Before I even start this entry, I would like to make it very clear to any novice breeders who may be reading this, that this is NOT the way that babies should be brought into the world and the only reason we managed so well is because we have specifically designed kitten rooms full of equipment that is all organised so that we have everything to hand regardless of what may happen. As you all know, Drambuie supposedly had a honeymoon with Galliano and babies should have been due approximately October 8. Unbeknownst to us, Drambuie had been extremely naughty, as had Galliano, and the two of them had a honeymoon without our knowledge! If you've read her pregnancy diary, you will be very aware that she was absolutely massive and we could not figure out why. The answer now is extremely obvious! I have backtracked dates from when the babies were born and this takes us back to the first week that we moved into our new home here in Oxford. During this week, because we hadn't set up the stud housing for 2 boys, Galliano remained indoors for a week while Sheridans was put outdoors straight away. We couldn't have had Sheridans in the home as he only has to sniff a girl and he has mated her within 2 mintues, to say nothing of the fact that he sprays like you wouldn't believe. We did think it would be safe having Galliano in as prior to that, he had never mated a girl in his life, and we did try to be careful as he was in a room of his own, but obviously, at some point, he escaped and mated Drambuie.

Now as to yesterday's events, I don't know where to begin. We had our day planned, right from start to finish. We were going to get up, have a clean up, and then spend most of the day separating the kitten room so that we could move Cointreau's babies in there with our current older babies. After that, we were going to clip Shelly, our smallest rescue dog as she had not been done since before the move and was looking shaggy. All of this however flew out the window starting during the early hours of the morning, 4:30am to be precise. We woke up to discover that the bed was soaked, mattress, duvet, the lot, so Cointreau had obviously done something she has never done in her life and used the bed instead of the litter tray. So for the next hour, we were changing sheets, trying to find new bedding, cleaning etc. It was 5:30am by the time we finished and tried to get a couple more hours sleep. When we woke up, we had a quick clean of the house, and then searched online at Argos for a new duvet, we managed to find one, and then had to go out to a different branch to collect it as our local one didn't stock it. By the time we came back, we had a cup of coffee, quickly checked emails and was about to start on Shelly when the phone rang. It was our daughter who had gone to Oxford for the day and she had lost her bus ticket which meant she couldn't get home. So the next half hour was spent on the phone to Mo, looking at the map of the town centre area online, so we could direct her to the train station where we would pick her up. Neither of us know this area particularly well at all yet so that was all a bit of a nightmare. We went to collect her, came back home, had another cup of coffee and then managed to clip Shelly. Can I add here that Graham thinks she looks fantastic, I think she looks like an Alien now that she has no hair. I then came into "my room" to try to get some work done on the computer, (it was 4:30am by this stage), when I heard Drambuie make a noise, and I thought I was seeing things as she appeared to be in labour. I took her off the filing cabinet, rushed her into Graham's room next door, placed her on the large bed and had a good look at her. There was a discharge, she was pushing, this girl was definitely in labour! Our daughter ran to the garage to bring a kittening box in for me, I settled Drambuie in that, while Graham and Mo flew upstairs to the kitten room with wire panels to do a very quick job of separating the room. As our day had gone so badly to this point, we had decided we would do this job tomorrow, however, once we realised Buie was in labour, it had to be done straight away so that Cointreau and her babies could move out and Drambuie could move in. While they were up there doing that (and they did a great job considering the circumstances), I was playing midwife. Our daughter was up and down the stairs, helping Graham, and also grabbing kitten things for me as, and when I need them. Drambuie was just an absolute star and she did quite literally, shell the babies like peas. The first baby was born at 1717, breech birth, and Oriental Black, and as per usual, Drambuie did everything, except eat the afterbirth which I removed. She then groomed her baby, let me remove him/her for weighing. I then put the baby back in with her and shortly afterwards, number 2 appeared. Yet another Black, and yet another breech. Again there were no problems at all, and Drambuie did everything. A short while later, number 3 appears, however this baby was rather lifeless, and Drambuie showed very little interest, mainly because she was busy grooming her other 2 children and she was tired. I assisted with number 3 and I broke the sac but the little one was not doing a great deal at all. It was also difficult to get the afterbirth which was still inside and Drambuie wasn't delivering it. Fortunately, I was able to encourage her to push a few more times and as she did, I held the cord firmly with one hand, and gently pulled with the other hand and eventually the afterbirth was delivered and I could free the baby. With some brisk towel drying, the baby was fine and ready to be weighed and placed in with mum. I ran into the kitchen to grab a drink, came back, and number 4 was appearing. By this stage I was desperately hoping this would be the last because even though they had been relatively easy births, Drambuie was feeling exhausted. Again I assisted with this baby, and while Drambuie did remove the sac, she then just wanted to lie down and hug her other children, so I finished off the cord, dried the baby, weighed her, and was over the moon to discover she was a Black Tortie (my favourite colour Ori's as those of you who know me are aware). I placed our girl back in with the rest of the family, ran upstairs to tell Graham, who was on his way down, having finished dividing the room, and he sat down and I told him how it went and said how I hoped that was it as Buie was so very tired. We had a cup of coffee, I went back to the box to have another look, only to discover baby number 5 had started to appear and this time.........an Oriental Red boy :) :) Drambuie seemed to have regained her strength and she removed the sac, cleaned her baby boy, and did the cord so all that was left for me to do was dry baby a bit further and pop him on the scales. I was now praying there would be no more, as was Graham, yet, shortly afterwards, out popped number 6, another Oriental Black. I'm also wondering at this stage how on earth I would ever tell the Blacks apart!!! Again Drambuie did everything, and when I had weighed this baby and gave him/her back, I then took Buie out, quite changed all of the bedding, put the babies back in the box, had a feel of Drambuie and was incredibly relieved to see there were no more. While this was going on, our daughter was rearranging the kitten room and had everything all ready and set up for me so that I could rush upstairs to move Cointreau and the Burps in there. We then cleaned out our room and moved Drambuie and her babies in there. I took food up to Drambuie but she had no interest in eating at all. I went back downstairs, we rushed out to grab a takeaway, ate that, and Graham went upstairs with Drambuie. About an hour later, I also went up there (I was attending to our other babies during this time), scrubbed my hands again, and examined the babies, only to discover that baby number 3 had a bleed from the umbilical cord. I have not ever had this happen in my life but I knew it was a matter of urgency that I tied the cord. I very calmly asked Graham to go into the kitten room and grab me the sterile dental floss, explained exactly where it would be, and how I was spoke so calmly I do not know because inside I was panicking like you wouldn't believe. Graham came back with the dental floss, it took us about 5 minutes to manage to tie the floss around the cord and I was just praying I was not too late and the baby would be okay. We continued to check on the babies and Drambuie every half hour and Drambuie was rather happy now that she was upstairs in our wardrobe in the dark with her children and by 2am, when I checked them for the last time, all 6 babies were trying to feed, and Drambuie was looking very proud of herself. When we woke up first thing in the morning, I was delighted to see the babies were still feeding, sleeping, fighting for nipples, even our little "cord" baby. It is very early days and it's a critical time for all 6 babies, I would ask for any prayers that they will all be okay, particularly "cord" baby.

