A strange fish

When does personality emerge?  In the case of the hero of this blog, it was around 7 weeks gestation, when we chose the nickname, "fish" (asa in Amharic).

At 7 weeks gestation, we're all more or less like fish.

Embryos of various species at early (top row), middle, and late (bottom row) stages of gestation.
Fish on the left; human on the right.  After a drawing by Ernst Haeckel.

Back then, Asa was less than 2 cm (1 inch) tall and weighed about as much as a bean. The nickname gave us a way of thinking about this little thing as a real live individual.

Now, just a couple of days short of 9 months gestation, dozens of people are looking forward to meeting Asa.

And yet there is much that remains unknown:

• Gender.  Is Asa male or female?  We don't know.  (For the meantime, we'll use 'he' for convenience.)
• Complexion.  Asa's mother and father happen to differ quite dramatically in skin color.  Grafted from the two of us, Asa may be light or dark, or somewhere in between. Amharic has five categories for skin-color: nech [white], qay [red], yeqay dama [dark red], tayim [burnt], and tiqur [black]. Perhaps he will be, as the Ethiopians say, "the color of burnt fish" (tayim asa masay).  (It's a compliment.)

There is an increasing amount we do know about Asa, though.   For example:

• He now weighs more than 3kg (6 lb, 7 oz.).  (As substantial as three bags of sugar -- but much dearer!)
• Although yet to make a sound, he speaks in crude gestures -- jabs of the elbows and knees -- through the medium of his mother's taut belly.  When my hand is resting there and Asa rolls over, it feels like a whale surfacing, turning, and then diving.

A strange fish indeed.

About me and Selam 

Selam is from Ethiopia and I am from England.  Fate brought us together in her country; and now we await Asa's arrival in Atlanta, GA -- home to Selam's mom Kuri and uncle Alex, and to my aunt Sylvia and uncle Rick -- where I am finishing up a PhD in Anthropology.

Asa's mum and dad on their wedding day.

The inspiration for this blog

In addition to Asa, the inspiration for this blog comes from two people:

1.  Anne Ginestier, my aunt, maintained a blog, www.ginestier.blogspot.com, that helped her family and her many friends stay up to date during her struggle with cancer over the past year.  Anne died yesterday, January 30, 2011.  She was excited at the prospect of Asa joining the family; this whole thing is something she would have taken joy in.

2.  Seth Fisher, my cousin, started a blog in 2005 in celebration of the arrival of his son Tofu.  Tragically Seth died when Tofu was 20 months old.  The blog was a beautiful monument to his love for his son.  Seth's mom Vicki Sheridan maintains a blog in Seth's memory at
www.floweringnose.blogspot.com

Why "O our Asa" / "Asachen hoy"?

The title of this blog is an adaptation of the first words of the Lord's prayer in Ge'ez (the language used in the liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church).

"Abbatachen hoy"  means "O our father".
"Asachen hoy" means "O our fish".