23w3d: Baby 1, Cat 0

I brought a cat into our marriage. I got her in the Peace Corps, because I love pets. (Simple as that, although her hunting prowess came in handy in keeping my house mouse-free.) It's very hard to bring dogs home from Africa, but cats don't even need quarantine, just to have their shots. And I knew I could never leave a pet behind, so cat it was, even though I'm more of a dog person.

My cat is extremely affectionate, and very smart. (As opposed to the cat my husband got a few years ago, who is extremely gorgeous and exceedingly stupid. I do love him, but evolution would be scratching its head for sure.) She comes when she's called, but I rarely have to call her since she follows me around. If I am sitting or laying, she is sitting or laying on top of me. We're a bit worried about how she'll react once the boys have stolen "her" lap.

Anyway, last night, she was sitting on my lap, leaning up against my belly, getting ready for a good nap. And Damien kicked her in the head. Her whole head bounced. It was very, very funny. She turned and stared at my belly, all "WTF", and then rested her head again. So Damien kicked her again! At which point she turned and put a paw on my belly, all "Stop that this instant", and he kicked her paw. I was dying from laughter. My kitty took a strategical retreat, curling the other way on my lap with just her feet on my belly, in a lower spot. Atticus chose not to provoke her (he has turned head-down, by the way, which I totally felt and it was awesome and also rather bizarre at the same time, and I think all of his movement may have been what triggered the contractions on Saturday). But Damien totally won that round.

My husband takes much more delight in my moving belly than my kitty does. Starting around 19 weeks, he could feel them occasionally. So starting at around 19w1d, he's had his hand glued to my belly. Usually I love it--it's so nice to see how much he loves his sons already, and we've always been very affectionate with each other, so having his hands on me is nice (especially since we can't have sex). He does have the annoying habit of poking them when they're not moving--or rather, when he can't feel them move. I've tried to explain that they do move more than he can feel (and more than I can feel too, going off the ultrasounds, I probably only feel about 70% of their movements), and also that my belly still contains all my vital organs. So getting thumped inside and out is not always high on my list.

I am beginning to understand how people say "I miss being pregnant" or "I miss having {babyname} inside." The decrease in vomiting, the increase in rest, and in the increase in movement I can feel has really made me start to like being pregnant (finally!). It's kind of impossible to describe how awesome it feels to know for a FACT that there's independent life inside of you, life that kicks and moves and squirms and reacts to being thumped by a cat or a husband.