Ultrasound

Last week we went down to Des Moines for an ultrasound to do some prenatal screening. It was great to see our little guy again, he was opening and closing his mouth; "breathing" in the amniotic fluid that is surrounding him.

He also seems to be growing like crazy! Based on the measurements the ultrasound tech took, it seems our boy is now 2 pounds, 3 ounces! He's huge! And he measured just over 14 inches long! Here's a 3D picture of him with his face smushed up against the side of Trish's uterus.



The last picture is one of the best 3D pictures we've had so far. It clearly shows that he's going to have Trish's nose, and maybe Andy's lips. We'll see though! The blob in front of his face is the umbilical cord.

WEEK 26

The network of nerves in our babies ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both Andy and Trish's voice as we chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures fourteen inches from head to heel. His testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum - a trip that will take two to three days.
(Information gathered from www.babycenter.com)

Based on the weight and length of our baby, babycenter says he's the size of an English Hothouse Cucumber. What the heck is that?!?!?! That doesn't even sound good. So here's Andy's comparison....At 14 inches long and 1 2/3 lbs, our baby is the size of a trophy crappie!!!

It was exciting this morning because as I was sitting on the couch before work, Trish came up to say goodbye and I put my mouth to her stomach and told the baby goodbye and he gave a big old kick! So we know he hears our voices! We also saw on our last ultrasound those little breathing movements as our baby boy was opening and closing his mouth. The ultrasound tech told us that was very good to see this early in the pregnancy. It's something that they look for later in the 3rd trimester, but to see it this early is a great sign. We have 1 more week to go until the 3rd trimester!!!! It's soooo exciting!!!

I didn't have any good pictures for this post, and I hate to make posts without pictures....so here's a close-up of one of the baby's acquarium crappies. His name is Don and he hangs out on the left side of the tank.

Mission Impossible

On Tuesday, Trish took the day off and it was one of Andy's normal days off work. So we decided to set up our baby registry's. It took us back to the days when we were registering for our wedding. Also, Andy got to "shoot" stuff all day! Here's a couple action shots.......

Here's one of Andy as he snuck up on the crib sheet set and accessories he'd been stalking all day.


And moments later Trish put down some fitted crib sheets from point blank range.


We hunted all day at Target and Babys r Us. We shot up about 75 items to outfit our baby when he enters the world. So if you happen to get a baby shower invite in the mail, feel free to buy our baby boy whatever you want off his lists! And if you see something cool that his daddy might look good in (ex: camouflage clothes or a new bow), feel free to pick that stuff up too even though it's not on the registry.

We'd also like to give a huge THANK YOU to Liz and Stacey for all their advice and help on what to register for! Thanks girls!

We ended the mission by grilling and devouring some amazing cheeseburgers with the Carson's. Joel showed us a few dance moves and how he likes to stay cool in his sweet pool. It was a great day!

Weekend with the Leshers

Trish's mom & dad visited this past weekend & we had a blast! We went fishing at Don Williams during the day on Saturday before Andy had to go to work. Lon and Trish each caught a nice crappie to go along with numerous small blue gills.


As soon as we got home, those crappies went right into the baby's fish tank!

It took those 2 crappies less than two days to eat every last one of my goldfish minnows that were the original inhabitants of the tank. Looks like we'll have to go to the bait shop soon to keep them growing!

We also got some practice with some infant diapers we had on hand too.

Poor Rudy!

The Grump

ULTRASOUND

We went into the hospital this morning for a scheduled ultrasound. Here's a short video of the baby moving around. You can really see the heart beating perfectly and watch at the end when he picks his nose and gives a "salute" to all his fans!


We found out that our baby boy has grown almost 1 pound since our last ultrasound and he's a whopping 1 pound and 13 ounces!



We established one other fact today from the 3D ultrasound that Andy has been saying all along.....the baby definitely has Grandpa Lon's nose!

Ancestor of the Week

So I've decided to start a weekly feature on the blog in addition to the weekly updates on our pregnancy. As the weekly pregnancy update is a look forward to a new life, this ancestor feature will be a look back, paying tribute to those that got us here in the first place. I've joined ancestry.com and have found some incredible information. I'll start with the Bartlett side, but Trish's side is just as extensive and will be included in later weeks. Enjoy.

Lyman Bartlett


Lyman was born on January 27, 1826 in Strongville, Ohio which was in Cuyahoga County. He was the son of Seth and Rebecca Bartlett. He spent his early life in his native county on a farm, and also worked at the carpenter trade. In May, 1854, he came to Iowa and settled on the farm that the Bartlett's now own, paying $2.25 per acre for it. His farm consists of 166 acres of fine improved land. Lyman fought in the Civil War, enlisting in company D, 24th Iowa, August 6, 1862; was taken prisoner at Cedar Creek, Virginia, October 19, 1864, and held a prisoner until the following March. When he was released as a prisoner of war, he returned to his farm in Iowa and built the house that Andy grew up in. He was married, October 23, 1849, to Francis A. E. Clark, a native of Massachusetts. They have four children: William, Lyman S., Edwin and Frank S.

