Posted on April 16, 2008 - by Justin Hartman
The newest addition to our family
The wait is finally over. At 17:15 yesterday afternoon our new son was born weighing 3.61 kg and everyone is recovering nicely. 3.61 kg is massive for a baby considering that the two twins born just before him weighed 4 kg combined but he’s still such a small and fragile thing that his size is almost insignificant.
Colette and I haven’t agreed yet on a name for our new son but this will be revealed when he has his Bris in about 8 days time.
The 15th of April was a rather crazy day and I went through a vast array of emotions in the process; stress, fear, excitement, nervousness and ultimately – elation. There are no words to describe what it’s like to watch a child being born and I’m truly humbled to experience the miracle of life once again.
Colette was forced to have a C-section due to the fact that she had one when Luke was born and while it’s a fairly quick operation it got very scary at times. Unlike Luke, our newborn just refused to come out and Colette had to endure some serious physical pain before eventually he popped out.
At one point I really wasn’t sure if they’d ever get him out but thank God it all worked out in the end and I’m very excited to show you what a miracle we’ve produced.
You can view all the birth pictures on my Flickr stream.
My biggest concern today though was how Luke was going to handle the whole affair. For a 4 year-old, who’s never been subjected to pregnancy and birth, this is an unimaginable scenario to put him in and I have been paranoid for months on how this will affect him.
Over the last couple weeks we’ve been trying to prepare him for the events that would transpire and while this wasn’t easy he showed some immense enthusiasm at becoming a big brother. At the same time he was also very scared of the unknown but we tried to reassure him about things whenever we could.
At around 18:15, only an hour after our baby was born, I left the hospital to go and fetch Luke but he simply didn’t want to come back with me to visit his mom and brother. He was overwrought with fear but eventually, through some bribery, he reluctantly agreed to come with me.
We stopped off at the hospital cafe to buy his new brother a present and while we were at it he and Colette also got a couple gifts. Stapled to my side we made our way to the devil’s lair so that Luke could finally meet his new fate.
While it was very uncomfortable for him initially (he refused to look at his new brother, let alone touch him) we made some great breakthroughs. By the end of the hour that we spent there Luke managed to overcome his fears of his new sibling and the result of their relationship is highlighted beautifully in the pic below.
Yesterday was fascinating for me because while I was extremely honoured to become a father again I had to focus more on making this day special and important for Luke rather than myself.
There’s a lot more I did for Luke when he was born such as bathing him for the first time, changing his first nappy etc. but instinctively I knew that my newborn son needed his mom and Luke needed me.
Luke can’t wait to go to the hospital again and I can’t wait to spend more time with my family.
Finally I have to say that I am so proud of Colette for her courage and endurance. It really wasn’t easy for her during pregnancy but she has handled the whole thing so well and put up with my crap in the process. She was amazing today.
I am the MD and co-founder of 
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congrats Justin! You have a gorgeous family, well done
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
CONGRATULATIONS…all the best to your family!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
MAZOL-TOV!!!!! What gorgeous pictures! so excited for all of you!!!!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Wow dude, fantastic moments! Incredibly happy for you and the family. Very glad that Luke loves his little brother and that your preparations worked out. Good form.
Also stoked that Colette is doing well!!
So much for sleep hey, not that you got much before, but now, your stuffed!
Enjoy your time with the family.
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations!
We’re expecting our first, due end September … I already have those emotions you experienced yesterday & there are still 5 months to go.
Welcome to the New World little Hartman!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations – miracle indeed
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Hey Justin – big congrats go to you, your wife and boykie! You’re going to be floating around for the next couple of weeks – floating on love, happiness, the smell of baby puke and lack of sleep – but if you thought that one was a wonderful thing, two is just twice as awesome!
Take some time with your family, and well done (well, not that you did much except have some fun!)
Cheers
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Hi guys
Haven’t been online to see all these wonderful comments but I must just thank each one of you for taking the time to share in our special moment.
New baby is changing every minute and he already looks different to yesterday and I’m shooting off again to pickup Luke from school so we can spend some time together.
Once again, thanks for your support – it means a great deal to me personally but also my whole family!!!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
MAZEL TOV!!!!!!!!
Thats awesome. Glad that everyone is doing well.
