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| 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."
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| rubypants at the dogpark surveying her queendom, with her natural smilie face spots! |
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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!
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| 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
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| 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. :)
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| 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. :)
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| 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
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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
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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
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
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| my darling man testing out the baby bjorn from mandi b walters! |
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