Ok, so it turns out Pokie was not in labor, but instead had a uterine torsion. After a day of watching her suffer and not go into stage 2 of labor (water breaks, vaginal dilation, pushing, baby coming out), I called the vet. My hunky vet came out and after a very quick exam, said she had a uterine torsion. This means that her uterus was twisted 180degrees.
Here's a nice description that I found online:
If you think about your arms as the two horns and place them in front of you in the shape of a "Y" you
would be a normal (alpaca) uterus. In a clockwise uterine torsion your left arm would go over
top of your right. In a counter-clockwise torsion your right arm would go over top of
your left. The torsion can be anywhere from 90 degrees to 360 degrees and
beyond. The place where it twists is normally near the cervix. This prevents the
cervix from dilating and will prevent birth if it is not corrected.
So the way we fixed it: my vet gave her a shot of anesthesia and after she got sleepy, we helped her lay down. While he held the baby still by applying pressure on her belly, we rolled her over in the direction of the twist (counter-clockwise). She was out cold for 45minutes, but the procedure lasted only about 2. I stayed with her and kept the other alpacas away from her and held her head until she woke up. The whole herd was worried about her, especially her daughter, Samsara. They kept coming over and trying to get her to move.
Once she woke up and started eating, she seemed like a whole different animal...back to normal Pokie behavior! What a relief. Now we're on baby watch again. Apparantly her cervix is slightly dilated, and since this "procedure" was done, she could deliver tonight or tomorrow or in a few more days.
Thanks for all your thoughts and well-wishes :) I'll let you all know how things turn out.
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