Missing the Kittenz

I can't believe how worn out I feel today, both emotionally and physically.  One of the adoption ladies called me last night after the kittens were gone and asked if I felt bereft, and that's exactly the right word for how I feel.  The whole kitten experience went by so fast, just six short days of getting to cuddle and play with those sweet little kittens.  It was so intense, so joyful and fun and yet worrisome and stressful at the same time - are they eating, drinking, using the litter box? Are they happy, safe, comfortable, hungry?

I also know part of the reason I am feeling so drained today is because I did not a good night's sleep while they were here and after several days in a row of that, one is bound to be worn out.  The first night, they stayed in the closet with the door closed and I worried about what was happening in there the whole time.  After that, I slept with the closet door open, which meant that I usually had several if not all of the kittens on the bed with me at all times.  By Tuesday, I figured out that if I wanted to get a full night of undisturbed sleep, I needed to move into the second bedroom and leave the kittens on their own in the master bedroom.

As much as I loved waking up with five soft little balls of fur scattered around me in bed (totally the best part of my day!), there were also disadvantages. The first couple of nights, they only woke up once during the night and would sleep for three to four hours at a stretch.  I'd get up, feed them, let them play for a bit and then we'd all go back to sleep for the second half of the night.  Monday night, after being wide awake and playfully active until 11 p.m., they only slept until 1:30 a.m., then woke up again just after 3 a.m. and then again at 5:30 a.m. (at which point, I got up for good). I was starting to understand the sleep-deprived world of a parent with a newborn!!  Tuesday night, when they still hadn't settled down by 11 p.m., I did move into the spare room and ended up getting a good solid six hours or so of sleep, I just didn't realize it would be the last night they would be here. :(

Last night, I slept in my own bed again but it was still a restless sleep, as I was worried about Katrina.  I was excited when I woke up around 3 a.m. to check on her and discovered she had had something to eat and used the litter box, and even more thrilled when I woke up at 6:30 to find she had moved to a new hiding spot under the bed!  She seems calmer now that the kittens have left.  Hopefully it won't be too long before she feels comfortable enough to sit out in the open.

Don't get me wrong, those kittens were so adorable and so much fun, it was hard to mind when they woke me up with a gentle tap of a soft little paw on the face or a gentle purring in my ear. Although just as often, it was more likely to be one kitten or another pouncing on a hand or a foot moving under the covers or on another kitten, perhaps the one who just happened to be sleeping on my chest (they were so tiny, I barely knew they were there.  At one point, I had 3 sleepy kittens curled up on my chest at the same time, it was just so darned cute.)  When that sudden pounce or tiny scratch of a kitten's claw comes when you're sound asleep, it's a bit more of a shock to your already overtired system. Of course, when one kitten wakes up, you have about 10 seconds of quiet cuddling before the others start to stir. It's like a chain reaction, as one after the other wakes up. It seems no one wants to be the one to sleep through any of the fun!

Luckily, I had time to take lots of photos while they were here and a few videos, so I will have something to remember them by.  Here's a video I took last night, just before the first two got picked up by their new family. I thought you might enjoy seeing their playfulness first hand.