El pollo loco

Happy Halloween! Sarah and I decided it was high time Scarlett started earning her keep around here. So we dressed her up and told her to hit the streets for some candy. Imagine our disappointment when we found her still lying on the bed without any tootsie rolls for mommy. This bodes ill for my plans to send her out on a beer run for daddy this weekend. Which is too bad, because the fake ID I made her is sweet.

Tubby Time!

Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but having gratuitous tub shots (blackmail vs future teenage daughter) is nothing short of nirvana.

Rectal Thermometer

In this video, Scarlet learns about her parents' hidden plans to put a thermometer in her butt. Let's see her reaction!

Scarlett in action!

At last, her big debut on the silverscreen...

I couldn't help adding another video of the silent genre. Here Scarlett shows off her mastery of such Chaplin-esque techniques as "hand munching" and the "big sneeze." Riveting.

I'm Almost Two Weeks Old

That's correct, 2 weeks down and I've already achieved some impressive developmental milestones:
1. I can distinguish at 10 inches what most people can see at 200 feet (not bad, eh?)
2. I can successfully void the entire volume of my bladder during the 5 millisecond interval between removing my old diaper and placing a new one beneath me
3. I can awake Daddy from deep sleep my kicking him in the Adam's apple
4. I can almost fit both fists inside my mouth (see photo)
5. I can drain a boob in 10 minutes flat!
6. I create more laundry in one day than two adults do in a week

My first spoon!

Thank you, Great Uncle Bob! We took Scarlett raspberry-picking in New Salem, MA and then went to visit our friends, Bob and Paul. Bob, silversmith extraordinaire, fashioned a beautiful gift for the Bean. The handle features a bear and childrens' blocks that spell her initials :"S-J-S".

Signs

As you can see in this photograph, Scarlett has some characteristic red markings over her right eyebrow, forehead and beneath her nose. The pediatrician tells us these are nevus flammeus neonatorum, better known as "stork bites." It was once thought that these pigmentations were caused by transient capillary malformations in the skin, but scientists now believe that most babies with this condition have actually been attacked by maritime waterfowl. My own theory is that these marks indicate her intrauterine ascension to the rarified ranks of the Shaolin warriors. Each spot represents mastery of a particular form.
Right eyebrow: Fist of death
Central forehead: levitation
Nasolabial region: 'The Billyjack'

Foot fetish?

As many of you know, Sarah is quite the connoisseur of footwear. And so it is no accident she has a keen interest in the little appendages upon which she will be donning many little sandals, booties and (dare I say) Manolo Blahniks.

Home at last!

On Sunday, Sept 30th we finally made it home to Easthampton. It's a great relief. In this photo Sarah and the Scarlett are hanging out in the living room while Zeek tries to cope with the stresses of childrearing.

Call Scully and Mulder

Some of you may have heard that we had to spend a few extra days in the hospital. Don't be alarmed, the explanation is simple: our baby was abducted. That's right, at around 2:00am on the Sept 27th, a really short nurse with curiously almond-shaped eyes glided into our room and took Scarlett away for some "tests." She was fitted with a bio-electric interface, effectively converting our daughter into a battery with which to power the mothership.

No, no. What actually happened is that Scarlett became jaundiced and her serum bilirubin level was elevated. This means that her little liver was unable to effectively conjugate the breakdown products of hemoglobin. Liver failure? That sounds bad. The explanation is simple: Sarah went a little crazy with the Maddog 20/20 during 2nd trimester.

No, no. Physiologic neonatal jaundice is a common phenomenon, especially in early babies like Scarlett whose organs aren't fully "on-line" yet. In the photograph, Scarlett is wearing a "bili-blanket." This device provides a particular wavelength of ultraviolet radiation that converts bilirubin into a soluble form that can be excreted by the kidneys.

So, no, you can't use our cyborg baby to charge your cell phone.

Here I am!

Name: Scarlett Jane Stayman (aka "Bean")
Weight: 7 lbs 7 oz
Length: 20.5"

Hobbies: purposeless arm flailing, hiccuping, evacuation of bowel contents

Much as she enjoyed the warm aquatic environment of mommy's womb (aka "The Bean Cooker"), Scarlett decided she was through with that scene at 37 weeks. Sarah went into labor around midnight on Wednesday, September 26. Contractions grew stronger and closer together over the next few hours, unrelieved by hot bath or shower. A call to the birthing center was received with skepticism that the labor had advanced substantially. At 5:oo am Sarah announced that we were going. The birthing center's nay-sayers were surprised to find that she was, in fact 9 cm dilated on arrival. Sarah politely (i.e. with only mild profanity) requested an epidural. The OB responded that there would likely not be time to place one. Sarah's gaze effectively conveyed that she was about to castrate him and anesthesia was summoned.

The mood improved greatly after the epidural was in place. Here's Sarah enjoying her labor.

At around 9:25 am Sarah was fully dilated and, after 30 minutes of pushing, we got to meet our slimy little bean.

The new family:

She's Here!

Ha ha! Just kidding. It's just Zeek, one of our fat piece-of-crap felines, goofing around where he's not supposed to be.

