Okay, we FINALLY birthed the baby!

INTERJECT INTO STORY: RECENTLY-UNEARTHED 38-WEEK PREGNANCY UPDATE FROM 3/9/12, 7 DAYS BEFORE SCHEDULED C-SECTION AND 5 DAYS BEFORE ACTUAL
C-SECTION:
Fwd: 38 weeks today!‏

hot thang

 ---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Miranda Helterman <mhelterman@hotmail.com>

Date: Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 9:55 AM

Subject: 38 weeks today!

hi, everyone!!! here is my next-to-last update, probably, on the pregnancy part of this journey! (hey! pipe down - i can hear y'all cheering. :)) anyway, it's probably overly-detailed, even moreso than usual, since i now wake up at 4am and obsess until andrew's alarm sounds.

the below is a copy and paste from my facebook status that i posted after my OB appt yesterday:

"okay, so they scheduled my pre-op a week early, but now everything's all set in case sara catherine decides she's ready for her close-up before 8am next friday, 3/16. ob appt was great - i'm still at 19 lb weight gain, but S.C. is right on track and should be 7-ish lbs at birth. and i hear that then my boobs will immediately gain 10 lb each of milk. SWEET. my blood pressure and heart rate are still high, but not near pre-eclampsia levels, so i spend lots of time these days lying on my side on the couch, with rubypants. andrew has built about 8 different "baby items" in the past week or so, like the changing table, nursery storage units, etc., whilst ALSO good-naturedly handling house chores, AND making sure i'm eating nutritiously. all on top of his day job AND his JAG duties. i SHO hit the jackpot. "

i'm still not dilated at all, yay, and still only about 30% effaced. so, we are still on for a c-section next friday morning, and we will probably be there at 6am, and since it's almost an hour away, we'll leave at 5am, and get up at 4am, which will feel like 3am due to this weekend's time change. i'm figuring that soon we won't even know what MONTH it is, so maybe it won't be so bad. :) anyway, surgery's typically at 8 and will likely take 30 minutes to no longer than an hour. i talked to an anesthesiologist yesterday about my tolerance of painkillers/numbing agents, and was assured that if i say i can feel something i'm not supposed to, that they WILL LISTEN TO ME. anyway, then sara catherine will be BORN, happy birthday, lil punkin! and i will go to recovery and SC will go to a bath and warmer, and i'll text andrew at the bar and let him know. sike. andrew will send out a big text, if you'd like to be included. and if everyone can please pray for a standard, run-of-the-mill, unexciting delivery, besides that our little monkeyblossom will be born, that would be awesome. then we stay in the hospital for two days.

and then we're allowed to come home on sunday. amie is coming into town sunday or monday and gets to stay until thursday, 3/22. my mom will arrive thursday and probably stay till sunday or monday, 3/25 or 3/26. the next set visit is betty coming on 4/13 or 4/14 until the 4/21 or 4/22, as andrew has JAG duties that entire week. NOW. anyone is invited, of course, to come and visit the baby without having to do a stint helping us! though i will prolly make you change a diaper and get me some lemonade. :) but i am expecting a 6-week recovery just from the surgery, and i haven't decided if i want to recover on the first floor or the second, with the baby in her bassinet. i don't want to miss her baths in the second floor tub (with her super duper baby tub, of course)! i will also be tenaciously attempting to breastfeed. all that said, visit at your own risk of a really messy house without basic essentials like toilet paper, probably. but i understand if you want to come and just meet Sara Catherine, and not be forced to hang out with me, when i may not be able to take a REAL shower for quite awhile. which is only slightly different from any other week. :)

 we've decided to board poor little rubypants at her vet's office, though she will hate it, from thursday to monday. her cough seems to be coming back and i want them to be able to keep an eye on her. the girl who took my place at the Temple very graciously offered to keep ruby, but i also don't want miss ruby to hack *stuff* onto her comforter. :/

okay! andrew has drill this weekend, so SC is again under strict orders to NOT arrive this weekend, please. :)

i have to add that i am SO THRILLED that my sister-in-law melanie's hubby is returning next week from a year in afghanistan - praying for safe travels home for a hero!

also, a prayer please for my brother-in-law nick who had a workplace injury to his hand that now has a staph infection - take ALL your antibiotics, nick, and swift healing!

and, as i type this, Sara Catherine is headbutting the back of my bellybutton, while sticking her toesies into my ribs. i think she's saying, "sup, hookers! see y'all in a week!"

*******************************************************************

OKAY, WE'RE BACK TO WEDNESDAY, JULY 25TH, 2012. the little baby has a low-grade fever and her poor lil legs are still very tender from her shots yesterday. there's something wrong with our a/c so it's hot as blue blazes in here, and i am in a FOUL. MOOD.
so. oh, and our little tabletop fan just broke. AWESOME.

