On Monday evening, around 9pm, our growing family sadly lost a member... our kitty Pumpkin had heart failure and passed away very suddenly and unexpected. He was only 5-6 years old, so we figure he had some kind of underlying heart condition no one was able to detect. We all really miss him so much, including Chester cat who was standing in the place they had their last fight (we know he sensed something was wrong with Pumpkin before we knew and was scared) looking for him to come out from under the bed again. In fact we were really all expecting he would just come back. He had a fairly similar episode 7 months ago where he appeared to have a seizure and just got really limp for awhile. Even this time after we knew he was gone, he still looked so much like he was just sleeping we half expected him to get up and scratch on the door. Liam was in bed when everything happened, and as an added blessing slept 12 hours straight that night so we didn't have to get up until 8 am. Neither of us slept well, so we needed it.
To make a long story short, we couldn't bury Pumpkin in our back yard because the dirt was like clay and full of tree roots. I called off work for the day, and we decided to take him up north and bury him on Michael's grandparents' property that has been in the family a long time and is expected to continue to be. The rain was falling for the first time in a long while as we drove up, and after we arrived we found being around family such a blessing and comfort. Liam didn't comprehend what had happened, so all day long he was my sunshine.... bringing happiness and some laughter to a very sad day for Michael and I.
One of the saddest moments for me was actually saying goodbye to our faithful friend for the last time. We showed Liam, who just exclaimed "Kitty, kitty" (in his own way.... it sounds a bit like dee-tee when he says kitty!) and wanted to go snuggle with him and pet him. He also was saying "meow," almost as though he was wondering why his kitty was so quiet. I could tell he was confused as Mommy was crying over his head and Daddy and his cousin were filling the hole in with dirt, but the sweet little guy started to try and help and threw a few clumps of dirt down to fill the hole as well. Then after we took pictures and were about to head back to the house, Liam noticed a dog that was barking at us and began imitating it going "woof, woof!" That made me laugh, I'd never heard him do that before. The place we buried Pumpkin was very nice, and though he never saw it he would have loved it. There are fields around him with plenty of mice and other creatures he would have loved to chase, a tree nearby he would have loved to scratch, and he's going to have flowers planted over the place he rests.
I have named an orange stuffed cat Liam has Pumpkin now in his honor, and will make sure Liam knows all about the cat he may not remember so well but did love.
Last picture taken of Pumpkin about a week ago, while they all were enjoying a little milk.
We all wore orange in Pumpkin's honor
Pumpkin's very pretty resting place
I know if Pumpkin could, he'd be comforting us right now just like he always did when he knew someone was in pain or not feeling well. So I will leave this post on a happy note with the update on the appointment. All the blood work came back perfectly, no problems or concerns. My blood pressure was nice and low, at 109/60 and my weight was up 4 pounds since my last appointment (my weight at that first appointment was about average, so I'm probably not up much more than that overall which is right where I should be). The doctor said everything feels great, and the baby was hanging out fairly low in my pelvis (which is where he/she should be, the placenta is supposed to be on top), with a heart rate was in the 140's.
Our next appointment will be the ultrasound! This comes up on August 16. I'm not sure if we're going to find out the gender of this baby or not yet. I also found out they have my "official" due date as 1/1/11 (based on my last cycle), though the ultrasound had me at 1/6. My doctor said in all the years he's been practicing he's never had the first baby born in the new year, so you never know. He also pointed out what I noticed, that as it is we don't know which year this baby will be born in. It will be very interesting to see indeed!
Also another exciting update is we are going to have our friend Donna be our doula again! She was such a blessing for my first birth, I really wanted her there again if possible. She said her only concern for me this time was just making sure I get to the hospital on time.
Our next appointment will be the ultrasound! This comes up on August 16. I'm not sure if we're going to find out the gender of this baby or not yet. I also found out they have my "official" due date as 1/1/11 (based on my last cycle), though the ultrasound had me at 1/6. My doctor said in all the years he's been practicing he's never had the first baby born in the new year, so you never know. He also pointed out what I noticed, that as it is we don't know which year this baby will be born in. It will be very interesting to see indeed!
Also another exciting update is we are going to have our friend Donna be our doula again! She was such a blessing for my first birth, I really wanted her there again if possible. She said her only concern for me this time was just making sure I get to the hospital on time.
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