Baby's Room

Hi,

I know it has been a while since the last post. No real good excuse except time seemed to get away from us. Summer seems to have flown by and we are getting ready, my doctor told me at my last appt that I should get a bag packed for the hospital. I am feeling very well, I feel very lucky to say that thus far my pregnancy has been very uneventful (except for that little bout of food poisoning). My toes now look like sausages and I have crazy heartburn, but other than that I have no complaints. We have really enjoyed the summer!

We have finished the baby's room and are really happy with it. We think it looks great! The wall decals were from Blix, they have some wonderful designs and they are easy to install. They are also removable, although you can't then re-stick them somewhere else. We also bought a glider, which although I find to be very ugly, as soon as I sat in one I knew I had to have it.

At the end of July, we had a baby shower at Look Park in Northampton. The morning started off with torrential downpours, but it turned out to be nice by the time of the party. I am going through pictures now and will post them at a later date (I promise).

Hope everyone is having a great summer and is looking forward to fall.

Take Care,

Aaron and Sarah

20 Week Pictures

Here are some pictures of Sarah at 20 weeks. She really looks like a pregnant lady now, strangers are always striking up a conversation wanting to know when she is due. She is feeling great and seems to have renewed energy, which makes her happy. We are in the process of putting together the baby's room, luckily the room is small so we have very limited space. The name game has begun and we have a short list, but we have decided to keep the name a secret. We want there to be at least one surprise!

Hope everyone is doing well and staying cool,

Aaron and Sarah

18 Week Ultrasound Pictures

Here are the 18 week pictures. They are of her foot, profile, face, and hand. Here face is kinda scary looking because she doesn't have any fat yet, so she just looks like a skeleton. My favorite picture is the one of her foot.

Take Care, Sarah and Aaron

IT"S A GIRL!!!

We had our 18 week ultrasound yesterday and found out we are having a girl! At first she would not cooperate and was sitting indian-style so there wasn't a good shot and she wouldn't move. I am wondering if this will only be the beginning of a lifetime of stubborn and defiant behavior. After I got up and moved around a bit, the sonographer tried again and we got a perfect picture and it was definitely a girl. The even better news is that she is developing normally and is progressing perfectly. The ultrasounds can't detect all possible abnormalities, but all of her organs, bones and muscles look great.

I felt that baby for the first time a few weeks ago, it wasn't a flutter so much as a jab. I am still not feeling movement consistently, but usually every few days I will get a few good kicks. I am feeling great and only these past few weeks have I really started to look like a pregnant lady and strangers are asking me my due date. Once the ultrasound pictures are scanned I will download them, as well as some pictures of my new belly.

Hope all is well with everyone,

Sarah and Aaron

2nd Ultrasound

Here is the second ultrasound picture, which was done a few weeks ago. It finally looks like a baby. The very bright spots in the hands, head and body are the bone forming, which I thought was pretty cool to be able to see. At my last appointment they were finally able to hear the heartbeat on the Doppler, so it looks like I have a "normal" uterus now.

12 Week Appointment

Hello,

I had my second visit with the midwife today. All is well, except my uterus is incredibly retroverted (meaning backwards) and flat as a pancake. That means that we couldn't hear the heartbeat again with the doppler and I had to get another ultrasound. This time the baby looks much more normal, you can see the legs, feet and hands and there is a distinct profile of the face. They are still unable to determine the sex, but will be able to in the next five or six weeks. For some reason, most people think it's a girl. I have no premonitions. I am also evidently not gaining enough weight, so I guess I am going to go have a milk shake now.

Take Care,

Sarah

First Ultrasound Picture

We finally found a scanner and were able to make the ultrasound photos digital. It is kind of blurry and there really isn't much to see at this point, but you can make out the head, eyes, nose and mouth. The legs are tucked behind the body so you are unable to see them. So far so good!

Take Care,

Sarah

First Ultrasound

I had an appointment today to try to hear the heartbeat. I am now almost 11 weeks along. After three tries, with three different types if doppler's the nurse was not able to hear the heartbeat. Being the professional that she was (and knowing that I was sorta freaking out), she offered to do an ultrasound. Aaron could not be with me, but luckily I had my good friend, Lauri, there for support. We trooped to the ultrasound room and everything went perfectly. The reason she was unable to hear the heartbeat was because my uterus is tipped backwards, which happens in about 25% of women and it is not a cause for worry.

We could see the head, eyes, nose, mouth, arms, legs. It was moving around like crazy. The heartbeat is 166 beats per minute, which is very good. Honestly, it sort of looks like an alien.........

I am going to try to get the pictures in digital format, so I can post them.

Hope all is well,

Sarah

First Pre-Natal Appointment

We had our first pre-natal appointment with our midwife on Friday, March 9th. In my opinion, it was a bit anti-climatic. At the time of the appointment I was only about 8 and a half weeks pregnant, so it was to early to hear a heartbeat. That will be at the next appointment in a few weeks. Thus far only blood was drawn and hopefully we won't have any problems.......

Take Care,

Sarah

I am posting a belly shot of me at about 9 weeks. I wish I could say it was baby, but it is all bloat!

We're Having A Baby!!!!

Hi,

Aaron and I found out we were having a baby at the beginning of February. We are very, very excited, but sad because so many of our close friends and family live far away and will not be able to share this with us. So, we decided to create a blog so people can check in and see the progress. Please feel free to post whenever you like or just browse.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Love,

Sarah and Aaron