As they were born so late in the afternoon (hopefully this will make sense), their Day 1 kitten diary entry will not go online until Monday morning, because on Sunday, they are officially not a day old until after 1730, whereas on Monday morning, they will still only be one day old.

There are virtually no photos, because obviously, considering that it was an emergency labour, the camera was the very last thing on my mind. Now, have I learnt anything from this situation? Yes I have! Never, ever, assume that just because an older boy has never mated a girl, that he never will. This accident should never have happened and was our own fault for not being more careful. Thank goodness that we always have everything prepared as standard, because had that not been the case, all of this could have gone quite badly. We were also extremely lucky that we happened to be home (although we wouldn't been anywhere far as we have other babies in the home), and that Drambuie went into labour during the day when I was in the same room as her and knew what was happening. When I think about the other possible outcomes, I am very grateful that we had it so easy and this is why I said at the beginning for novice breeders, that this is definitely not the right way to bring babies into the world, so please use this as an example of what not to do because matings should be done properly with recorded dates so that you are fully aware of when babies are due. Sunday has been spent monitoring Buie's babies, and spending time with our other litters, as well as doing mountains, and mountains of washing, a trip to Tesco's and a mountain of ironing. Thank you so very much to Graham, as well as our daughter, for all their hard work while the birth was going on, and for all the little jobs they did such as the normal litter trays, the boys in the stud house, and and the general running of the household, and thank you to God for giving us the strength to cope with our emergency birth. Tonight (Sunday night), I am going to collapse in bed, with a glass of wine (and my husband), and just totally chill out. Of course I will still be doing half hourly checks on our new children. Thank you also to Maureen for yet again taking control of Siamese Cat Chat without any help from me and for doing such a superb job with it.