anyway, so from the last post, the dr had decided to go ahead with an emergency c-section. and i had just been given something for my contractions which were incredibly painful. this is about 6:30 or 6:45am, and really, things are a little fuzzy for the next few hours. i'm pretty sure the dr came in and spoke to us and at some point i got up and was walked into the operating room, and andrew stayed behind, i think to gather our belongings to take to the teeny-tiny miniature hospital room where i was to recover. also, he had to put on what he called the Bunny Suit but it really looks like a hazmat suit. in the meantime, i had to sit on the operating table and get a spinal. it was UNPLEASANT. the nurses were all super-nice and the one who had to help me lean over and be still basically hugged me, told me to arch my back like a cat, and held me still. there was some anesthesia first and they had to give me 3x the normal amount because otherwise i still felt them poking around back there (that's what she said). they were all, REALLY, you can still FEEL that? and i was all, YES PLEASE GIVE ME MORE PLEASE. and they did the spinal and i was all numb & stuff. then they helped me lie back with my arms strapped straight out to the side, and set up the blue sheet in front of me. they asked if i wanted the sheet lowered so i could SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING. i asked if it was possible to make the sheet HIGHER so there was absolutely no chance i would see ANYTHING. i still remember that i was very unemotional at that point - i felt very matter-of-fact about the whole process. at some point, andrew came in and sat next to my head. i couldn't tell you how long i was in the O.R. for prep before andrew came in, but he said it seemed like a really, really long time. i don't remember a whole bunch of these details. andrew said i had an aquarium thermometer stuck to my forehead - like a bandaid mood ring but for temperature! they wanted to know if andrew wanted to cut the umbilical cord. andrew figured that the dr could do it, since he was already there & all, and that's what he's gettin paid for. i concurred. i was still shivering and already nauseated. i had told the dr, nurses and the anesthesiologist that i have a tendency to throw up during surgery of any kind. this time was no exception. i really don't even know when the dr started slicin and dicin, but i know i thought he was operating from my right side, and andrew remembers him being on my left, almost knee to knee with andrew. either way, i was totally nauseated and andrew had to keep handing me the bedpan thingie just in case.  i didn't feel any pain, just some pressure and lots of tugging and pulling. i didn't realize the anesthesiologist, a great little teeny asian lady, was just behind my head maintaining my med levels, so i said to andrew, "oh, please tell the lady i need zofran (anti-nausea). like NOW, please, i need more zofran." and he said, "okay, honey, she's standing right behind you and she hears you--" and i interrupted with, "--so? i don't care where she is, i'll tell her to her FACE--". i had misunderstood his point. :) anyway, soon the dr announced that the baby was almost there, and then he said, "oh, YOU guys have a little leprechaun for st patrick's day!" i had no idea what that meant then, but apparently our little baby was covered head to toe in meconium, explaining one reason for the earlier labor. we heard our little teeny angel squeak and chirp and i said, "honey, we just gave birth to a MONKEY," as they whisked her away to clean her before we saw our baby covered in green poo. i said, "did you see her honey, what does she look like?!" and he said, "i only saw her feet!" then they brought out the baby all swaddled, and laid her just under my chin. since i was still all strapped down, with more surgery to go, i couldn't touch her or hold her. i looked at her darling little teeny face, and she looked so pretty! i was used to seeing newborn pictures where they all look like cartman when they first come out, even from a c-section, but she just looked like a pretty little baby. she also looked confused and a little pissed off. i was all, "andrew! andrew! grab her, she's going to roll off my chest!" apparently, both andrew and a nurse had their hands on her but i was sure that someone had just plopped her down on my chest and walked away and i was immediately going to drop my baby. so. i didn't have any real notion of what i thought sara catherine would look like, so maybe that's why she didn't look "familiar" to me when i first saw her. later i would realize how very much sc looked like her daddy (whoever THAT is. sike!), but honestly only after someone pointed it out to me. anyway, andrew knows more what happened after sc was born because they knocked me out. i woke up in recovery, where i RAMBLED on to the poor recovery room lady about how awesome my husband is, and made her listen to how we met on facebook, and BLAH BLAH BLAHHHH, before i even realized i was talking. i kept asking if i could straighten my legs because i was tired of them being bent, and THOSE dern things weren't bent. maybe an hour or so later, they wheeled me to our teeny little room and i honestly have no idea if andrew was there or the baby was there at first. they put these compression socks on me immediately. compression socks are connected to a hose and pump and constantly squeeze your legs to make sure a blood clot doesn't form while you're stuck in bed not moving. they also make you feel approximately 187 degrees warmer than you should feel. i began pouring sweat immediately, and the nurse said that was normal -- your body builds up so many extra fluids while you're pregnant and after you deliver, your body is going to PURGE it. the nurses kept having to switch out my pillows because i was soaking them with sweat. which meant i was also thirstier than i have ever been in my life, and i wasn't allowed to drink. i could only have stupid dumb ice chips. at some point, andrew and the baby were back in the room, i was hooked up to a dilaudid drip that i could control, and we decided to try nursing! and that is all for this post because i have to go eat ice cream. next time, adventures in nursing when no milk is coming in, wheeee!!



^^^^sara catherine's first picture EVER!!



                 

The Longest Birth Story in History...is still not over, lalala

mmmm. cake.

sooo, we were on our way to the hospital at 4am on wednesday march 14th, 2 days before our scheduled c-section. baby sc was apparently ready to come on out, and my contractions were just a few minutes apart. again, you can't really fathom the pain of labor until you've experienced it. so while andrew was focused on driving very carefully, i was in the passenger seat about to implode from the pain. this is the copy/paste of the facebook status i posted on the way to the hospital:

Mar 14, 2012

4:37am

Miranda Helterman Ritner

Don't want to text and wake the family, so posting here - I'm in some kinda labor, and we are heading to the hospital at 430 ish. No idea if we will deliver the babymuffin today, but I will ask for prayers, please. Ow!

Via Facebook for Android

i was so glad that i had already pre-registered over the phone months before so we could avoid that rigamarole once we arrived, and get straight to the labor/delivery unit, and most important, the DRUGS. also, i did my pre-op information the week before due to the scheduled c-section. so, we were double-registered, wheee! after we got a little lost on the way (there are SEVERAL backroads that make up the "town" of Loris), we finally got there at 4:45am, and andrew dropped me off at the emergency room and then went to park. i went in, and...ummm, hello? NO ONE. HELLOOO? andrew came in and was speaking pretty quickly, "okay, we ready? what? where is everybody? where is ANYbody? helloooo?" we finally saw someone through some glass doors and windows and they waved us in. it was the registration area. i told the lady my name and that i had pre-registered, and she said okay and then proceeded to RE-register me, with all of the same questions i had answered months before AND the week before. i told the lady, in-between contractions when i couldn't BREATHE, dammit, that nothing had changed from either of the PREVIOUS two registrations, BUT we had to continue with a full 20 minute inquisition. *sigh*

so, we got done with that, and a nurse chick came from the l/d floor with a wheelchair for me and took us up. they wheeled me into one of their seriously awesome l/d suites, which is all comfy and high-tech and huge. i changed into a hospital gown in the bathroom and asked andrew the first time, of what was apparently more than 100 times, HOW our dog ruby was going to get to the vet for boarding. i kept asking and he was trying really hard to be patient with me, but i wouldn't even let him finish texting people before i asked again. :) lalala. so our nurse came in, tara or tonya or tammy? i don't know, t-something, and she was really nice. i'm all, "hi. can i have an epidural? i'm miranda. can i have an epidural? this is my husband andrew. you guys got some drugs or what?" nurse t put the monitors on me and said that she would talk to the dr about medication. but FIRST...another registration!!! MOTHER. F$&K. are you *&^%@# kidding me?! i SERIOUSLY had to answer ALL the same questions from the first 3 registrations, all while contracting like a mofo. and because i kept having to stop and couldn't breathe during the pain, it took more than 45 minutes, plus all the vitals she had to take, AND she couldn't even ASK the dr about meds until we were done with all the questions. so, i'm basically dying from contractions, still bugging andrew every 3 seconds about ruby's vet transport, and still asking if i can go ahead and get them drugs.

she's CRAFTY. she gets AROUND...

