Some positive signs?

Or...the title could just as easily be "Wishful Thinking" Bessie was "bred" last week on Tuesday, almost a week ago.  For two days before that, her milk supply was below what I've considered normal.  I close Ruby the calf in her stall every night and milk Bess each morning before letting Ruby out for the day.  Ruby nurses when she wants to all day long she is ushered back into the stall for the night again. Bess had given 2 gallons each morning for a while, then it was down to 1 1/2, then 1 and a quart....then was the big day when the vet came and artificially inseminated her.  The next day, her supply bumped right up to a bountiful 2 gallons again, with plenty to spare.  Same thing every day since then, despite my erratic milking times of the past week (everyone has been home from work and school, and some mornings it was SO nice to cheat the farm-schedule and sleep in just a bit!)  One day I felt terrible when I went out to milk her at 10:00 instead of 8, but she was just standing there (very full and ready to be milked!), chewing her cud calmly and waiting for her grain. Not sure if the milk excess would have anything to do with whether she is actually pregnant or not.  It's wishful thinking.  The vet DID say that if I fed her more corn, she'd give more milk.  But this extra milk is coming in despite the fact that I ran out of corn and she's been getting her grain mix without the corn mixed in.  No reason her milk supply should be better than it was a week ago, with no grain to stimulate production. It was hard to believe that the heifer, Lucy, could get pregnant on the first try by the vet.  Bessie is 8 going on 9, and getting pregnant on the first try could be truly amazing.  But....we DID pray for a first-time take, and it would truly bring on a bit of rejoicing if she was pregnant and growing another beautiful calf already.  My only reference:  when Lucy was bred, I noticed that she started acting a bit different.  More protective of Ruby, the calf.  Much more interested in eating all day long.  More maternal towards Ruby and Bessie both, and they'd stand together and just groom (lick) each other.  The vet told me that cows don't act any differently when they are pregnant, though. Maybe milk supply COULD be a sign--Lucy hadn't had a calf yet, so there was no milk supply to gauge her pregnancy/non-pregnancy by.  One funny comment from talking with the vet last week.  Dr. Hall and I were talking about Bessie and her body condition (she was terribly thin just a month or two ago), feeding her more corn for winter fat and more milk, and Dr. Hall commented "She seems to be a very calm cow."  I could have burst out laughing.  All the stories I tell about her, and I make her out to be a monster.  This vet sees hundreds of cows, both dairy and beef cattle, and she describes our Bess as "calm".  Whew!  The truth of the matter is, Bessie is very much calmer now that she isn't fighting a gorgeous young upstart (that would have been Lucy) who is determined to challenge the boss cow's position.  Bessie and her calf, Ruby, make a calm, contented team who are fun to be around and friendly towards anyone bringing a treat.  We can walk up to either one of them out in the pasture and they are usually patient with being petted.  Ruby might toss her head and trot away in playfulness, but Lucy was the feisty one who would thunder away in mock defiance. Yes, we are blessed with a "calm" cow, and that calm cow has a playful but not defiant calf who is turning out to be one beautiful and sweet young lady in her own right.  We'll see if the milk supply theory holds true for another day.  I'm off to milk the cow, just 22 minutes after my "goal" of milking her by 8 am every morning. I'm anxious to know if that calm cow (otherwise known as Bessie) might possibly, potentially, wonderfully have become pregnant on the first try...... Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/