In my life as a rancher and career as a veterinarian, I have witnessed hundreds if not thousands of births. Every time I watch this miracle, I am reminded it takes longer than one might hope. When you watch these things unfold on television, you get the benefit of time lapse. When you are sitting in the pickup watching a cow or heifer from a couple hundred yards, the process seems to go like this:

The cow lies down. Flops onto her side. Pushes a couple times. Stands. Sniffs the ground. Circles a few times. Then repeats the cycle. Every time she lies down, she makes a little progress. Two front feet may be visible, but when she stands, the feet disappear. Next time, the feet come out a little farther. Eventually, a nose appears behind the feet.

One year, I timed the process of birth in cattle. From first appearance of the “water bag” (a brownish fluid-filled balloon), a seasoned cow will expel a calf in one hour or less. A heifer, or first-timer, might take two hours. If she goes longer than that, or if things don’t look right, intervention may be warranted. Perhaps one or both the calf’s front legs are back, and the nose is coming first. Or maybe the feet are upside down, indicating a breech.

Birthing in horses is often described as explosive. And seclusive. Before in-stall cameras, many lifelong horse breeders never saw a foal born. Yet, when one is lucky enough to catch a mare in progress, the process still seems to take forever! Like a cow, the mare stands, goes down, stands, goes down. But in twenty minutes or less, she either has a foal on the ground or she’s in big trouble.

When I was a kid, Mom assigned us to count contractions for the momma cats. I thought if I didn’t keep accurate count, the poor cat couldn’t actually shove those kittens out. As it turns out, cats seem able to handle birthing all by themselves. But it is slow. Some queens shoot out a kitten every few minutes. But not Miss Wishbone last weekend. She went an hour or more between kittens. That’s normal in a cat. And sometimes in dogs. They may appear to be finished with the process, but twelve hours later, there’s one more puppy or kitten in the nest.

Spring is the season for birth and patience. Calves. Kittens. Foals. And cilantro. I’ve been waiting days for the cilantro to emerge!