the monitor that's charting my contractions was behind me and andrew was watching the line go up and down, and COMMENTING. yep: "ooooo, you just had a bad one. ... this next one wasn't as bad, though. ... oooo, THIS one looks ROUGH ... "  i had a REALLY bad one and i said, afterwards because i couldn't breathe during, "oh my GOSH, that was the worst one yet," and andrew. looking at the monitor, was all, "no. nope, that one wasn't really that bad, lookin at this monitor--" the nurse walked in and said, "the NEXT wave that shows is the contraction she just had - it's one contraction behind." so THEN he was all, "oh, WOW, honey, that was a REALLY bad one," i'm all, teeth gritted, "i knooooow."
SO.  we had gotten in the hospital at 4:45am, were done with first registration by 5:30am or so, and finally got the dr's okay to give me something for the pain at 6:30am -- apparently my ob was the dr on call, thank GOD, which meant that whatever happened, it wouldn't be that other dr in the practice. shoooooo!!! so the nurse gave me some medication with a name that was a mix between albuterol and tributary. albutary? tributol? i don't remember, either way, it really helped ease the pain, AND made me shake violently.

at some point, it was decided that i would have an emergency c-section at 7:00am. the baby was RETT TO GO, and still very much breech, and it would be safer to go in and get her. which was fine with me -- i had already mentally prepared for a c-section, and really wasn't disappointed ONE TEENY IOTA not to have a vaginal delivery. i know there are advantages and disadvantages to both kinds of deliveries, but having my hoo-ha potentially rip apart has never been part of my birthplan wish list. so the anesthesiologist came in and AGAIN, i answered a bunch of the same questions as during my 38 previous registrations, plus ALL the same questions i had answered during my pre-op visit with the main anesthesiologist. my main concern there was that both my twin sister and my mother had had their anesthesia stop working and had FELT their c-sections as they were happening. my poor sister even TOLD her anesthesiologist about my mom's trouble and when she told him she could still feel what was going on, THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE HER. oh my gosh, can you imagine the nightmare?? so, i explained my tolerance for numbing-type drugs, that it takes about 4x the novacaine for dental work, that i felt my LASIK surgery because the drops weren't strong enough, etc.
aaaaannndd ...

i have to stop because my poor little baby just had her 4-month shots today and she is MISERABLE. :( she is about to wake up, and i will finish the birth story later! thank you to anyone who is reading this. if you ever want to post something here, about your experiences or feelings or whatever, please just let me know - i don't have to use your name if you don't want me to.

shoot, me TOO.

Baby on the waaaayyyyyy

pregnancy update from march 1, 2012
From: Miranda Helterman <mhelterman@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 4:05 PM
Subject: C-Section scheduled for Friday, 3/16!!!

hi, everyone! so, i just got back from this week's OB appointment, and since Butterbean is in the EXACT same place, we are scheduling a c-section for Friday, 3/16. i don't know what time yet, but will let you know, of course! Butterbean, whose name will be Sara Catherine, has been VERY active these past few weeks, doing some rib-climbing, some appendix tapping, some bladder stomping and, my personal favorite, some cervix line-dancing. accordingly, while i am not dilated whatsoever, i am about 30% effaced. so the most likely scenario is that a) we have the c-section birth on friday, 3/16 or, next most likely, b) we have an emergency c-section prior to that if sara catherine tries to bust out early.

i've not been feeling all that well for a few days - some pretty bad tummy distress in various forms, and as always, my darling andrew is SO patient with me, and doesn't roll his eyes (where i can see him) at my constant whining, and makes sure i am as comfy as possible, and eating enough for two, and that i always have my lemonade available. :) my blood sugar keeps plummeting even when i'm eating several small healthy meals a day, so i'm taking glucose tabs. the pinched nerve pain is down to about 30-40% of its prior strength, and is only really bad after several errands or lots of cleaning, or lots of stairs. so i'm trying to be prudent about it while also trying to get stuff done. and ruby having a dog walker has been a Godsend.

Sara Catherine's heart rate was good today - mine was a little high, but we're expecting it to go back to normal levels after the little muffin arrives. SC probably weighs just over 6 lb now and we'll do a better weight check next Thursday. i've now gained a total of 19 lb, which is lower than average, but would only be a problem if SC's measurements indicated a low birth weight, and they indicate she is right on track, which is AWESOME!! we tried to get more pictures of her today, but she was NOT having it, and kept both hands and feet in front of her face, the lil monkeypants.

as far as people coming to help! as this is our first baby, and a c-section, we must be in the hospital for 48 hours. not quite sure if that's a STRICT 48 hours, or if that means we'll be there friday and most of saturday, or what, but i will find out. one complication is that the hospital is 45 min - 1 hour away from home, so, coming to myrtle beach before we get to come home is not going to be convenient or fruitful for anyone, unless you just want to chill here, or CLEAN. WHICH WE WILL HAPPILY ALLOW. :) depending how i feel after the surgery, we THINK we'll be setting up the first floor for me to stay on the couch and have SC in a bassinet next to me, due to the stairs.

anyway, amie and i will discuss her visit separately, now that we have a delivery date, but if amie is able to come either late saturday or early sunday, and stay for a couple of days, that would be great. then, my mom will come from atlanta and plan to be here around the time amie is heading back to columbia, maybe mid-week. she'll be here a few days. betty will be here around 4/14 - 4/21 (or thereabouts) while andrew goes to a JAG conference in wisconsin. YES. wisconsin. once melanie's husband gets back from afghanistan (hallelujah!!!) in march, she'll look into maybe taking a long weekend between my mom's visit and her mom's visit in late march, early april. and since sara just started a brand new job, once she's accrued some PTO, she'll get her triflin' booty down here on a long weekend, hopefully not driving but with some awesome cheap plane ticket! :) maybe spirit air? and if jolyon wants to come down and help, he is welcome! and so is anyone and everyone else!

so, there we have it. once we're sure about Helper dates, i'll send out a little schedule to the awesome Helper-peeps. along with my ice cream preferences. :)

y'all are ALMOST done having to read these suckers, woooooo!! :)

love and smooches to all!

