I’m eight weeks and five days pregnant. Go team! I was very tired through weeks six and seven but now I’m just feeling a bit bloated. I haven’t really had any proper morning sickness, just a few brief moments where I felt a little icky but having something to eat or drink was enough to fix it. We’re booked in to have our first ultrasound on Friday. I’m so excited!

And as if that isn’t enough excitement, we’re getting married! In forty-six days! Gah! It’s been a very busy week trying to get everything booked and ready for our big day. We have picked the venue and the celebrant but currently have no idea if either one is available. We’ll go there on Saturday to take a look and make bookings if possible. Please please please let it be available! I’ve got the phone number for the jeweller my sister’s husband used and will try to get an appointment to see him on Thursday night. I don’t expect it will be too difficult to make our rings and hopefully will only take a couple of weeks to do. I’ve ordered the most beautiful wedding dress and should have it later this week. Given I’ll be fourteen weeks by then, I’ve ordered a larger size dress to cover the baby bump.

Today I booked our honeymoon — ten days on Hamilton Island and this morning I put baby on the waiting list for a day care placement. I’ve asked for a spot for November 2009 but am hoping we’ll get a spot without too many problems.

And incase you’re wondering, Kitty is doing really well. The vet increased her insulin to 3 units twice per day and this brought her blood sugar level to 6. We now give her slightly less than 3 units just to try to keep her at around 7-8 which keeps her safe from potentially deadly hypos.

Following almost an hour of Managing your Diabetic Cat 101 and plenty of Q&A, Kitty came home last night. The vet elected to skip the evening shot and suggested we start fresh with 2 units of insulin at 6.30am tomorrow morning. We went home with a heap of U40 syringes, insulin, glucose powder and strict instructions to buy more glucose powder asap – it’s for mixing with a little warm water and syringing into Kitty’s mouth if she has a hypo. Scary stuff!

Kitty has a shaved patch on her neck and we think this might’ve been the vet looking for a thyroid problem but I keep forgetting to ask her! She also has a shaved paw, and a very big dark red bruise from the blood tests. My poor little darling, seeing it just breaks my heart into a million pieces.

Our first shot this morning went really well. We were up at 5.30am and made our own breakfast first — vegemite on toast and coffee to ensure we had the prerequisite B12, complex carbohydrates and caffeine necessary to take on such a daunting task before the sun is even out. I gave both cats a little tin of fish each which they thought was absolutely wonderful because tins of fish are normally only appear on their dinner menu. They gobbled it down while we set out the insulin, inverting the vial carefully so as not to drop it or shake up the contents. I unwrapped a fresh syringe and carefully withdrew two units from the vial. It took a bit of work to remove the air bubble then the Boy coaxed Kitty over and she happily sat still while he injected the insulin into her scruff. Next came the treats — Cravers, which are her all time favourite and then lots of pats and cuddles. She didn’t show any signs of distress and seemed perfectly happy with the process.

I have to say that I am so relieved. I really felt that the hardest part would be the injections because I imagined she would be very distressed by it and that was distressing me. In reality she didn’t seem to mind. The vet had asked that we call her to let her know how we went and she was very glad to hear that we’d been able to give the injection, and that we’d all survived the ordeal. It’s almost 6pm now, and I’ll be giving Kitty her dinner shortly followed by another shot of insulin. We’ll do this every day, with no BSL testing until next Saturday when we return to the vet for a check up. I thought it a bit strange and it does feel as though we are flying blind, but the vet doesn’t want us to do any blood or urine testing for glucose and therefore we won’t be adjusting Kitty’s insulin on a daily basis. Basically, if we can’t get her to eat, or if she is sick, etc then we just don’t give her the shot. The vet is aiming for a conservative and slightly higher than usual BSL of 7 or 8. At her last BSL she was around 14 so we have some progress to make. The vet is intending to keep Kitty on 2 units of insulin for the next week and then at our check up appointment, she will likely increase that to 3 units. So, until then, we’re keeping a Kitty Journal so we can keep track of her food intake and shots. I also bought a pack of Ketostix for testing her urine for ketones though whether this is really necessary, I’m not sure. I just felt that I should be monitoring something.

Ok, it’s time.

I spoke to the vet again today and she said the results of the blood test confirmed the diagnosis of diabetes but that Kitty’s liver function and renal function were fine. I must say that ths is a massive relief form, as it will be hard enough to care for a diabetic cat without those other potential health problems. The vet gave Kitty her first insulin shot this morning, having started her on one unit of insulin. Her blood sugar was 16 last night, 13.8 this morning and then 13.5 this afternoon, though the vet seems to think that just being in hospital is enough to cause her distress which will keep her BSL higher than if she were at home. Tonight the vet will increase the insulin to two units and we’ll go there tomorrow evening for an intensive session of Managing a Diabetic Cat 101.

Incidentally, the poeple I work with seem to think I’m nuts taking this route but the truth is that I just can’t comprehend the alternative. I can’t deal with that right now and for as long as this little kitty is happy and without pain, then I’ll do what I can to sustain her.

I went back to work today only to find that someone had used the computer in my office while I was away and now the computer has mysteriously misplaced its operating system. I logged a call with the helpdesk and with any luck, I might get a response from them by the end of the week. With my manager away until Thursday, I’ve installed myself into his office (I even took my cyclamen with me) so that I can still do some work. As much as I am enjoying working in the public system, I cannot believe the blantent and gross incompetency that I face on a daily basis.

I spoke to the vet this morning and she said there was glucose in Kitty’s urine which is pushing us towards a diagnosis of diabetes. She said she is looking for other problems such as kidney etc and once we know what we are dealing with, then we can make an educated decision and plan our next move.

I can’t think about euthanasia at this time, it just breaks my heart. :(

Having over-estimated the peak hour traffic this morning, I arrived to the exam centre almost forty-five minutes earlier than I had intended. I used the time to do a quick flick through my notes being going in. The exam itself was much better than I anticipated – having done virtually no study over the weekend (read: week), I was expecting to well and truly flounder! Being an open book exam, I had carefully flagged the various sections of my text books and I was able to located the relevant legislation and case law without any problems. I answered all of the questions, checked my answers, expanded where possible, checked my answers again then left the exam hall with forty-five minutes to spare! I use to wait until the time was over but realisedthat there’s only so much I can write, so now I up and go when I feel I’ve finished the paper. The grades will be released on 11 July.

I stopped in on my sister-inlaw after the exam and we spent a few hours talking and playing with the baby. My niece is such a chunky monkey – I can’t believe how fast she is growing! I left them at 4.30pm to collect the Boy from the train station, then we were off to take my little grey kitty to the vet. She’d had a little accident at the weekend – she peed in her bed! This is something that is very out of character – not only for her but for a cat! I was concerned that she might have some terrible old-lady-cat incontinence or possibly a UTI but our vet suspects that she may have diabetes, or possibly but less likely, a thyroid problem. Kitty will stay in the hospital tonight so the vet can collect a urine sample and test for glucose. Poor little girl :(