Progress reports - cats, dogs and great grandsons

I’m pleased to report that Bussie is now back to his normal self. He is eating – well, not as much as he used to, but that’s no bad thing, and has taken over reign of the bottom bunk, as normal.

Unfortunately (for him), my mother is arriving late this afternoon and given that we have a one bedroom flat, she sleeps on the sofa bed in the lounge, and the bunks are where she puts her case and clothes. You can imagine how Bussie is going to like that.

The Itching Moggie is no longer itching but the anti inflammatory pills (or antihistamines, whatever they are) have turned our bouncy girl into a very quiet, lethargic girl which is extremely unnerving. She didn’t even want to go for a walk yesterday which is unheard of. I persevered, as my back was hell from sitting in front of the computer for too long, and after a while she enjoyed it, but she is really not herself. Still, she's stopped itching which is the main thing and she won’t be on the drugs for much longer.

Going back to yesterday’s post, it turns out that my friend’s 19 year old grandson took his 19 year old, very pregnant and terrified girlfriend to hospital the previous night but they told her to go home as she wasn’t ready.

‘He rang yesterday to ask how he could tell if his girlfriend’s waters have broken if she’s in the bath,’ said N. breathlessly. This was when she told him to time the contractions and ring her back.

‘I should think they were both petrified,’ I said, thinking of myself at 19. Utterly hopeless. Who knows much about childbirth at that age? And not a parent in sight.

‘Exactly,’ said N (an ex-nurse, which is one of the reasons why her grandson rang. Another reason, I suspect, is that she wouldn’t panic). ‘Poor lad – he said the contractions were 4 minutes apart but luckily they were able to get an ambulance, got to hospital and she gave birth 3 hours later.’ She paused. ‘I’m now great grandmother of a 6 ¾ pound boy.’

‘Congratulations,’ I said, though from her voice I wasn’t sure whether commiserations would have been more appropriate. ‘How are you feeling? I don’t suppose you got much work done after that.’

‘I’ve been trying to write all day, and now I’m exhausted.' She gave a hooting laugh. 'I feel like taking my false teeth out and going to bed.’