miranda :)

so, we got to 37.5 weeks and our little baby was still breech, with her head just under my left boob. she had been that way for months, with her little bottom near my cervix and her toes and hands up around her face. so we scheduled a c-section for fri, march 16, first thing in the morning - i'd be 39 weeks that day, which is the minimum, according to the ACOG, for scheduling a c-section. it's funny, but it's hard for me to really remember all of this now because you start to see things as BEFORE THE BABY ARRIVED &amp; AFTER THE BABY ARRIVED. and even though she's just 18.5 weeks old now, it seems like 18 MONTHS ago at this point. so, the nursery was a disaster - everything we'd ever gotten since we found out we were pregnant was in a huge pile in the nursery. it was an awesome pile, because we had so many wonderful friends and family bless us with so many gifts. but that day i kept looking towards in the future, the one where i got off my fat ass and organized everything, had never happened and we were having a baby in a few DAYS. and i had the pinched nerve and could barely walk, and andrew was having to do everything else in the house, plus work, so i took care of the problem by shutting the door and ignoring it. lalala. the monday of our last week, i still hadn't even packed the hospital bags. tuesday, march 13th, i finally felt like i needed to get some baby prep things done, so i packed a bag for me and one for the baby. my sister sara had gathered some necessities for me and they arrived that afternoon - i know it included a pack of portable enfamil newborn formula, and a bunch of other things i can't remember, but i also brought maxi-pads, big ole grannie panties, scrunchies galore, nursing bras, nipple cream, a little notebook to keep track of baby poops and diapers and nursing, etc, loose clothes for me, a couple onesies and a going-home outfit for the baby. and a bunch of other crap that made neither bag able to be zipped. i got some darling XXL jommies and tried them on for ensured comfort and took a picture:
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Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

so andrew and i just hung out that evening, i think watching the rest of the walking dead series we had DVRd. about 9:45pm i started feeling some pains in my lower abdomen. it felt like menstrual cramps but sharper and covering a wider area. i told andrew i was having pains and he stopped drinking his wine mid-sip and put his glass down. i called my sister sara and asked her if i could possibly be having contractions, and she said, "when you're having contractions, YOU'LL KNOW IT." so, i let my sister go back to sleep, and andrew decided not to have anymore wine that night, JUST IN CASE, since he was the driver and the hospital is 45 minutes away.


at about 2am, i KNEW i was having a contraction, which woke my ass up out the bed. i didn't wake up andrew yet, but kept an eye on the clock as the contractions came and went every 8 minutes or so. within a half hour, they were down to 5 minutes apart and i woke andrew and said, "hey, baby, i'm pretty sure i'm having contractions now." he jumped up and out of bed and THEN said "what?" and looked at his phone and said, "what?"
so i went down to the first floor, ruby ignored us and kept snoozing, probably thankful our triflin' asses finally got out of her way and she could stretch out, and i heard andrew pretty much running up and down the stairs (we have 3 floors) gathering things together. THANK GOD i had just packed the bags that afternoon, AND i was super ingenious because i had tried on the above pajamas AND NEVER TOOK THEM OFF. so i was already dressed for the hospital, wheeee! of course, before we decided to go to the hospital and then just get sent home, i had to internet research When to Go to the Hospital. the suggestions varied from when the contractions are 4 to 6 minutes apart. i kept the little scrap of paper that i kept the times on, so i could put it in sara catherine's baby book. it's in a special place called, "i hope i find wherever the f^&amp;% i put it for safekeeping." andrew and i just sort of sat and looked at each other, in between contractions, and we might as well have been doing our Where to Go Eat ritual: so, what do you think? i don't know, what do YOU think? i don't know." i called the labor/delivery unit at Loris Hospital and they said, "come on in," which causes me to take a deep breath even just typing this, because that meant even REAL PEOPLE thought i might be about to have a baby, aaaccckkkkk, which wasn't supposed to happen till FRIDAY-UH. SO. andrew had already put everything in the car, and we walked out into the cool air about 3:30am or so, and then the first HOLY SHIT contraction hit me as we were walking. i almost fell, it hurt so badly, and i grabbed andrew and had to stop and wait for it to subside. see, i wasn't SUPPOSED TO BE HAVING LABOR. i had a SCHEDULED C-SECTION because my baby was breech. so i never prepared myself for how to deal with contractions, not that you can actually fathom the pain unless you've experienced them. but i will try: the pain is similar to a menstrual cramp, obviously because it's your uterus contracting. during your period, your uterus just wants to get rid of its pesky little lining. during labor, your uterus wants to EJECT A BUTTERBALL TURKEY. it's like someone has injected a wine bottle opener into your nethers, because there's pain there, too, and then is twisting the handle thingies, so that there is a searing, shooting, ripping, squeezing horrendous pain, and somehow, even though it's worse where you'd expect it to be, the pain goes through your whole body, and you can't even take a breath until it starts to ease up some.


so we got in the car and andrew is super-focused. the car is on empty, because we weren't supposed to be birthing till friday! so we stop and get gas and andrew gets me water. i'm afraid to drink anything because, if in fact i'm in actual labor and have to have my c-section early (i can still feel the baby's little noggin right under my left boob, so i know she's still breeech), i'm not supposed to eat or drink anything. i also didn't take my effexor, my anti-anxiety/anti-depressant pill, because i was scared to drink too much water which i would then aspirate or vomit or something else horrible, in my imagination. bad idea. shoulda taken it, because i didn't get to take another one until more than 27 hours later, or more than 40 hours after taking my last one. anyway, so we were otw to the hospital at 4am, with contractions wracking my body, and my mind racing -- oh my gosh, was it REAL? no matter how much you try to wrap your mind around it, or at least for me, i couldn't fathom that this little munchkin inside me was going to transition to life OUTSIDE of me. everyone kept saying, throughout my pregnancy, "i know you can't wait to just HOLD her." but that's actually not EVER what i felt. because i couldn't, despite a very active imagination, ever envision this baby AS A BABY. mostly i was scared. andrew and i had almost zero combined experience with newborns -- mine was limited to one week of helping my twin sister with her 3-week-old baby ellie, who was colicky, and that was IT. so, even though we were heading towards the hospital to most likely deliver this baby, and i was suffering through some very real and very painful contractions, it was totally surreal to me. like my own personal twilight zone.

OKELY DOKELY, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO WRITE THIS POST FOR 2 DAYS, BUT THE LITTLE MUFFINPANTS WANTS TO PLAY AND SO DO I, SO WE WILL CONTINUE THE DELIVERY STORY (IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL) LATER. ANDREW IS CONSIDERING ADDING HIS MEMORIES OF THE DELIVERY AND HOSPITAL STAY TO THIS BLOG, WHICH I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE FOR SARA CATHERINE. WE'LL BE BACK SOON!! :)

hurtling towards parenthood!!!

Andrew models our baby booby nursing beanie
made by lisa hughes!

