20 days

 I woke about 3am. As per usual the past few weeks. And various other times throughout the night.We've been keeping an eye on Daffy since her due date being the 21 of May.
This being her first calf we wanted to be sure to be home in case she ran into trouble. She has had some signs, her udders getting bigger and her vulva swelling. But nothing unusual for a cow about to gives birth. We just would watch her. She was happy. Eating, pooping, peeing. No problem. The days ticked by.
5 days over due.
10 days over due.
14 days over due. We call the vet. They say to keep watch on her and wait a few more days. Don't worry. We call some other dairy farmers in the area. They say don't worry about her. We think, weird, she is not having this calf. She's gonna be pregnant forever! So we wait. And pray. She is still fine. Still happy and not in any distress.
17 days over due. Still fine. Her udders are getting bigger. Her vulva is getting more swollen. She still looks huge, so the calf has not moved up into the birth canal. We have been staying closer to home. Me usually always home, and if we both are gone it's only for a short time. We wait. I don't get much sleep. I'm up checking on her in the field. My husband is up checking on her.
18 days over due...more phone calls. More being told she is fine. Don't worry. It's not usual for a cow to be this over due?! Is it?! We give her one of those big calcium pills. Her udders are bigger. Her vulva is even more swollen.
3am June 10. 20 days over due. I get up and head out. I can't find her in the pasture. I run back in and wake up my husband. He put her in the barn, and forgot to tell me. I go back out and check her out. She is standing, she has some discharge. No big deal. But as of yesterday I figured it had to be soon. The calf had moved because she wasn't as wide. Her teats were swollen. I told my husband "I bet she goes tonight" while we were doing chores.
I get back in bed. I lay there awake. We hear soft mooing. (Our house and that barn she was in are close by). My husband gets up and heads out. I wait. He taps on the window and says to go get our oldest daughter. This is her cow. I wake her gently and ask her if she wants to watch Daffy become a mommy. A sleepy smile comes over her face and she quickly joins us outside. We watch. And wait.

I didn't get many pics of the delivery. It was dark in the barn and I didn't want to disturbed her hard work she had to do. We had her in the barn because of the outside temps last night, and the possibility of rain. We didn't want the calf to catch a chill.

25 minutes later she had delivered her first calf all on her own. A bull calf. She was up and licking him off. Mooing softly at him. We were so relieved. She was doing fine. The calf is alive and she is doing her job. And she didn't need any help from us on her first delivery, like her sister Dandie did on her first calf last year.

 He was up sucking, and mama was still cleaning him off. She drank some water and licked him dry and he had a good first meal!

 A beautiful sun rise on this glorious morning. What a beautiful day to be born. We left the barn and went into the house to let Daffy and baby rest and get better acquainted.

Outside in the pasture together. See her tongue licking his face? Her first milking done and now to rest and bond the rest of the day. At least until we figure out what to do with him.
As far as her first milking going? Well she was OK. She kicked the pail and danced around and mooed the whole time. Her calf was there with her. She was a bit nervous, but she knows us and trusts us. She can only get better from here on out!
Have a great day ya'll