December 12, 2007
Ah, Nuts
This afternoon Linus is going to The Nutcracker, and I'm not talking about the ballet, if you know what I mean. Upon our return from England we noticed that not only had he grown about ten inches in all directions but he was also displaying the kind of "overfriendly" aggression that is probably not just an innocent game of piggyback-ride-on-sister-cat-while-biting-her-lustily-on-her-scruff, and so we happily scheduled him for a ceremonial chopping of the jingle balls. With any luck, he'll come home with one of those neck cones. We will decorate it with holiday stickers. I know, I know: first a dress, now this! Poor little thing will have to crush extra beer cans on his forehead this weekend if he wants to maintain his tough-guy rep.
And speaking of maintaining one's tough-guy rep, last night we had dinner at the home of some friends who are having their first baby at the end of February, and it was lovely. Simon and I hadn't discussed beforehand whether to bring up the topic of our recent misfortune, and since there aren't any stock hand signals (that I know of) to indicate from across the table that "yes, I'm comfortable talking about my misfiring uterus; are you comfortable talking about my misfiring uterus? then by all means let's talk about my misfiring uterus!", we only went as far as mentioning that we're on the baby train ourselves, and then we basked in our friends' excitement at the possibility of our raising kids at the same time.
This is exactly what we want--for people to be happy for us, not for them to feel sadness or pity or awkwardness about their own good fortune. I'd hate to find out that people were tippytoeing around us, as that means we'd miss out on sharing their happy news. Now, I realize that sometimes another person's happiness is the last thing one wants to hear about when one is feeling down, but in this case, so far, let the happy news come fast and free. Last week, in fact, Simon was telling another friend about the miscarriage and then, when he (Simon) asked how things were going in Friend's life, he found out that Friend and Friend's Wife are having twins in July, right around the time when we were due. Fortunately, my immediate reaction was elation because yay! babies! two babies! Also fortunately, after a few mild and brief but recurring bouts of "why them and not us?" my persisting reaction is still yay! babies! because who doesn't love babies? Also fortunately, these are friends who can take a ribbing, which will really come in handy over the next seven months of our accusations that they stole our baby for their own because one was simply not enough for them, the greedy, theiving bastards. :)
Since pregnancy and parenthood is all about swapping stories and sharing wisdom, last night at dinner we talked a lot about the joys and pains of babymaking, what to expect when you're expecting and what to fear like the wrath of Satan himself. I'll admit to some silent self-back-patting when I got to play the part of wise and all-knowing sage and break the unfortuante news that diapers don't always "contain" as they're designed to do (Jon Spencer Poo Explosion?), but in return they shared a bizarre little factoid with me that I'm really hoping isn't true:
Have you heard about cats peeing on the bed of a pregnant lady? Some reaction to their hormones or something? Apparently this happened to a friend of a friend, and although normally I'd call bullshit immediately because come on, guess what happened the day after we got that positive test result? Eve left a stinky yellow ellipse on the white comforter sometime in the middle of the night. Coincidence? Or DOOOOOOOM?
I have been peed on twice (!) by a friend's evil cat while sleeping (okay, passed out drunk) on her couch. Last time I checked, my womb is still gloriously empty so I am thinking the cat-peeing-on-pregnant-ladies'-beds myth is just that. A myth. Ooohhh maybe you should submit it to Mythbusters.
Posted by: Hills at December 12, 2007 02:03 PMI don't know about the pee of DOOM because our Kitty is not allowed upstairs :)
Don't forget that pregnant women are not to clean the litter box due to the chance of some toxic-something-or-other.
You get nine months of cat-pee freedom!
:)
Posted by: Angella at December 12, 2007 02:05 PMeeeewwwww. Sorry, baby pee and all other things are fine with me, but cat peee - ugh. hee hee
Posted by: Elizabeth at December 12, 2007 02:06 PMOoh, Mythbusters should totally do a show about pregnancy myths. Poor Carrie would have to get knocked up by one of the red-haired dudes, though, which might be awkward...
