We are now up to Day 66, taken from the 2nd day of mating and we did think that Toussaint would have given birth by now. So just to give you all a very quick update, Toussaint has been very quiet, and very uncomfortable day. She's been changing positions an awful lot and the baby on her left hand side has been over active so hopefully, please God, she will give birth tonight. If she has not gone into labour by Monday, then we will take her into our vets on Monday morning.

Please keep checking back within the next 24 hours for any news.

One more week left to go and it's going to be a hell of a week. This afternoon, Toussaint decided she must have already given birth and that the Oceans are in fact, her children. She is so adamant that this is the case that she has been grabbing all the Oceans, dragging them down the stairs, plonking them in a bed and sitting there with them feeding them. I don't need to tell you that so close to her own labour, she should not be feeding children as problems could arise. This has meant we've had to separate her totally from the Oceans so she is now in our bedroom. However, she is howling and crying at the door, desperate to get out to "her" children. It doesn't help that up until this point I have not had a nesting box set up for her so I've had a mad panicked rush to get that organized this afternoon.

I have noticed, and you may be able to tell by the photos below, that Toussaint is not particularly big considering she has just 7 days to go until she gives birth. Having looked at her, and felt her, I'd be surprised if she gave us any more than 3 babies, mind you, I'm perfectly happy with just 2 or 3, that would be ideal in fact. We will know soon enough however.

I'm not certain whether or not we will be able to fit one more diary entry in before Toussaint gives birth so check back from the 18th onwards for either another diary entry, or for the birth announcement.

Nothing eventful has happened during the past week with Toussaint's pregnancy, she has expanded a little bit more but I don't believe she is as large this time around as she was with her previous litter. Mind you, if she gives us just 2 or 3 kids that will be perfectly fine. She managed to disgrace herself this morning by peeing on our bed which we are not impressed with at all as you can imagine.

As Toussaint only has approximately 15 days left, she has started looking for somewhere to nest and has managed to get herself stuck between our wardrobe and a wooden unit on 2 occasions now. We were lying in bed and wondering what the "scratchy" noise was and why the wardrobe doors were moving so I got out of bed to have a look and somehow Toussaint had squeezed into the narrow gap in front of the wardrobe and was well and truly stuck. She was too fat to get back out (so how did she get in?) so I had to open the wardrobe door to give her more space so that she could come back out. Sure enough, she then did it again a few hours later. If she thinks that is where she's going to give birth she can think again!

We shall see what this week brings and how much more Mrs Preggy Eggy will expand. So far however, everything is going just fine.

Six weeks into the pregnancy and everything is going exactly as it should and I'm pleased that Toussaint has gotten over her fascination with the front doormat. During the past week Toussaint has become very close to Cacao and Drambuie and it's not unusual to see all 3 Black Tortie's either curled up on our bed, or curled up in a bunk bed together.

There's no sign of any movement from the babies yet but I wouldn't expect that until Week 7 at the very earliest however it's obvious that they are growing because Toussaint is expanding quite nicely. I'm going to go with 4, maybe 5 babies, no more than 5 and no less than 4. This is just a guess and time will tell.

Toussaint has been doing lots of underbelly grooming this week in order to thin out the hair around the nipples so that when her children are born they will have easy access to the milk bar. It's really important that Toussaint is getting as much food as she wants to eat, with as many nutrients as possible and so I'm keeping a careful eye on her food intake and am ensuring that the raw meals continue to remain balanced. Like our previous raw fed pregnancies, I will not be supplementing Toussaint at all during her pregnancy because she is getting everything she needs from her raw meals.

There are no photos in today's pregnancy diary, in fact, the diary didn't go online until much later than it should have due to me being incredibly busy and running about like a headless chicken! I tell you that I will be so relieved when we reach February 2010 and things will be "normal"! Just a few more months to get through.....................somehow.

At 5 weeks into the pregnancy Toussaint's appetite has started to increase and she is eating more of her set meals and I am now offering her extra meals during the day as well, some of which she eats, others she doesn't. She really is doing so very well although for the past week she has decided she is going to live on the front door mat. I have no idea why but every time I've been downstairs, Toussaint has been lying on the door mat, perfectly happy and content with life, and I did have that whole "Are you sure you are comfortable there dear?" conversation with her and she assured me that she was extremely comfortable where she was.

I have compared "5 week photos" taken last year when Toussaint was pregnant and she is no bigger and no smaller than she was at this stage during her previous pregnancy and I guess time will tell as to how many babies she gives us. Me? I'm happy with 3 or 4, that would be perfect.

Toussaint had no intentions whatsoever of getting out of bed, or even stretching or standing up to show off her expanding tummy. She was too cosy and too warm so today's photos are not particularly exciting.

At 4 weeks into the pregnancy there are very little changes although her tummy expanded a little bit more. Her energy levels are exactly the same as they always are and despite her tummy being larger now, it has not stopped her from leaping straight up from the floor into my arms. She really is doing so very well and is in optimum condition. Her appetite has not really increased yet but I wouldn't expect it to so early on and I am certain that once we reach the Week 5 stage that she will start having more meals.

During the evening she has been coming into the bedroom for some lovely cuddle time, along with Cacao, Drambuie, and Cointreau which is really nice. Even now there have been no pregnancy hormonal issues and Toussaint has continued to be her usual sweet, loving, self and she's not been cranky with any of the other cats at all.

It would appear that "Mr Sperm Bank" as Julie calls Ashanti, has done it yet again because Toussaint is most definitely pregnant and this became apparent when she pinked up a couple of days ago. I'm so excited at the thought of another "Roundabouts" litter with some lovely Red Spotted boys. Litters with Reds in them are so very special, they are, as I say, "Affection and Sunshine wrapped up in a red fur coat". Of course, we have to safely get through the next six weeks first!

Toussaint is taking this pregnancy in her stride, as she always does, and she is now having very little to do with the Oceans. She knows that she has tiny children of her own growing inside her so she is leaving the mothering duties of her grand children to Afrikoko and their other adopted mothers. We've had no cranky hormonal pregnancy issues with Toussaint, something that often happens when a queen is approximately 3 weeks into the pregnancy. Instead, she is just as loving and adoring as she has always been. Obviously her dietary intake has not increased at all because it's far too early for that and so she is still having her standard 2 raw meals per day however she is also snacking on the Oceans's meals as well.

You can't really tell much by the few photos below but Toussaint was up on top of the fish tank with Xaica, mainly due to warmth, but also due to the fact that it's high up there and the Oceans can't pester her :) She is positively blooming though and even though it is still very early days, I'm delighted with her progress.