somethings not quite right..

So all has been well in Snowflakes Pregnancy and she is suposed to be due sometime soon!! But when we went to feed today. She hasn't really been eating her hay. Just kind of throwing it around and eating some here and there. She is eating her grain fine though. Also her milk veins (i believe it's her milk veins but i'll have to get pics!!) are considerably big. Like the size of my forearm big. And they don't quite reach to her udder. They are squishy to the touch. And when you push in with a finger it takes about 20 seconds for the indention from your finger to go away. A friend mentioned milk fever. But I haven't had a chance to look it up. Yet thought i'd post this here then go look. I called the vet right away. But he didn't answer (we go the answering machine = / ) I just went and checked on her and no signs of labor yet.. and her udders haven't filled out any at all. Her tail bone if very prominant all the muscle right there has sunk in. And right before her hips has sunk in and she is HUGE. Will it be comming soon??? And why hasn't she bagged up yet? And what could possibly be up with her milk veins?

Some mares are tricky and will only give you a couple signs. Some mares will act like they are in labor and be completely normal the next day. I'd say keep her on watch until you can get the vet out.

Do her milk veins sound normal?? That's whats worrying me the most it honestly looks like a blockage. As she has no leaking and her udders arn't even remotely bagging up. And the milk veins basically stop about 6-10 inches away from the udders. And they are huge. I thought they were only suposed to be thumb sized but dang they are big. I'll definitely get pictures tomorrow!

If you seriously mean like forearm size than that doesn't sound right to me at all. Thumb sized, like you said, yes, normal. And even being large with no bag development isn't really unusual. But THAT large would be worrying to me, I'd keep at the vet's number until I get an answer. :) Good luck and keep us posted!

Ok what you all have been waiting for!!! Ok not really you guys are probably waiting on the foal however her milk veins have shrunk thank god! And she is startign to bag up yay!!! So maybe soon! I got some pictures for you guys who are interested and I apologize I had just let her out to run around in the pasture while we were riding so she is dirty and I didn't think to brush BEFORE the pictures(i brushed her aftwards HA!) as I was so excited that she has finally started to bag up so yippee!

But first pictures from back in january so you can see the change!

Ok and now for the dirty pictures from today! Okie dokie and sorry for her dirtiness I DID brush her afterwards was just overly excited about getting pics

Her udders arent even close. I doubt she's due very soon, maybe within a few more weeks.(haha watch her have it sooner to prove me wrong)

Lol that'd be funny! Was hoping sometime in the next 2 weeks or so. However this willbe her 4th foal so I am sure she can do everything on her own. As the previous owners said they'd always walk out to the barn and there was a baby. And she has never had any complications or anything. And I called her previous owners to ask them questions about how early she usually bags up and everything but no one ever answered so oh well. Guess we are going out there at 1 am everynight to check on things lol

It looks to me like she has swelling, or edema, on the floor of her belly. Your description of a fingerprint lasting 20 seconds or so before filling in supports that idea. This is not uncommon in pregnant mares, especially if they are confined or not moving around much. If you can increase her excercise by turnout, handwalking, or even putting her food and her water on opposite ends of a corral so she has to walk back and forth more than she is, it might help. If it doesnt improve, or it gets worse, your vet should see her to rule out circulation problems.
Here is some more info on edema in pregnant mares--
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/hor...ant-mares.aspx

Yeah she is confined to a 14x15 foaling stall. When we ride and such we let her out into the pasture. The only problem with us doing that as all of our grass is fescue and so is our hay. We left her out into the pasture the other day. And she found her way to where we keep the horses hay. So I had to put her back up again. I wont let her out with the other horses due to risk of her never being with them before and knowing they would kick. So i'll be slowly introducing her to them after she foals. So she gets exercise just not as frequently as I would like.