Preparing for birth is jumbo process

No swollen ankles. No late-night cravings for peanuts and watermelon. No morning nausea or pounding headaches.

Seventy-four weeks after the "test strip" read positive, everything about Christie's pregnancy has been a mammoth success.

Nobody would blame her for feeling a bit ornery after gaining 200 pounds and carrying her baby for 18 months, with another four months to go. But what's a few hundred extra pounds to an African elephant?

"Look closely, and you can't even tell that she's pregnant," says Doug Tomkinson, Hogle Zoo's lead elephant keeper, who has cared for Christie since she arrived at the zoo as a curious 2-year-old in 1988.

He grins as he watches the 7,700-pound pachyderm sway back and forth and scoop up hay with her trunk. "She carries it well."

Lately, Tomkinson, 46, has felt like a nervous first-time father as he and other keepers monitor Christie around the clock for any signs of discomfort or change.

"She's like part of my family, one of my girls," he says as Christie, 22, and the zoo's other elephant, Dari, 49, lumber over for some extra attention. "It's always been a thrill and an honor to work with the elephants, but the idea of having a baby around is pretty exciting."

Delighted to share his admiration for elephants and give an update on Christie's gestation, Tomkinson recently joined me for a Free Lunch of grilled chicken salad during a quick break from tending to the zoo's most popular residents.

With only one or two elephants born in captivity in the U.S. every year through artificial insemination, Christie's pregnancy is a rare chance for Tomkinson to follow the birthing process from start to finish.

Providing that all goes well, the elephant will have a 200- to 300-pound newborn sometime this summer, finally ending a two-year pregnancy — the longest on earth.

"It lasts for so long because there's so much development that needs to happen," says Tomkinson. "An elephant's trunk alone has between 25,000 and 100,000 muscles, depending on which expert you listen to. So there's definitely some patience required."

Tomkinson, who started working at the zoo as a teenager during the summer 30 years ago, spends much of his time cleaning up 600 pounds of manure daily, exercising both of the elephants, trimming their nails and teaching Christie behaviors that will help her through the pregnancy.

Because frequent blood draws are required to check the elephant's hormone levels, he had to teach Christie to willingly offer her ear for shots.

He's also watching to make sure she doesn't gain too much weight, hopeful that the gargantuan birth might go a bit smoother.

Christie loves melons and pumpkins and could probably eat them non-stop, rinds and all, in a pachyderm version of the H?gen-Dazs binge. Although Tomkinson can't cater to all of her cravings, he's ever supportive. A few weeks ago, he went on a special diet, too.

Co-workers joke that he's feeling pregnancy sympathy pains, and Tomkinson wonders if they're not far off. "I'm feeling like a proud papa," he admits. "But you can't help but love these elephants. They're good kids."

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