 Today is July something, ummmm, 16th? 17th? not really sure - oh, HA, it's actually on my computer - the 16th! andrew left for drill at ft jackson friday morning, and will be home this evening. i am EXHAUSTED. and SO grumpy and irritable and bitchy and snappy and a general pleasure to be around. sara catherine had been sleeping through the night from about 12 weeks until LAST sunday, 7/9 - i 100% believe that her being swaddled is the reason she had slept so well and almost never woke up in the night after she went to seepies in her crib. and i had finally been able to start sleeping in the master bedroom again with my sweet man, with the monitor on. but recently i had noticed she's been flipping over to either side every now and then, and i started worrying what might happen if she somehow flipped herself over in her swaddle and ended up on her stomach, with her face in the mattress. she would have no way to push herself up to breathe because her arms were swaddled and she couldn't have made a noise that would alert anyone because of her positioning. the thought literally took MY breath away. so i did what i've been doing for almost 19 weeks now, which is posting on facebook for advice. overwhelmingly, the advice was to take her out of the swaddle immediately. one of my friends emailed me and said the exact scenario i just described had happened to a friend of hers. i cried thinking about that poor family, and how easily it could happen to ANYONE. so, we decided to go ahead and try one of the sleep sacks we fortunately had on hand, thanks to our AWESOME friends and family. sc was not impressed. every night since then, sc takes an extra couple of hours to fall asleep because, in the swaddle, she fell asleep within 15 - 30 minutes of us rocking her and singing "you are my sunshine." in the sleep sack, with her arms exposed, she still flails every now and then, or automatically noms on her hands, and it keeps her awake. when she's finally asleep, she still flails her little feet in the sack like it's a mermaid tail, which she did in the swaddle, but now it wakes her. so she wakes once or twice a night and only sleeps until 4:45am mostly, and till 6am a couple of times. i have slept in the guest bedroom (connected to the nursery with a bathroom) every night, and that bed hurts my back, wahhh, and i just don't sleep well, in addition to waking for about an hour of rocking sc back to sleep each time she wakes. SO. plus, i've been PMSing for what seems like a month, which is joyous for all.

anyway, below are the last pregnancy updates i can find and i hope to write about the delivery and get into the post partum depression stuff after that. that'll most likely sound like a lot of whining, and will be a little painful for me to recount, but if anyone benefits from what i went through, it will be worth it to me. enjoy the updates, and have a wonderful week!! :) 

PREGNANCY UPDATES 28.5 WEEKS THRU 35 WEEKS

Jan 12 2012

Hi, everyone! This is my status update from last night:

so, had my 29 week OB appt, and the baby is doing just fine, heartbeat is awesome and we'll do all her measurements in 2 weeks now that my appts are twice monthly, plus i've gained 15 lbs IN TOTO, which is slightly less than average, but i have a feeling i'll be picking up that slack here directly. i'm still having some severe bladder pain issues, got new meds - macrobid, and pyridium, which is supposed to anesthetize my bladder to alleviate some of the pain. it's not working yet (i KNOW-UH, but i want it to work NOW-uh) but BONUS!!! my tee-tee is highlighter orange. bad news is my BP is the highest mine has ever been (that i know of), 147/77, which isn't horrible, but my average is around 105/60 or so. and my heart rate was 110. blehhh. which makes me feel like A$$. but i have no other symptoms of pre-eclampsia, so again, we will pay close attention to my bladder and blood pressure issues. i think i've been pretending i'm not as stressed as i am. so. i have to take it easy emotionally and physically. so, peel me some grapes, bitches! sike. prayers appreciated. 0:)

I guess i've been paying so much attention to my bladder issues that i wasn't focusing on my blood pressure/heart rate, so i was really shocked when they told me what it was yesterday. so was the doctor, especially about my heart rate being 110. unfortunately, whether a byproduct of pregnancy irritation or just a coincidence, work has gotten extremely stressful in the last few months.  since i came in this morning, even, i can feel my heart rate rising, and it makes me feel weak and dizzy. i've told Rabbi that after i deliver, i plan to be a stay-at-home-mom, and not come back to work. andrew and i KNOW it's going to be rough financially, but we both want me home with our Butterbean.

anyway, due to this new BP issue, i'm going to talk to Rabbi about finding someone new sooner than later, and maybe cut back to 3 days a week. we'll see. the last thing i want is to be put on mandatory bed-rest.

okay, i'm going to wrap this up because it's all grumpy - i HATE that my emails are becoming so complain-y - believe me, andrew puts up with this ALL. THE TIME. poor thing. :)

just hoping the bladder meds will kick in soon. :)

have a great week y'all - m

Andrew tries on the
sympathy belly at our childbirth class

*****************************************************************

jan 31, 2012

hi, everyone! just a quick note to let y'all know how everything's going in the myrtle beeotch!
so, i am 32.5 weeks along and butterbean is doing great! next OB appt is monday, 2/6, and i'll give an update then, too.
as you can see in the picture, butterbean has almost doubled in size, or at least my tummy has, in the past 6 weeks. i have only gained 18 - 20 lbs so far, and apparently, Bb will gain 1/3 to 1/2 of her birth weight in the next few weeks. :^0 no idea how i'm going to accommodate that. ACK. i can already barely tie my shoes, and that's already my excuse for not shaving my legs (since the wedding).
we have a ton of stuff still to do, but andrew is working his sweet patootie off getting everything done. since i get winded so easily because of my heart rate and blood pressure shtuff, i can clean or straighten for about 10 minutes and then i seriously need to rest for about 30 minutes. so andrew is having to do ALL the work, not just the heavy lifting stuff. and i feel bad and guilty, though he's trying to do all that AND make me feel okay about it, AND work a full-time job AND be a reservist AND make me a nutritious dinner. poor guy. :/ he's going to run out of steam at some point.

since i started having my bp issues, my doctor said there's no need at this point for mandatory bedrest, but the less stress, the better. so, we found a great new secretary for the Temple and i've been training her for about 2 weeks. my last full day is friday. things that used to just sort of irritate me at work were really affecting my blood pressure, maybe because of the hormones? anyway, andrew and i have decided that i will stay at home with the baby for at least a year. it'll be tight for us, but it's what we both want and what we both think is best for the baby. so it made sense for me to stop working now. i am still going to help the new secretary for a few hours each week for a few months, and get paid for it, as she needs me.

the temple has a goodbye lunch planned for me on thursday at 1:30, and apparently they're givng me some baby gifts, whee!!! :) isn't that sweet?

this weekend, two of my friends are coming to visit - christie and lori - who also came to the wedding. they've been such good supports to me while andrew was gone and for pregnancy questions. and, christie is a little over 6 months pregnant, so andrew may never get over the estrogen-fest. we're going to just relax and eat and talk and go get pedicures & such. so, it should be fun! :)

as you can see in the picture above, ruby is still a darling precious angel, and she and andrew have quite the love affair going on, which makes me soooo happy. :)

okay, andrew's upstairs cleaning again to get ready for the girls' visit, so i need to eat something and go help. hope everyone is well -

love,
miranda
*****************************************************************************