Pictured below is Lyman on the right with his son, Lyman, Jr.

Lyman was Andy's great, great, great Grandfather. He passed away on August 29, 1899 near Solon, Iowa. He was 73 years old. God rest his soul.

WEEK 25

The Baby
Head to heels, our baby now measures 13 1/2 inches. His weight, about a pound and a half, isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin begins to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair, and if you could see it, you'd be able to discern it's color and texture.
(Information from www.babycenter.com)

Trish is still feeling good. She's really showing and has been for some time now. We've even started to notice subtle movements from the outside of her tummy when the baby is moving around! We can definitely feel the kicks and jabs from outside the tummy too! Sometimes it gets to the point where it's uncomfortable for Trish when the baby is being fiesty. Even the dog and kitty get startled when their resting their head on Trish's tummy and the baby kicks!

We have another ultrasound on Friday and will hopefully get some good pictures to put up of our baby boy.

Forest Friends

Every now and then we get some wild visitors to our back yard. This is one example...a small buck, just growing his antlers for the year, browsing on the vegetation just off the back deck.



I watched him fill his belly for awhile and then I decided to go out the front door, sneak up to the side of the house, and then run around the corner at him as fast as I could to catch him off guard and see how close I could get to him! I made it around the corner, he snapped his head up, his eyes grew to the size of bowling balls and he turned and vanished into the timber in the blink of an eye. I didn't even get close.

The Crib

So I decided to attempt to fabricate the crib where our first baby will sleep and grow during his first days, months, and maybe years on this earth. To make it even more special, I've selected choice Juniperus virginiana (Red Cedar for those non-Forestry folk) trees in the park to harvest, finish and construct the crib. There are many steps involved in this process. It is time consuming. I've sweat and bled during the process of cutting down the trees, stripping the bark, sanding the logs, and cutting them to length to fit the finished product.

This tree behind my sweet Stihl chainsaw was the first to fall.


After cutting down choice trees, then cutting the segments I needed to length, the tedious job of stripping the bark by hand began....


And as of today, I've got the frame cut & assembled. The next steps include a real good sanding to finish all the logs and then stripping and assembling all the rungs.


I've come a long way on the crib so far, but have quite a bit left to do. More updates on this project to come.......

Animal House

With a new baby on the way, it gets easy to forget about our "first kids". Here's a tribute to the two animals that rule the house for now.


Mr. Lazlo is the kitty that rules the house. He has a horrible attitude and isn't afraid to tell you when he's not happy with how he's being treated. On the upside, he is very gentle and doesn't bite or nip at all. He will be very good with the baby. You can often find Mr. Lazlo sneaking around and getting himself in trouble.
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Dozer, The Doze, or Dozey is a bit of a loose cannon. He actually has two sides. The side that most of our company doesn't see is the cuddly, sleepy side of this wild canine. But show up unannounced and he's liable to come unglued. Here's a couple pics of his "softer" side.


The last pic was taken with both animals cuddling a local sasquatch that showed up here this past winter!

WEEK 24

Our baby is growing steadily and has gained 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound! Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of sweet corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally, and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce a surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

How Trish's body is changing.....In the past few weeks, the top of her uterus has risen above her belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball!!!!

(Information gathered from www.babycenter.com)

Meet me in Saint Louis

On April 27th we went in to the doctor's office for a regular OB appointment. At this appointment we were blessed to find out that the human life growing inside Trish was in fact a boy! Afterwards I mentioned to Trish that we should go out for dinner. She said Ok, how about we go to your mom's?!?! I said "Whhhhaaaaaaaatttt"! Turns out Trish had a big birthday surprise in store for me. April 28th was my birthday (I turned 21 for the 8th time) and I was surprised with a trip to St. Louis to see my favorite team, the ST. LOUIS CARDINALS take on the Atlanta Braves. Here's some pics from our journey.

Our first stop was to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Now, this seems like a pretty cruel place to take your pregnant wife, but she was nice enough to let me go and taste the freshly brewed beer after watching it being made!


They were actually sealing in the fresh taste of Busch Light into tall boy cans while we were there! I couldn't get my hands on any of them though. But did you know that from the time a bottle is filled with beer at this brewery, it is capped in 1/10th of a second to seal in the freshness.


Then came time for the game......

My hero...Albert Pujols.

Trish's boyfriend...Brendan Ryan.

The Cardinals won 6-0 and it was an AWESOME game! We will be going back soon to take the little guy to his first game!

We spent the night in St. Louis after the game and the next day our last stop before home was to the Arch. The wind was howling that day and when we went to the top of the arch it was swaying back and forth!

And so it begins.....

Well, when writing the story of our lives, it's difficult to determine where to begin. With the chapter of Parenthood just pages away, the excitement of preparing for baby is pouring out the windows of our house! As part of that preparation we've been readying the nursery. Uncle Seth and Aunt Joanna came over during Memorial Day weekend and Seth did us an incredible favor by painting a tree mural on the baby's wall.

The finished product turned out AMAZING!!!! Thanks Seth!!