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christopher bernard hartman

Christopher Bernard Hartman was born December 12, 2003. He weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 inches long. Mother and baby are doing fine.

Christopher's page.

December 16, 2003 | Posted by Zaida

don't make me come in there!

So in the second installment of the size melodrama, I had my second sonogram of the month this afternoon. Everything turned out fine, he's about 6 pounds 6 ounces which is within the realm of acceptable. (In a foolish quest for more spending money, Frank bet me $20 that he would be at least 7 pounds 8 ounces at birth. And born on the 22nd of December, a full week late.)

They told me to drink 16 ounces of juice to prepare for the sonogram, so they could monitor some movement. What I didn't realize was that I should have done this right before the ultrasound, or during it, and had a chocolate bar. And probably not eaten lunch. Because although the baby was moving during the exam, he wasn't moving quite enough while they were looking for the movement. It seemed pretty arbitrary to me. He's not going to move all the time. Everyone rests some time. He happens to get active after lunch and then fall asleep. It's siesta time, for crying out loud. The technician, 7 months pregnant herself, realized this and didn't want him to fail the test because he was resting, so asked if I had any candy. Which I didn't. So Frank came over and said he could get him to move, and proceeded to poke and jab me all over my stomach.

"I don't think he likes that," I said.
"I don't want him to like it," he said.
"It's a good thing you're having a boy," the tech said.

Then she got me a peppermint. That seemed to wake him up a bit. At least enough for everyone to be happy with the exam results. I won't be happy until there's no more arbitrary tests to take to tell me my kid's ok. Wait, that won't ever happen.

December 03, 2003 | Posted by Zaida | Comments (1)

size isn’t everything

I had my weekly doctor's appointment yesterday. As they had been for the last few weeks, they were concerned about my size. My doctors think I'm carrying rather small. Nevermind that I am small, and my husband, like me, is pretty thin. They would like to get another ultrasound next week to confirm the baby's development. It seems silly given that I'm term now, and by the time they get the results the baby could possibly be born. As my doctor said yesterday, if you go into labor tonight, we're not going to do anything to stop it. That being the case, what are you going to do if the baby's small on the ultrasound?

Before I was pregnant, I always hoped I would end up with a smallish baby. I didn't think it would end up being a cause of concern. I don't think I could carry a 10-pounder. I know I couldn't deliver one. One of the facts of mother nature is that she will usually bless you with a baby that is appropriate for your frame. Which is why most asian women, even if married to football players, will deliver smaller babies than caucasian woman. As my doctor said, it's possible that I will deliver a 6-7 pound baby as opposed to an 8-9 pound baby. What's wrong with that? My mother in law had 4 children, the largest of which was my husband who weighed in just over 7 pounds. And, as Frank likes to say, you can't expect the boy to be as strapping as his dad. I was 2 months premature and therefore inconceivably tiny.

Our baby seems to be in the 40th percentile. That's pretty small. But given the fact that 30% of Americans are obese and 80% are overweight, Frank and I are probably in the 20th percentile ourselves. Is that really so bad? We'll hope that everything will turn out fine, and my doctors are just ultrasound-happy.

November 25, 2003 | Posted by Zaida | Comments (5)

but will it scare the bean?

I have this vintage poster hanging in my living room. I liked some things about it, but mainly I got it because we needed two posters and this was the only one I could find that would suit the other. Frank insists the poster, with the bug-eyed expression on the waiter's face, will scare our baby. Wouldn't that squid-man scare you? I think he's probably right.

When we were growing up, my mother had a huge print of a sad clown's head in our bedroom. I swear the poster was 4 feet tall by 3 feet wide and was painted in grays and dark colors. I could see the picture while I was going to sleep, it was horrible. My sister and I both have slight clown hang ups as a result. I don't know what my mother was thinking.

So I figure I'll have to take this poster down eventually, but I'll at least wait until the bean can focus his eyes more than 3 feet ahead. That should buy me some time. (Sara, if you're reading this, note the fish-that-won't-die on the bookshelves.)

November 24, 2003 | Posted by Zaida | Comments (0)

coaxing the turn

For the past week and a half, we have suspected that our baby was lying sideways. His kicking and much of his movement occurs on my left side. When I got an ultrasound last week, Frank said it looked like it's head was on my side also. Knowing that my due date was approaching, and that this is not altogether a good position for the baby to be in at this point, I had undertaken a great effort to turn him. This included:


Frank, to his credit, never laughed (out loud) while he witnessed me doing these things. And, after all my efforts, it didn't seem like any of these things were working. I am still getting most of my movement on my left side.

I went to the doctor this afternoon and she went over the results of the sonogram. Apparently everything is perfectly normal, and the baby is in the proper head down position. "Really?," I asked. She said yes, at least as of the ultrasound. And then she lightly touched my belly in a couple of places and confirmed he was still in position. His legs are on my left side, which is a good place for them to be. I was a little confounded. Apparently it was all for naught. I suppose this is just the beginning of the bean's attempts to vex his mother.

November 13, 2003 | Posted by Zaida | Comments (3)

childbirth 101

The other night I was dutifully reading What to Expect When You're Expecting when Frank glanced over and saw this diagram about breech postions:

breech positions

"Look at that dumbass with his leg hanging out!," he said. "I mean wouldn't you see that?"

***

Yesterday we went to get another ultrasound. We think the bean is in there sideways (transverse). You can't birth a baby that's in there sideways. That's possibly worse than breech. There is still time for him to turn. But he's probably just like his father and likes to lie down a lot. Although his father insists his boy will turn.

November 04, 2003 | Posted by Zaida | Comments (0)

my husband got an x-box and all I got was this lousy t-shirt

Frank's office threw him a surprise baby shower last week. Fittingly, it was at a bar. Also fittingly, the baby present he received was an x-box along with some games. Which were rated "Mature".

onesiesI on the other hand was thrown a more traditional shower by my sister and best friend, Auntie Bern and Aunt Amy, respectively. I received more "appropriate" presents at my shower, thanks in large part to the generosity of the aforementioned. A baby monitor, stroller, car seat, crib sheets, a diaper genie and various sundries, including the onesies pictured here.

Contrary to the title of this post, I don't think the onesies are lousy. In fact, I was amused to tears when I saw them. And to fully appreciate them, one has to know my sister. She loves to make t-shirts, usually with pictures of herself and her dog. She loves dogs, especially hers, which of course she considers her daughter. It follows then that my child would be her dog's cousin. Nevermind that her dog is a 120 lb. pit bull which she tries to pass off as a corgie. Nevermind that it is conceivable that her dog could very well try to eat her "cuz".

But I'm sure he will learn to love his cousin, and even more so his Auntie Bern.

October 30, 2003 | Posted by Zaida | Comments (4)

the bean is coming

So, my husband and I are expecting a baby. In celebration, and because noone really comes here anyway, I am putting up various things that are of interest to just me, and perhaps the baby. And of course I'm far too lazy to change anything else about the site so...

During our first sonogram at about 8 weeks we saw the baby newly formed and looking an awful lot like a lima bean. This prompted my husband to say, "It's a bean! It looks just like you." We've referred to him as the bean ever since. And I don't know if we'll be able to refrain from doing so when he's a sentient being, unfortunate for him.

We're both of course very happy about the upcoming event. The only immediate downside to his imminence being we won't be able to see the new Lord of the Rings movie which comes out 2 days after his due date. Hence this conversation.

I'm sure the bean will be pleased to know he's been referred to as both a legume and the dark lord, all in one breath.

October 29, 2003 | Posted by Zaida | Comments (2)

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