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congrats Justin! You have a gorgeous family, well done
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
CONGRATULATIONS…all the best to your family!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
MAZOL-TOV!!!!! What gorgeous pictures! so excited for all of you!!!!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Wow dude, fantastic moments! Incredibly happy for you and the family. Very glad that Luke loves his little brother and that your preparations worked out. Good form.
Also stoked that Colette is doing well!!
So much for sleep hey, not that you got much before, but now, your stuffed!
Enjoy your time with the family.
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations!
We're expecting our first, due end September … I already have those emotions you experienced yesterday & there are still 5 months to go.
Welcome to the New World little Hartman!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations – miracle indeed
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Hey Justin – big congrats go to you, your wife and boykie! You're going to be floating around for the next couple of weeks – floating on love, happiness, the smell of baby puke and lack of sleep – but if you thought that one was a wonderful thing, two is just twice as awesome!
Take some time with your family, and well done (well, not that you did much except have some fun!)
Cheers
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Hi guys
Haven't been online to see all these wonderful comments but I must just thank each one of you for taking the time to share in our special moment.
New baby is changing every minute and he already looks different to yesterday and I'm shooting off again to pickup Luke from school so we can spend some time together.
Once again, thanks for your support – it means a great deal to me personally but also my whole family!!!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
MAZEL TOV!!!!!!!!
Thats awesome. Glad that everyone is doing well.
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congrats Justin!!!
What an amazing post, truly from the heart.
Finally, I hope he grows up to become a better developer than you :-p
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congrats man!
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congrats Justin!!!
What an amazing post, truly from the heart.
Finally, I hope he grows up to become a better developer than you :-p
Visit My Website
April 16, 2008
Permalink
Congrats man!
Visit My Website
April 17, 2008
Permalink
Congrats dude.
Visit My Website
April 17, 2008
Permalink
Congrats again Justin and Colette. I didn’t even think that Luke would be apprehensive about his little brother. Definitely something for us to remember when we give Aaron a little brother or sister some day.
Visit My Website
April 17, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations Justin, and to your lovely wife!
Really happy that you and the family are doing well!
Visit My Website
April 17, 2008
Permalink
Congrats dude.
Visit My Website
April 17, 2008
Permalink
Congrats again Justin and Colette. I didn't even think that Luke would be apprehensive about his little brother. Definitely something for us to remember when we give Aaron a little brother or sister some day.
Visit My Website
April 17, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations Justin, and to your lovely wife!
Really happy that you and the family are doing well!
Visit My Website
April 18, 2008
Permalink
Awesome news Justin. Huge congratulations to you and the missus!
Visit My Website
April 18, 2008
Permalink
Awesome news Justin. Huge congratulations to you and the missus!
Visit My Website
April 19, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations – and thanks for sharing such a special moment (pictures are lovely).
Visit My Website
April 19, 2008
Permalink
Congratulations – and thanks for sharing such a special moment (pictures are lovely).
Visit My Website
April 24, 2008
Permalink
Hi Justin
I am so late on picking this up – finally catching up one some feeds. Belated congrats to you! Glad to see from the pic that you’re starting him up on good old chocolate
Once again, congrats!
Cheers,
Gino
Visit My Website
April 24, 2008
Permalink
Hi Justin
I am so late on picking this up – finally catching up one some feeds. Belated congrats to you! Glad to see from the pic that you're starting him up on good old chocolate
Once again, congrats!
Cheers,
Gino
Visit My Website
April 26, 2008
Permalink
Congrats from afar. The Hartman clan continues
Visit My Website
April 26, 2008
Permalink
Congrats from afar. The Hartman clan continues
Visit My Website
May 5, 2008
Permalink
i really liked the way you portrayed your emotions being a father………lots of best wishes and love top your new born…….wish you a very happy family life ahead!!!!!!!
Visit My Website
May 5, 2008
Permalink
i really liked the way you portrayed your emotions being a father………lots of best wishes and love top your new born…….wish you a very happy family life ahead!!!!!!!
Visit My Website
May 29, 2008
Permalink
Congrats
Time to update your blog profile
Visit My Website
May 29, 2008
Permalink
Congrats
Time to update your blog profile