Date: Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 1:03 PM
Subject: 34 weeks this coming friday! :)

hi, all! it's been tougher for me to email because i was training the new girl for 2 weeks, so no computer to use at work, basically, and my sweet little computer seems to be on its last legs at the computer shop. andrew left his laptop home for me to use, so wah-lah! i'm able to email!

i am feeling okay these days - the bladder pain is obnoxious but i know there's no infection to worry about for butterbean, so i'm psychologically better about that. same with the heart rate stuff - basically, due to the 40-50% extra blood flow, my heart rate is described as *dynamic* - and the heart monitor showed i am having PVCs and PACs at varying times, but nothing to indicate potential pre-eclampsia, which would be harmful to the baby and me. there is definite tachycardia, which makes me feel exhausted, faint and dizzy - and several times over the 24 hours, my heart rate went from 65 or so to 160 within minutes. no wonder i feel like a$$ sometimes!

apparently the baby is putting on about 1/2 ounce a day, and i can TELL. to get off the couch now, i have to rock back and forth and "get started" first. it's very graceful. :) i do the baby's kick counts morning and night - though with her growing bigger and having less room, there are fewer kicks and more squirmies and stretchies. we want to feel 10 good movements within 1-2 hours, and butterbean usually gives me 15 in 5-10 minutes! while i am still at only 18 pounds' weight gain, the doctor says that butterbean is growing nicely, and her heart rate is always between 145 and 150, which is normal.

we had company over the past weekend - my friends lori and christie (<--7 months pregnant!), who also came to the wedding, drove down friday and left sunday morning. i CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU how much cleaning and organizing andrew did just to get the house ready for my friends, and then he cooked for us, made us snacks, entertained us and kept us laughing -- even now, i'm choking up a little at how much he made the weekend so wonderful for my friends and me. not that i was surprised about it, because i KNOW how awesome andrew is, but now my friends know i ain't making it up! :) i am so very blessed to be andrew's wife, and i thank God every day for planning for us to be together, and having our paths meet at the right time in our lives. *sniffle*

anyway! monday was my first day as a stay at home pregnant lady, and i think i'm gonna get used to it! :) i am getting lots of errands done, and resting in-between, and still exhausted since i'm technically 8.5 months pregnant. i'm also helping the new girl at work through email or phone calls (they're paying me for 4 hours/week). ruby has no complaints about my being home except that she thinks we should go to the dog park TWICE a day now, and daddy should also stay home. :) daddy and ruby continue to fall more and more in love every day. ruby giving him doggie hugs when he comes home from work, with her head tucked into his chest, is one of my favorite parts of any day. :)

daddy and ruby shnuggle

okay, so that's what's going on - andrew will be at drill this coming weekend, during which time i will NOT be going into any kind of crazy pre-term labor, but will be slowly and relaxingly separating butterbean's clothing into stages. :) so, have an awesome rest-of-the-week and weekend, and i'll talk to y'all soon! :)

love,
miranda :)
******************************************************************

Subject: 35 weeks tomorrow!
------------------------From: Miranda Helterman <mhelterman@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 4:35 PM

hi, everyone!

i had an OB appointment today and want to catch everyone up on the latest. if you've been following my ever-more-fascinating facebook updates, you've seen that i have some kind of injury to my right pelvic/groin area (feel free to stop and visualize...you're welcome). i don't remember doing anything to it, and it started out as an annoyance, and turned into debilitating pain. andrew has had to help me get up and down the stairs, and sometimes just up from the couch and over to the bathroom. the pain is bad enough that it makes me gasp, then cry, then curse HORRIBLE words, even worse than my usual. as you can imagine, this puts even more stress on andrew to do everything around the house, baby-related or not, on top of his full-time job, and his JAG duties. and he is STILL being positive and darling and precious, and the best man ever in the history of ever. *sniffle* SO. i moved my OB appt to today, and my doctor thinks i have a pinched nerve. they did an ultrasound around my kidneys and appendix, neither of which can you really see well in this fashion, but i can't have anything stronger than that right now anyway. Butterbean is still breech, with her darling little bottom sitting near my cervix, so she's not really putting pressure on anything that would cause this type of pain. there's not much to do for a pinched nerve except rest and avoid pressure and stress in that area, and i don't want narcotics. UNTIL DELIVERY. poor ruby will not be able to go to the dog park anymore, as i can barely even walk her the short distance to go potty right now. :( 

ruby makes good use of mommy's
big ol' tumtum

Butterbean is in the exact same position she's been in for several weeks now, which is frank breech. there are variations (do NOT google images of it like i just did, if you want to sleep tonight), but basically her booty is down and her head and feet are up. her heart rate was 144, which is super, and she's measuring around 18 inches and, the most exciting part to me, 5 pounds and 9 ounces! as a twinkle, i weighed 5 lb 1 oz at birth, and look how awesome *i* am! :)
anyway, i'm very glad about her development. so, here's the other news - at her current size, and being 5 weeks away from the due date, if she does not start to turn into a head-down position in the next 2 weeks, we will schedule a c-section for 39 weeks, or around march 15th. setting it a week earlier than her due date helps potentially avoid complications, for BOTH of us, if i do go into labor and she tries to come out breech anyway. of course, she could do a somersault tonight and be in the right position, and then we'd just do the *other* kind of delivery. if a c-section is necessary, we're in the hospital 2 days and then there's an at-home 6-week recovery period. i will be trying to nurse, also, so everyone sign on up for the fun to be had in myrtle beeotch!! seriously, we're gonna need help. :) 

butterbean smiling on the left and
just bein cute on the right

other than that, for V-day, i visited andrew at work - i wore a DRESS, y'all!! and make-up!!! - and hobbled around the courthouse meeting andrew's colleagues. i also got to meet my favorite judge, who gives harsh sentences to animal abusers. yay!! we had a nice lunch, during which andrew ran outside to make sure a loose chihuahua that ran into traffic was okay, and it was. how many people are married to their hero? i'm so blessed.

okely dokely - i hope all of y'all are doing wonderfully well, and i will keep y'all updated!! :)

love,
miranda

----------From: Andrew Ritner
Date: Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 4:37 PM
To: Miranda Helterman

Who the hell is Frank Breech?

--
J. Andrew Ritner, Esq.

gratuitous bluetick coonhound pic. YOOK AT DAT TOOF!

Even MORE pregnancy updates through 28 weeks and lotsa cute pictures

18 weeks and 4 days - darling profile!

Fwd: 18 weeks and 4 days update!
Date: Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 10:01 AM
Subject: 18 weeks and 4 days update!

