They're supposed to incubate for 28 days, but apparently I wasn't reading our "Barnyard in Your Backyard" book loud enough for them to know what they're "supposed" to do (they take after their mother who laid them but never sat on them despite us telling her what she was "supposed" to do too). Three days ahead of schedule, five ducklings have hatched from the first batch of seven incubated eggs.
Our book instructed us to remove the eggs from the turner three days before their arrival to allow them to orient themselves before their debut; but when Charles and Half-Pint set up half the incubator minus the egg turner, they noticed that several of the eggs had pipped already. To "pip" means that they have already cracked a small hole in their shell with their egg tooth (which is a small raised protrusion on their beak that falls off shortly after they hatch). Ducklings emerge 24-48 hours after they pip. Charles and Half-pint set a block of wood in the incubator to prevent the hatchlings from getting tangled in the two trays of unready eggs we left in. Last night at 4:30, Mary caught one really cracking its shell. An hour later the first one was born and ten minutes later another popped out with hardly any struggle. Three more emerged by 10:30pm, but the biggest disappointment of the night was when one was unable to open the shell after pipping a circle of cracks around the blunt end. The book warned against helping, but I was really tempted to ignore the book, after all the ducks ignored the book. They are supposed to go through the struggle or according to the book they won't have enough vigor to survive. One hasn't cracked at all, but we're hoping that it is just playing by the rules and arriving later.
I've had my own struggles this weekend, struggles of keeping up with a lot of laundry (due to vomit and explosions on the other end...what do you expect after 48 hours of just breastmilk?) Yesterday, the baby kept down all the milk, and even some rice and a biteful of banana. Sucess! Thank you for your prayers!!
Half-pint allowed me to name the final duckling, so I chose Mr (or Mrs.) Peepers. I love the little peeping sounds he makes. Its funny how after all the struggle, Mr. Peeper is born precocial. This means, that despite just being born, he can walk, preen, eat, and drink right away. I can tell you from lots of experience that human babies are far from precocial.
I really missed being able to go to church this weekend due to a sick baby, but God is still whispering into my heart despite not being able to go. He is my hiding place; He protects me from trouble and surrounds me with songs of deliverance. (Ps. 32:6-7) I think He was delighted in our delight over His creation last night. Life sometimes seems like struggle after struggle, like pile after pile of laundry. However, my thought for the day is "what if after I break through this struggle, it's easy walking for a little bit?" There may still be difficulties ahead (like surviving a big drooly dog), but this struggle could help my health and increase my vigor. That gives something to peep about.
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