing about Maddie, is that her personality is very calm. While we feel her belly and check to see if she has milk starting to bag up, so remains very calm. Some of our girls get angry and spit at us when we do this. Maddie is calm about it all, stands there and lets us do whatever we want to her. I've often said the problem with how calm she is, is that she could be in serious danger, but she would remain so stoic, we might not know. I keep this in mind, in regards to the fact she is pregnant, and she might not show she is having problems. Maddie is one who when we give her a shot, she does nothing (many flinch or kick). The most I have ever gotten from Maddie is a soft growl. She'll spit at other alpacas (in a fight), but not us.
I think she, and we, will feel better after this baby is born. If only we could convince the cria of this!
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