  
Hi, everyone!! okay dokey - i think everyone already saw the ultrasound picture from yesterday, but ADORE IT AGAIN. :) - there were several but this was the clearest. except for the one where our sweet baby looks like Squirt the Seaturtle, precious girl, so we decided to share THIS one. :) there is also a VERY darling one showing her tiny vagina (this is the u/s where you usually learn the sex), but as ellie used to say, i'm letting our baby "be privacy, please." that DOES look like a duckie on her head. :)

i thought i was going in for my 18 week check-up but it was just the 18 week ultrasound, so the doctor wasn't actually there - just me and the u/s tech, who i really liked. she showed me all the baby's organs, like all 4 chambers of the baby's heart, and her kidneys & all, though after some gymnastics, butterbean decided she was NOT showing us her bladder. so at my 5-month check up in 2 weeks, we'll get a picture of that. if butterbean is anything like her mommy, then AT ANY TIME, she has just recently peed anyway. :) she said the baby weighs 9 ounces, and all her measurements and heart rate were right on target, yay! the baby was opening and closing her mouf, and putting her teeny hands up to her face - i kept laughing and crying at the same time because it was so precious to me, and then the u/s picture would bounce, so i think the tech is all, ha ha, okay lady, quit your jigglin. SO. butterbean is on track! still considering Roxie as her name, and i still like Caroline and Lauren, as well. we shall see. i seem to have just started really showing in the past week or 2, and i'm enjoying the liberation of having my tummy sticking out ON PURPOSE. :)

anyway, here's the complain-y part - i had hoped to talk to the doctor about my concerns about pre-eclampsia - my blood pressure (for me) has been higher than normal, my pulse has been racing, and i'm dealing with some really bad headaches that barely respond to tylenol. sara had some of the same symptoms, but it ended up that she was dealing with PVCs (premature ventricular contractions). basically, the heart skips a beat and then speeds up drastically to "catch up." of course, it never did that IN the dr's office, so she had several instances of passing out before someone listened to her and diagnosed it. the "better" thing about PVCs v pre-eclampsia is that it's not inherently harmful to the baby (unless mama passes out and falls on her tummy). SO. my next appointment with the doctor is 11/7, and i'll let y'all know, IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL, what he says about it. :)

this friday will be FOURTEEN DAYS till andrew comes home. he qualified last week in the shooting stuff (with guns that have numbers in the names. i think.). and yesterday starting at 0530 (that means EARLY) they did their land navigation practice and had to be on the buses to do their land nav qualifications at something freaking crazy like 0330. YUCK. anyway, i am counting the days and minutes and seconds till my man comes home.

ruby is doing very well, and somehow becoming more affectionate every day. she now really looks forward to the dog park, and she actually ran with the doggies the other day, although she wasn't sure WHY. and she played with a doggie, including the play bow and rolling around and chasing each other. it was awesome to see her joyfulness at just being a loved doggie. :) we have another training lesson tomorrow, and then i saving the other 2 lessons for when andrew's home in case he notices anything he wants to address in training. so far she's learned MY needed skill, which is "fetch mama her one daily-allowed diet mountain dew from the fridge."

rubypants at the dogpark surveying her queendom,
with her natural smilie face spots!

okay, i think that's all that's going on around here. and in my uterus. :) i hope everyone is doing wonderfully well, and i miss & love y'all! 
**************************************************************************
NEXT EMAIL UPDATE, FROM 11/16/11, 4 DAYS AFTER ANDREW FINALL GOT TO COME HOME AFTER JAG SCHOOL AND DCC AT FT BENNING!! WHEEEEE!

From: Miranda Helterman Date: Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 8:46 AM
Subject: hi, everyone!

20 weeks! SC sucking her fumb!

Good morning, everyone!! Just a quick note to say that everything is going great here in myrtle beach! andrew and i had a wonderful weekend, and he got to go play golf with one of his JAG buddies on sunday while i went maternity clothes shopping. :) WE TRY TO AVOID SHOPPING TOGETHER AT ALL COSTS. except when it comes to house stuff. and then my sweet man went back to work monday morning to sit in



ruby shnuggling wif daddy.



on a trial, and i believe we then went to sleep at approximately 8:45pm that evening, poor angel. sooooo sleepies. i wish he could've taken a few days to re-acclimate to his regular environment, but he also wants to start accruing days off for when the baby comes. anyway, i can't describe the thrill that i know he is coming home every evening and how excited i am when he actually gets to the door. he and ruby are getting to know each other, and they already love each other! she already listens to him better than she listens to me, which is to be expected because i've never been the alpha dog in my home (at least with the dogs!). :) and i'm fine with that! by the way, ruby and i took a nap yesterday, and while snuggling, she stuck her nose up my t-shirt sleeve and licked my underarm. heehee! i giggled and called her a sillybritches. :)

elliepants and rubypants,
chillaxing among our
lush greenery.

we're getting the house ready for sara, barry and ellie to come for thanksgiving! they should be here late wednesday, and we're going to a restaurant for t-day dinner on thursday at some point. this weekend should be *interesting* since i'm making andrew get rid of any clothes he hasn't worn in the last year and he is very sad, as he believes that his structure brand clothing will "come back" and really be worth something some day. (my response: yes, worth something to the homeless people who will be wearing them) i've been slowly getting rid of un-used items all summer, to start making room for moving everything out of the office and making it a nursery. sara is currently hard at work on my registry because, while we had planned to go complete the registry when she and ellie are here, we remembered that it's going to be Black Friday, and we don't want to be anywhere NEAR target or wal-mart that weekend. anyway, so it's going to be a busy weekend, also including a football game, training for rubypants, going to look for shelving for the baby's closet, etc. and of course, andrew cooking me a delicious meal. :)

elliebean and uncle andrew
playing astronaut in the recliner

i am slowly feeling the baby kick more and more every day, and i can't WAIT for andrew to be able to feel her. i'll be 22 weeks this friday and my next OB appt is the first week in december and i get to do the horrible glucose testing, bleck. but, i can handle it!
okey dokey, all - back to work - i hope you're all doing well, and we miss and love y'all!!

miranda

******************************************************************************

NEXT EMAIL UPDATE, FROM 12/6/11:

Fwd: 24 weeks and 4 days! 10:05 AM hot thang

Date: Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 1:26 PM
Subject: 24 weeks and 4 days!

hi, everyone! this is the status update i put on facebook yesterday after my dr's appointment, in case you missed it:

