Ruby + the first kick

I was woken in the middle of the night last night by Ruby our little rescue cat, who climbed up onto the bed and snuggled down in the crook under my arm, face to face with me, purring madly. This was very uncharacteristic Ruby behaviour. She does like to visit us on the bed in the night from time to time, but always prefers to sleep at our feet. Her purring woke me up, so I gave her a pat which sent sent her into a frenzied tractor-engine purr-overload.

After a little while, she made a couple of turns then lay down with her head resting on my belly, still purring fit to wake the dead. But the dead stayed resting, as far as I can tell. Instead, she woke the baby.

I guess the sounds and vibrations of her purrs were amplified inside me because I started to feel little movements in my belly. While I was still wondering "Am I imagining this?" I felt the most definite WHAM of a little foot, a hand or an elbow. Not imagined at all.

This was a moment I'd been waiting for for weeks. It was so special: the dark centre of night, lying in bed next to my husband, cat pillowing her head on my belly and purring, and Baby B wanting a piece of the action.

Then I said "Feel this!" to Mr B who reached across to touch my belly, disturbing Ruby who left the room in a huff, and of course Baby B declined to perform a second time on-demand.

The spell was broken, so we all three Bs sank back into sleep, while Ruby chased shadows in the kitchen.