Posted by: Leah at December 12, 2007 02:06 PMJon Spencer Poo Explosion made me snort. Loudly. Embarassingly. At work.
Posted by: Clink at December 12, 2007 02:18 PMWhoa, pregnant lady smell makes cats pee?! That's so weird.
Posted by: Leaf, probably... at December 12, 2007 02:31 PMWhat would be really funny is if Linus walked around his empty ball sack (you know, the male cat strut) just like Loki still does. I'm not sure he's entirely convinced that there aren't still balls in there.
And yes, we have already discussed the Loki Jealousy Lap Factor, as he's a big fan of laps and won't be a big fan of a Rapidly Disappearing Lap. Eh, we've got a few years before he has to worry about it.
Posted by: Emily at December 12, 2007 03:41 PMAlex never really noticed his balls were gone and no cone for him either. No cones really unless the kitty will lick the area all the time. He just likes to fight and then cuddle. I have a feeling that whenever I get pregnant he'll just use the big belly as a shelf like he does my boobs.
Gabby peed on the bed (in between my legs too) twice but I'm pretty sure I wasn't pregnant at that time.
And I love that you can joke with friends about stealing your baby and all that. That's actually really cool.
Hooray for misfiring girl parts! I'll make fun of yours if you make fun of mine. :)
Posted by: Moose in the Kitchen at December 12, 2007 05:16 PMAaaah, the pee of DOOOOOOM!
I am not sure about the peeing but word has it that cats can sense pregnant ladies and can act a little strange around them. Not having a cat or being currently pregnant means this could just be a load of bollocks! (hah, poor Linus!)
Posted by: Super Sarah at December 12, 2007 07:33 PMSounds like an urban pregnancy myth to me, like how cats will smother babies. We had no feline urine incidents nor did either cat want anything to do with the crib when the baby arrived.
Posted by: jenB at December 12, 2007 10:15 PMI have a neutered male cat (no post-snip lampshade, and he was soooo mellow afterward) and he hasn't peed anywhere inappropriate in either of my pregnancies. I call urban legend.
Posted by: Heather at December 13, 2007 03:51 AMWhen I was pregnant with my daughter, my cat became even MORE lovey with me than he already was. He LOVED my prego belly. When I got really big, he would sit right on top of my stomach and "talk" to my belly and Annabelle (my daughter) would go crazy in the belly!! It was the cutest thing.
And almost 2 years after having her, they are still the best of friends!!
Posted by: Sabrina at December 13, 2007 06:57 AMI don't have a cat, so I can't speak to the pee thing. I vote Mythbusters! I'll volunteer to be the knocked up one (um, because I already am, not because I'm looking to get knocked up by Adam or Jamie, although I did have a pretty crazy dream...oh, dear, TMI).
My dog has been acting weird, but I don't know if it's because he's figured out I'm pregnant or because our house is being remodeled, so we have removed his couch, moved his food bowl, locked him and our other dog in a crate during the day to keep them out from underfoot of the 10 men who invade our home 6 days a week, and taken them (the dogs, not the contractors) camping in a trailer twice in two weeks. Hard to say what's freaking him out. He likes to snuggle near me, too, and I bet my husband money that the first time the baby "kicks" the dog while the dog is next to my belly, he will jump up and freak out. 'Cause that's the kinda dog we have. Good times.
Posted by: Brooke at December 13, 2007 04:52 PM"Nutcracker but not the ballet"?! You are too funny!
Posted by: JennyL at December 13, 2007 06:39 PMCombine all of these and I think a healthy fear of Satan peeing on you is alright.
Posted by: Chris Cactus at December 14, 2007 05:01 AMI was going to say something really witty about explosions and cats, but I keep being identified as spam. It wasn't that clever anyhow.
Posted by: Texas T-bone at December 14, 2007 12:55 PM
