Pets and pregnant women

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I spent much of the day at the barn today, watching a playday from a comfy chair while one of my horses was tied near me, grazing happily on lush green grass and enjoying the goings-on.

Ana, the Arabian, has always been very attached to me. Even though I gave her extra lead rope, she still grazed right next to (or in front of) me. Apparently the best grass was right under my feet, literally–she’d push my boots out of the way. She would not stay away from me. (Normally she likes to be near me, but it’s more of an 8-foot radius of being near me–not practically in my lap the whole time.) She repeatedly nuzzled me–I had horse muzzle in my ear a few times–and I just giggled and pet her a lot and just saw it as her being her normally attached self, just moreso.

That was a bit unusual, even for Ana, but the one that was drastically different to me was Firefly. Firefly (a miniature horse with a total chihuahua-“big little dog” type attitude) can be a complete butt. She rarely shows any sign of affection to me. But today, she, too, would NOT leave me alone. When I switched horses (putting Ana away and taking Firefly out to watch the show), she was almost literally in my lap the whole time. I scratched her behind her ears, rubbed her face, etc., and she just stayed with me. She wouldn’t even graze on the grass–she was just right next to me and staring or nuzzling. That’s really weird for Firefly, the organic lawnmower. (She had been grazing on the property for over an hour, though, so maybe she was grazed out…if that’s possible.)

Now, to be fair, I had cookies in my pocket at first–but I scattered them on the ground and the girls gobbled them up, so it’s not like mooching was getting them treats or that there were still more hidden on me somewhere.

They were both very interested in my (very active) 8+ month preggo belly, sniffing and such. It started to weird me out–“What is it, Lassie? Timmy fall down a well? No? WHAT? I’m going into labor tomorrow??” I’ve been around both horses this entire pregnancy, and it was like TODAY they noticed. There had been zero change in them to this point.

Oh, and for the record, both of the cats have to be right next to me when I nap now. Not unusual for overly-attached Inigo, but Mija hates me…so now I’m a bit tripped out.

Any of you have experience with animals treating you (or your spouse/lover) differently when you were pregnant? Am I just hormonally whacked and imagining things?

Maybe I’m just so round I look like a big ripe apple.

2

I’ve never been pregnant, nor will I ever be, but I was once an embryo and I’ve been told that during such time the two cats just couldn’t get enough of me.

3

Shortly before both of my deliveries, my yellow lab (who loves me enough as it is) became very clingy. Very clingy.

The first time around I ended up laying down for a nap ( I was one week away from the Big Day) and the dog practically burrowed into me for nap time space as well. ( She is more of a 'let mama lay down and I shall take whatever space is left over." kinda dog. She had never done that before.

The second time around (again, a week before the Estimated Due Date) I took the cue when Murph got all weirded out and took a nap ( burrowing into me again) and woke up to my water breaking.

She hasn’t burrowed into me since.
Coincidence?
I don’t think so.

4

My cat Muffin could seek out the pregnant woman in a room of strangers and would get very friendly…normally she would avoid people who might be visiting, but just let a pregnant woman sit down, and she’d be all over her. If fact, one time I commented to a friend (who was receiveing a lot of attention from Muffin at that moment) that she only did that with pregnant women, and my friend said, “well, I found out yesterday that I am!”

She was a very affectionate cat with me at all times, but really seemed to need to be sitting on my belly as much as possible when I was pregnant.

5

At 5 months pregnant, my girl cat has to come to bed with me, and she curls up right against my expanding belly to sleep. She never started doing this until I got pregnant, so it’s really sweet to me. I think she felt a small kick the other night, though, because she jumped about two feet in the air and did a spin on the bed just as the baby gave me a good whack. THAT was funny. :smiley:

My boy cat’s not too different, but he’s always been extremely loveable and has always wanted to be right on top of me all the time anyway.

One thing that I love - we rented a Doppler so that I can listen to the heartbeat at home (paranoia and all that jazz), and my girl cat will go NUTS when she sees me pick it up. She’ll run over and sit next to me while I find the heartbeat, and then sit and listen rapturously when we find it. I don’t know if she just likes the rhythmic part of it, or what, but noises usually scare the crap out of her, so this is different.

E.

6

Maybe they are indeed on to something.

Very potyent contractions woke me up around 4am. Cramping I’ve felt in the past has been irregular and mild, kind of like reight before my period begins.

These were strong (more like on the worst, crampiest day of my period) and had a definite start/stop pattern to them. I got up to distract myself at the computer and they subsided. Maybe the animals could smell or sense something, who knows.

All I gotta say is baby pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease wait at least 24 hours…the contractor is coming at 8:30 to resurface the guest bathtub/shower and the master shower! If I go into labor before he’s done, I’ll have no where to clean myself off…or more importantly, sit, relax, and heal post-partum…

7

WTH…apparently the early-morning wake up call interrupted my brain and spelling functions.

potyent = potent

reight = right

Y’all probably already know that, but the teacher in me HAS to correct it…

8

Yikes. Hope everything goes well for you! Remember, you can always kick your contractor out; I think having to give birth is a pretty good excuse :wink: Just say “Excuse me, but could you hold on a sec? I need to have my baby.”

Do hormone levels spike right before labour or something?

9

Our cat Moe used to get all over Iris when she was pregnate. He would sleep on her and get all over her. He pretty much ignored me for a couple of months. Now that the baby is here he’s come back to sitting on my lap and sleeping with me or between us. He’s pretty much left the baby alone though.