"Do you know how?"

[Pandora]

My DH and I had been married about three years, and we had to live with my in-laws briefly in between moves.  His mother began CONSTANTLY dropping hints about having grandchildren.  Well, lo and behold, I got pregnant while we were living there, in their basement (we slept on the fold-out sofa bed.)  We were trying to hold off telling them immediately, but just a day or so later, MIL was harassing us again about how she is never going to have grandchildren.  My DH turned to me and "I have to tell her before I explode!"  So he did.  I have never seen that little woman jump and dance and scream and cry so much.  It was great.  But it was funny when she finally calmed down and realized exactly WHERE the baby must have been conceived.

I don't think I've seen her sit on that sofa since.   

 I would think she'd be thrilled. 

[Pandora]

I think most cats will naturally move away from the really ugly, hairless kitten the bad humans brought into its home. 

However, I have say we got a little bit worried when our Cleo, the craziest of our two cats, decided the cradle was the best place to sleep. We had to make sure all doors to the baby's room were closed because we didn't really want a) a cat in with the baby - they are quite warm animals and temperature control is really important for small babies nor b) the cat hair in the cradle.

Now as DD is no longer a baby, we're quite happy for them to nap together in her bed. Cleo's happy too - apart from when DD wants to give her cuddles.

 I had one cat who was frequently found sleeping in DD's room and sometimes the crib, though he never actually tried to cuddle up against her. My guess is he was attempting to acquaint himself with the new pride member, and to let the new member learn of the other members of the pride.

[DangerMouth]

Older kids, and kids with severe traumas in their past are really really hard to place, but it's always in their best intrest to find a "forever family". And 40-50 isn't really over the hill just yet  . My aunt is nearly 60, and adopted a pair of boys (both with Downs Syndrome) from the Ukraine two years ago.

As the mom of a little boy with Down Syndrome, I bless your aunt.

When DS1 was born, welcomed and loved from day one, my great aunt told me a sad little story no one else in the family had known. She was retired at that point, but had worked as a nurse for years ... including at a women's hospital in the nursery unit. A little girl was born with Down Syndrome and her family had ... refused to take her home.    This was probably about 40-plus years ago, and I know times are different, but ...

Great aunt wanted to adopt her. The authorities wouldn't let her. A single 30-something-year-old woman as a single mom? The scandal! To this day, she still wonders what happened to that little girl.

Such a pity. That child would have had such a wonderful life.

Have you read the novel The Memory Keeper's Daughter? The story is very much like that, except it's twins, a boy without Down Syndrome and a girl with it. This being the early 1960's, the mother was put under anesthesia during the birth, and when her husband, a doctor, sees that the baby girl has Down Syndrome, he tells a nurse to take her to a "home" and tells his wife the girl died. The book tells the story of the family and how that choice impacted all their lives. It's a very good book, but so sad, especially when you realize that people really did things like that.

I read that, it was a great book!

[ch1pch0p]

My cats never tried to get in the crib with any of my babies, but they'd get in my lap when I was holding one....

I'm currently pregnant, and my cat insists on sitting on my lap every chance she gets. I'm just waiting for her to get kicked through my stomach. I can't wait to see the reaction!

[Asharah]

I read a story once about a mother who says her cat saved the baby's life. The baby had been a preemie and the mother took her to the doctor when she developed a cold. The doctor told her she was overracting and sent her home. She put the baby to bed and went in the other room. Then she heard an eerie screaching coming over the baby monitor. She rushed in to find the baby gasping and turning blue and the cat standing on the changing table shreaking into the baby monitor.

[LeeLee88]

I read a story once about a mother who says her cat saved the baby's life. The baby had been a preemie and the mother took her to the doctor when she developed a cold. The doctor told her she was overracting and sent her home. She put the baby to bed and went in the other room. Then she heard an eerie screaching coming over the baby monitor. She rushed in to find the baby gasping and turning blue and the cat standing on the changing table shreaking into the baby monitor.

Oh chills.  Good story, Asharah!

[Reika]

I can believe the story Asharah shared. My cat-mom, Snowball, would always let mom know when I was awake and before I could vocalize the fact myself.

And when I wasn't feeling well, she made sure mom knew about that too, but never to the degree the other baby was.

[Hushabye]

My cats never tried to get in the crib with any of my babies, but they'd get in my lap when I was holding one....

I'm currently pregnant, and my cat insists on sitting on my lap every chance she gets. I'm just waiting for her to get kicked through my stomach. I can't wait to see the reaction!

Both of ours have been like this since we found out.  I'm not sure how they know, but I'll be darned -- they do indeed seem to!

[Black Delphinium]

My cats never tried to get in the crib with any of my babies, but they'd get in my lap when I was holding one....

