BIDDEFORD – When she wants to look back on her second pregnancy, Katrina Carus won’t be limited to memories about the pangs of labor or the trouble she had getting up off the sofa under her own power.

Instead, the 32-year-old Springvale woman can simply check out a plaster casting of her pregnant torso that was made just days before she was scheduled to give birth.

The casting was made by Dr. Randi Lebar, an orthopedic surgeon in Sanford, who said the work offered a welcome break from setting bones and performing operations.

On Friday, Lebar and nurse Debbie Collins created the plaster casting for Carus, who planned to decorate it, perhaps with baby footprints. The finished work will enable Carus, her husband, Frank, her child and perhaps her grandchild to see how she looked on Jan. 24, 2003, and reminisce about the life that grew inside her.

There was a lot of laughter at Friday’s session. Lebar and Collins cut strips of plaster of Paris-imbedded gauze – the same material used to make casts for broken bones – dunked it under the water tap, and started wrapping Carus’ T-shirt-clad torso.

About 30 minutes later, Lebar and Collins cut Carus’ T-shirt up the back and removed the casting. She popped on another shirt, and the bellymask began to dry.

The practice got its start in California, where artist Francine Krause said she coined the term bellymask in 1986 after making a casting of her own pregnant torso.

“It’s contemporary but it feels like an ancient art form,” Krause said. “They look like a classical Greek sculpture.”

Carus, who said she was trying to enjoy her pregnancy, had read about the procedure and called Lebar about obtaining the needed supplies.

Lebar, who had a cancellation that day, told Carus to stop in. “I spend my life benefiting from others’ misfortune,” she said. “This time, I got to do something fun, positive, and that poses no risk.”

Lebar sees possibilities for groups of women looking for a unique baby shower gift. On the first Saturday of every month, by appointment only, she and Collins will create plaster castings of pregnant bellies and torsos at Mousam Valley Orthopaedics.

The sessions are private and no guys are allowed, she said. The fee is $100, and an expendable T-shirt is required.

“It’s neat,” nurse Collins said as she helped Lebar wind and smooth the gauze around Carus’ belly. “Pregnant women are adorable. Pregnancy is a very special time. [Carus] can say, ‘My belly was this big,’ but a child can look at the casting and say, ‘I was in there.”‘