Not really a great deal to tell at all. All The R's have done is eat and sleep and clamber all over their mum. I'm thrilled that my little Gino made a very significant weight gain in the last 24 hours. His biggest yet so I'm really very pleased. It's such a relief. The other 5 babies are all making good gains as well although Danny is definitely the biggest piggy of them all! There always has to be one in the litter who is a little gobbler and ours is Danny. Rosie only gained 5 grams yesterday (she is our 2nd smallest girl) so I'll be keeping an eye on her throughout the day to make sure she is getting a good nipple. I actually managed to get individual photos of The R's today, mind you, I had to put Tia out of the room to take them! Still, at least you will know now which baby I am talking about when I call them by name. The photos are done in order of their weights, with the smallest being first. Birchy flat out refused to cooperate for photo time and would not open his eyes at all. So let me assure you that he does actually have eyes, 2 of them in fact. I went into the kitten room this afternoon to find 2 cords lying in the bed (too much information?). They're always very noticeable because I do have this tendency to leave them too long. They tend to remind me of a spider's leg at first glance which I fnd really gross. After peering at tails for hours on end today (I don't have a life obviously) I saw the faintest of stripes coming through so it looks like at least one tabby so far. I don't know who it was though because The R's were all bunched up together with tails poking out here and there, sometimes it's really difficult to match a tail to a head when they huddle up. I hope I'm right as I'm really looking forward to having some tabby babies.

This means that our little ones will now be referred to collectively as "The R's". Little Gino is doing really well still, and I'm starting to believe that he is out of danger, although he is being monitored very closely. I am thrilled to see that The R's have colour starting to come through quite quickly now on their ears and their tails. Just like our previous litters, I'm reminded again what time wasters the babies can be. It's so easy to just sit in the kitten room gazing at them for hours on end while nothing gets done around the house. In the next day or two, I will try to get individual photos of The R's so that you all know exactly who is who.

I do have some good news today and that is the fact that my cast has now been removed and I have 2 working feet again. It's such a huge relief although it does feel a bit weird. As I write this entry I'm sitting here with my foot in the foot spa and really enjoying it :) Our other small baby is definitely holding it's own (we will endeavour to try and sex them today at long last) and I'm pleased to say that he/she hasn't lost any weight. Having said that, he/she hasn't had any significant weight gains either but while ever there's no loss then we have a good chance. I was pleased to see that his/her eyes were fully open today which for some strange reason has given me a lot of hope. The others are all doing really, really well and are feeding just fine. Tia's is very thorough when it comes to grooming them all which doesn't impress the babies a great deal, particularly as she waits until they're latched on before she cleans them which makes them fall off the nipples. Once we've determined the gender of the babies, we shall name them and hubby already has a list of names lined up.

It's been a very heartbreaking day as I lost one of my little babies this morning and to be honest with you, doing today's entry is tearing my heart out. I am so sad about my loss and am finding it really hard to deal with at the moment. This particular baby was a lot smaller than the rest of the litter and I had been up until the early hours of the morning latching that baby on as well as topping him/her up. I truly thought that we were going to win the battle and was devastated when I went in for the 2nd time this morning to find the little one had gone on to Rainbow Bridge. I have spent most of the morning in tears and every time I go and see the litter I am reminded of it. On the other hand, so far our remaining 6 babies are doing okay, there is still one baby who is smaller than the others, however I'm hoping with much help he/she will make it through. I know that I should be grateful for our remaining babies and what I have to do now is concentrate on the rest of the litter and just pray that we don't lose any more but I won't ever forget my special baby who is now in a better place. I must say a special thanks to my husband for his strength and support which has helped me get through the day. Also, thank you to my many SCOC friends who have been so supportive throughout the day. It's really appreciated. Cathy was kind enough to phone me to have a chat and patiently sat on the other end of the phone while I sobbed my heart out which helped more than she will ever know. As you can see from below I have managed to sort out the photo situation and these photos were taken a short while ago.

Another 48 hours have passed and so far so good. We still haven't sexed them yet but to be honest with you, my only concerns right now are getting them all through the first few days, or week even. We do have one little one who is not quite as robust as the others, although the baby is doing well, however I am keeping a close eye on that one in particular. I was surprised for two reasons when I went into the kitten room this morning. The first was that some of the babies eyes are opening now which to me is surprising as they are only 2 days old. I'm sure if I spoke with other breeders though they would tell me this isn't uncommon. It's really lovely to see tiny little eyes in their little faces. The other reason I was surprised (although I shouldn't have been) is that Tia has already moved the babies out of the box. At some point during the evening, she took each baby out of the box and placed them all in the hooded cat bed that sits on the sofa. They're very comfortable in their new home and there's also another bed on the sofa as well as some teddy bears. I did have to put some bedding on the floor though on the off chance one of the babies falls off the sofa. I don't think that will happen though as Tia watches their every move constantly. Still it's better to be safe than sorry. I am hoping to get something sorted out tomorrow in the way of photos (if for no other reason than to prove that we do actually really have babies). Tia has been eating quite a lot over the last 24 hours and I'm really pleased because she does need to keep her strength up. Having said that, she is looking really good at the moment. She really has made my job a lot easier this time around and truly is just the perfect mother.

Well we're thrilled that all 7 babies made it through the night and are so far doing really well. I'm trying not to interfere at all as I want Tia and the babies to work out their own "feeding" times and to be settled. Having said that, I have so far twice topped up a few of the smaller babies. They were all moved out of our room into the kitten room today. The babies seem to feed in shifts, some will feed while others sleep and then it changes around. Tia has been getting to know them all really well today by grooming each and every single kitten over and over and sniffing them all. Fortunately, because she trust me so much, she has no problems with me removing the babies for any necessary top ups. Weighing at the moment is an absolutely nightmare to be honest. The babies were all marked with marker pens, but within 24 hours, the marks had come off. I remarked them again today, but already, it's fading so I am having quite a problem. We still haven't sexed the babies yet so I guess we must get around to doing that soon. A lot of the time today was spent rearranging shelves and taking all the kitten and birth equipment into the kitten room, as well as countless loads of washing, and naturally, gazing in adoration at our precious little babies. There's no photos at the moment, because even though I've taken a couple, I don't have my system up and running to download the images. Hopefully this will soon be sorted and I can get back to normal but it will be a few days yet I think.

At the moment, diary updates will be very difficult as I'm currently without a computer so until that time, the updates will be done "as and when". Tia had a relatively easy time of the birth again for which we are extremely grateful. We were absolutely stunned to see the arrival of 7 babies. Tia was happy to break the sacs on the first 2, however, the cords were left up to me but I was expecting that anyway to be honest. The babies are doing really well and are feeding from mum and Tia is incredibly settled and content thank goodness. Her demeanor is so much different this time around and we are so very proud of her. Tia did an absolutely amazing job throughout and I had some lovely cuddles with her last night as her babies were all asleep so she came out of the box for a bit of a stretch and cuddles from me. She was funny last night because after she got back into the box, she automatically started counting the babies to make sure they were still all there. All of a sudden she let out a squeal and when I had a look, I figured out it was because she could only count 6 of them. The reason for this is that she had sat on the 7th baby by mistake!! Needless to say once I removed the baby from underneath her, she was perfectly happy again. It's not a particularly long entry as we are rather tired as you can imagine and there's not a great deal to say other than mum and babies are doing really well and we are just glad that it's over. 7 babies is the largest litter we have had and all we are hoping for at the moment is that all babies will make it through the next few days as it's such a crucial time for them.

Click Here to read Tia's Pregnancy Diary.