I'm currently pregnant, and my cat insists on sitting on my lap every chance she gets. I'm just waiting for her to get kicked through my stomach. I can't wait to see the reaction!

Both of ours have been like this since we found out.  I'm not sure how they know, but I'll be darned -- they do indeed seem to!

A friend of mine was told by her OB-GYN that cats can smell the "pregnancy hormones" and that they calm skittishish kitties.

[Corbin]

My cats never tried to get in the crib with any of my babies, but they'd get in my lap when I was holding one....

I'm currently pregnant, and my cat insists on sitting on my lap every chance she gets. I'm just waiting for her to get kicked through my stomach. I can't wait to see the reaction!

Both of ours have been like this since we found out.  I'm not sure how they know, but I'll be darned -- they do indeed seem to!

I don't know about you two, but when I was pregnant I was a human radiator. I am usually cold all the time, but suddenly I was just HOT. I always figured my cats were just cuddling up to the warmest thing in the house...

[mechtilde]

My cats never tried to get in the crib with any of my babies, but they'd get in my lap when I was holding one....

Mine knew before I did. They kept sniffing me, almost obsessively.
I'm currently pregnant, and my cat insists on sitting on my lap every chance she gets. I'm just waiting for her to get kicked through my stomach. I can't wait to see the reaction!

Both of ours have been like this since we found out.  I'm not sure how they know, but I'll be darned -- they do indeed seem to!

A friend of mine was told by her OB-GYN that cats can smell the "pregnancy hormones" and that they calm skittishish kitties.

[Hushabye]

My cats never tried to get in the crib with any of my babies, but they'd get in my lap when I was holding one....

I'm currently pregnant, and my cat insists on sitting on my lap every chance she gets. I'm just waiting for her to get kicked through my stomach. I can't wait to see the reaction!

Both of ours have been like this since we found out.  I'm not sure how they know, but I'll be darned -- they do indeed seem to!

A friend of mine was told by her OB-GYN that cats can smell the "pregnancy hormones" and that they calm skittishish kitties.

If that's true, that's really, really cool!  I'm like catnip for the next few months! 

Corbin, it's not for the warmth most of the time -- I've still been huddling under the throw in the living room when the A/C is on because I get cold fast.  They're just goobers.

[Kendo_Bunny]

I actually haven't been bothered about grandchildren lately, which seems a little odd. I've been dating the same young man for almost five years, and around our first anniversary, my stepmother kept on pestering me about when we were going to get married and start having children, even though I had just turned 20 and wasn't through school yet. For the last two years, though, she's dropped it, though she has taken to hinting that I need to find a new gentleman friend - presumably one who will just marry and impregnate me already.

I asked my dad about it and he explained that she wanted me to start having grandkids when her first grandkid was new (he was born two weeks after my sweetie and I got together), partially from the excitement of grandbabies and partially because she thought Dad would be more active with grandbabies if he had a biological one. This is ridiculous, because my dad is indifferent to babies. He's exceedingly fond of my stepsister's son now that he can talk and play, but until then, he just didn't really care. He's done the same with my stepbrother's child and with my stepsister's other child - he'll hold them and smile when they're babies, but he likes them better when they're children. I have no reason to believe he will be any different with a blood relative.

[Kimblee]

My cats never tried to get in the crib with any of my babies, but they'd get in my lap when I was holding one....

I'm currently pregnant, and my cat insists on sitting on my lap every chance she gets. I'm just waiting for her to get kicked through my stomach. I can't wait to see the reaction!

Both of ours have been like this since we found out.  I'm not sure how they know, but I'll be darned -- they do indeed seem to!

A friend of mine was told by her OB-GYN that cats can smell the "pregnancy hormones" and that they calm skittishish kitties.

Hmm... I wonder if pregnant ladies would be good at catching ferals then?

Sorry, a lack of caffine makes me think weird stuff.

[Corbin]

My cats never tried to get in the crib with any of my babies, but they'd get in my lap when I was holding one....

I'm currently pregnant, and my cat insists on sitting on my lap every chance she gets. I'm just waiting for her to get kicked through my stomach. I can't wait to see the reaction!

Both of ours have been like this since we found out.  I'm not sure how they know, but I'll be darned -- they do indeed seem to!

A friend of mine was told by her OB-GYN that cats can smell the "pregnancy hormones" and that they calm skittishish kitties.

Hmm... I wonder if pregnant ladies would be good at catching ferals then?

Sorry, a lack of caffine makes me think weird stuff.

I have had the memorable experience of trying to catch a litter of half-grown, feral kittens that had moved into my garage...it was more work than any military obstacle course I have ever done. The mental image of a team of very pregnant ladies trying to climb around catching kittens has me in hysterics. I love it.