"oKAY. glucose test started out fine - didn't realize they'd be taking THREE F-ING VIALS of blood beforehand, but i didn't pass out. the orange drink was cold and just tasted like uncarbonated sunkist. no problem. butterbean's heartbeat was beautiful, my blood pressure was awesome, 102/55, and i've gained 11 lbs in my 24 weeks! had my visit with the dr and things were going swimmingly. then came the after-test blood draw, so she switched to my right arm, and my vein did something silly like collapse, so she switched back to the left, which then hurt badly enough that i did, indeed, pass out. had to move me to an exam bed, where, when i came to, i insisted they FINISH THIS SH*T cause i was NOT doing it again, so she had to take the blood from my hand. so i now have a right and left arm bandage AND a hand bandage, AND i'm feeling sorry for myself, AND i'm going to lie down and dream about the rush's cheeseburger my sweet man brought me all the way from columbia last night."

so that's basically how my 6 month visit went yesterday. all my vitals and the baby's were awesome, but no matter how many times i ask the blood-drawing chick to NOT explain to me, out loud, what she's doing, she forgets, and then i start to pass out. so. that was, admittedly, excruciating. let's all just hope i pass this test (once the bloodwork comes back) so that i don't have to do the more extensive one in the future. anyhoo. so i came home and just felt horrible and weak and exhausted, bleh, and then my man went to the grocery, came home, and made me dinner, after a full day at the office, the darling sweet smoochiehead. i'm still feeling pretty crappily today, so hopefully this'll all pass soon.

not sure what y'all are doing for christmas, but andrew and i are driving to savannah on christmas eve to hang out with betty, melanie, jordan and chloe and assorted critters, including ruby's first trip with us to stay with her new relatives! wheee!!

also, andrew and i are signed up to take an all-day childbirth class on saturday, 1/14/12, held by Loris Hospital, where we'll be delivering Butterbean. it covers a ton of material, all of which i'm sure we will get right on the first try. :)

we're considering doing the 3-D/4-D ultrasound, which is best done by 28 weeks (just before the baby takes up most of the room in the uterus, so you can still see her doing her acrobatics). but, it's not covered by insurance because it's not medically necessary, so i'm asking for advice -- is it worth $150? we'd get a cd of the 30-45 minute session and pictures, etc, but i'm on the fence. please don't think we want anyone to offer to get it for us -- i just don't think it's going to capture our little butterbean as she will be after birth, ALTHOUGH IF WE GET IT YOU WILL ALL WATCH IT MULTIPLE TIMES AND AUDIBLY ENJOY AND LOVE IT EVERY SINGLE TIME. :)

ummm, what else? we've registered at target only - i was going to register at babies r us, but target is cheaper, and then i was going to register at wal-mart, but their web site is so hard to use. but if anyone feels like getting something from our target list, and it's cheaper at wal-mart, please do!!! i'm all about saving money. on target's site, which also is not user-friendly, i hate to tell ya, find the registries link, then click "find registry," then type in ritner and either miranda or andrew. that *should* bring it up. but the site also freezes up a bunch and is obnoxious, so i'm sorry. :( if it looks like we're missing things on our registry, it's probably because we have received several items (including a glider chair from sara) already, plus tons of darling clothes from you guys. y'all rock!! :)

the baby is most active first thing in the morning and lunchtime, and somehow never when andrew is close enough to feel her kickboxing, but he will soon EVEN IF I HAVE TO DUCT TAPE HIS HAND TO MAH BELLEH.

anything else happening here? oh, we have not decided on the name yet, though a recent contender is Sara Catherine Ritner. but who knows? she may pop out (easily and with very little effort on my part, right? RIGHT??) and she may look like a Roxie. we shall see!

y'all will be impressed to know that, besides whatever andrew has hidden from me, we have disposed of almost 100% of his Structure-brand clothes. yes, the Structure that stopped selling clothes before we all graduated from high school. yay! :) that means more room for the baby's stuff.

okay, nap time approaches. hope y'all are all doing very well -

love y'all!!

miranda

***if you would like to unsubscribe from these emails, toobadsosad, SUCKAS.***

--

NEXT EMAIL UPDATE, FROM 28 WEEKS PREGNANT!! december 28, 2011

Good morning, everyone!! i hope you're all doing very well, and having a lovely week! andrew and ruby and i drove to savannah on saturday and spent a lovely time with betty on saturday, and then also with melanie and the little girlies on sunday. it went very well, except for ruby eating all of holly's food every single time it was poured, and then she ALMOST got a full turkey leg off the counter when no one was looking. i'm sure she told all her doggie park friends about the one that got away. :)

we were going to go get the 4-d ultrasound yesterday, but the u/s tech had a family emergency and couldn't make it. she wanted to re-schedule, but even SHE told me that after 24 weeks and no later than 28 weeks is the best time to do one of these. after that time, Butterbean will be growing like a darling cute weed and won't be able to move around as much, and it will make getting good pictures of her that much harder. plus, i purposely scheduled the u/s for yesterday so that andrew could come with me, since he's never seen her move, and has only seen the still shots. he has 4 trials scheduled for january, and doesn't need to take the time off. also, as an out-of-pocket expense, i can't justify doing it after the optimum time frame. so, i'm disappointed, but over it already. :)

Butterbean is kicking up a storm throughout the day - most active is first thing in the morning while i'm still in bed (she actually kicked ruby while we were spooning, but ruby didn't complain), early afternoon, and mid-evening. she seems to be teasing her daddy, because every time i FORCE HIM TO COME OVER HERE AND FEEL MAH BELLEH, she stops moving until he moves his hand away. the silly lil punkin. :) andrew is being very tolerant of being interrupted and ordered over to my side, knowing he MIGHT feel a little thump which may or may not be my pulse. or gas. or is that a smile? (probably gas. :))

At this point, when the baby is born, amie is going to hopefully come down to help as soon as it can be arranged with her work, etc. i can tell y'all that, if anyone WANTS to come and help, we accept!!!
whether we have a regular birth or c-section, the three stories will be tough for me to navigate with or without carrying butterbean, plus ruby trying to figure out the new situation, and probably following me around, understandably, and me trying to nurse, etc. any assistance will be so, so appreciated. :)

my next monthly OB appt is January 9th, so i'll definitely let y'all know how it goes and what the baby's measurements are at that time.

i think i've told everyone that the current front runner for names is Sara Catherine Ritner, and we would call her Sara Catherine, if i can get used to the two-name first name. that may change. she may LOOK like a Rainbow Sunshine (ellie's suggestion) so we'll just have to see.

okay, i'm going to skip over my complaints this email. i'm very blessed that Butterbean is doing so well, so poor andrew will have to endure the brunt of the whining. :)

love y'all, and talk to y'all soon!! :)

miranda

my darling man testing out the baby bjorn
from mandi b walters!