Week 20: Halfway there!

We are officially halfway there! We have been extremely blessed thus far by having a very smooth pregnancy without complications. I am so excited to be at the halfway point, but it also makes it very real that this baby will be coming in no time!

This week was my favorite by far! Not only was it Christmas, but I felt the baby kick for the first time (where I knew for sure it was kicks and not just gas or being bloated)! I received plenty of maternity clothes for Christmas, and I absolutely love them! The jeans are so comfortable, and the shirts are so nice. I can totally understand why these clothes were invented in the first place, I love them! Christmas Eve was very nice. We had family over our house for dinner and then we attended midnight mass. It was the first time in a very long time we've attended at midnight, and I really enjoyed it. I think it might be a new tradition for us. Christmas Day was wonderful because I was able to sleep in (last Christmas I'll be able to do that!) and while Jorge took Carlos to the airport we ate some breakfast and Emily and Tasha came over for our annual gift exchange. After opening all of our gifts we got ready and took off to my Grandma's house for dinner/gift exchange with my dad's side of the family.

Overall a great week and was very excited that the baby decided to kick a little harder for me to feel him/her! It was the perfect gift for me :) As always, I feel extremely blessed to be pregnant and growing this little one inside of me. There is absolutely NO downside to pregnancy, and I'm truly cherishing every single moment of it!

P.S. One of the gifts I received was for me and the baby from Jorge, and it's our first few cloth diapers! I'm so excited to start our stash, and the owl one is just too cute not to share ;)

Week 19

Week 19 seemed like a blur! Sorry I'm posting this so late, but I am taking the pictures on time which is most important! 

This picture is a little deceiving, the shirt flows very easily and you can't see my bump as much as it's there. Either way, soon enough I'm sure it will be growing like crazy!

This week was a little hectic. Jorge's parents and brother flew out of town for the holidays and we had a photo booth event on Friday in Pasadena. Since I'm pregnant and not able to help out as much as I used to during set-up and take down of the booth, my Dad came along and really helped us out. We had a little bit of free time before the booth was ready for customers so we walked a few blocks to find someplace to eat dinner. Pasadena is such a beautiful city. I love how so many places are so close together and the streets are very walk-able. We found a Japanese food place to grab a quick bite to eat, and it was delicious! I was teased with some California rolls (I can't wait to have real sushi and sashimi after this pregnancy!) and some miso soup (my absolute favorite). 

Later on in the week we went to Mass at noon and Father Tim joked how much I had grown this week. He said that next week he'd be "rolling me in"! I love the relationship we have with him and Father Ricky at our church, they make going to mass very special to us. 

Jorge's cousin Carlos was in town for a few days, so Sunday evening we went over to visit with him and the family. Zoe received her Christmas gifts from Elizabeth and she had fun entertaining us playing "Tea" and learning her fruit. It's amazing to me that Zoe is only two years old and is so smart! She loves to learn. She wants us to constantly quiz her on animals, fruit, the alphabet, etc. I'm really looking forward to doing the same thing with our baby!

Since I'm writing this so late, I'll be working on my Week 20 post very shortly! As always, still feeling very blessed to have a healthy pregnancy and everything continues to go smoothly :)

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be

Week 18

Week 18 was once again a very quick week. I feel like it came and went and everything happened really fast! During the week nothing special happened, just a normal work week for me. On Saturday Jorge and I went shopping at the West Covina mall for some holiday gifts and realized as soon as we got there it was going to be busy! I felt like I was going to be up for it, but as soon as we were in the parking lot waiting for a spot I realized I needed to remind myself to try and be patient today. Overall it went really well, Jorge found what he was looking for and we headed over to his parent's house to give them their gifts (they were leaving on vacation on Wednesday and we knew this was the only time we could see all of them together before then).

At his parent's house Ceci, Gustavo, and the kids were over and I was so excited to finally see Zoe and the baby! There was a time when I would see Zoe everyday, but the last time we had seen her was well over a month ago. The baby (Gustavo) had just turned three months old the night before, and it was amazing seeing him grow so much in the short time since he was born.

Sunday, Jorge went to the 8 o'clock mass with his parents, and we (my mom, Devo, and I) went to the 12 o'clock mass as usual, and went to eat at Ihop afterwards. Usually I would have some pancakes, but it just didn't sound good for some reason, i'll blame pregnancy. Afterwards Brittany came over to our house to do Pyka's hair, and gave my mom and I a quick trim. I love that we have our own personal hairdresser! She really is amazing though, and if anyone is looking for a new hairdresser let me know and I'll direct you to her!

On Monday, I went downtown Los Angeles to do some work at the Building and Safety office, but I brought my mom along with me so afterwards we could visit the fabric district for my next project. I'm making my own DIY Moby Wraps! After Pinteresting this idea, I realized it was really very easy so I wanted to try it out. Downtown fabric district is the perfect place to find what you need at a great price! We found Jersey Knit/Jersey Cotton fabric for only $1/yard! This is the same fabric we found at Joanne's on sale for $6.99/yard. They had plenty of colors and patterns to choose from...it was a very successful trip and I'll do another post on how to make one later! After our downtown trip we visited my Grandma and decorated her house for Christmas. It was really nice seeing her, we don't see her very often even though she only lives about 13 miles away.

Overall great pregnancy week! Still feeling great, energy level is okay, no aches or pains (yet), and still extremely grateful and feeling blessed that i'm pregnant! Loving every second of it :)

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be

Week 17

Week 17 was more exciting than most other weeks...I actually did something!

On Sunday we were invited to Disneyland to celebrate Analicia's birthday! Every time we go with her and her family we are absolutely spoiled (they have annual passes as well as a Disneyland employee in the family so they know all the secrets to getting advantages)! Even though my favorite attraction is off-limits for expectant mothers (Space Mountain) I had a great time with my friends. We even went on the rides meant for toddlers since I can go on those which is so entertaining because as a kid I'm sure they are a lot more exciting, whereas now they are very simple but still a fun part of the Disneyland experience. Favorite parts of the day: Parade on Main Street with the Toy Soldiers, the Haunted Mansion decorated with "A Nightmare before Christmas", Clam chowder soup in a sourdough bowl, Fantasmic the show, hot chocolate and of course being with my best friends!

Monday morning Jorge and I went to our next Midwife appointment for a monthly check-up. Everything was going really well, we checked the sugar/protein levels, my weight, and the baby's heartbeat (all great), and then we realized I'm RH-negative. I didn't know what that meant, so after talking with the nurse and finding out Jorge's blood type is O+ (I'm O-) I guess that can lead to complications. After talking with the midwife, we realized this is very common and can be helped by getting a shot during my 28th week and one up to 72 hours after the baby is born. Just another part of having a baby I need to research! 

Once again very happy that the baby is still growing and is healthy! See you next week :)

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be

Week 16

I can't believe I'm already 16 weeks! The first trimester was dragging on and on (just because I wanted to get through it not because of morning sickness or feeling bad), and now the weeks are just flying by!

I was trying to decide when to start taking weekly pictures to document my bump and what's going on with the baby each week, but didn't really see a point until there was a little bump to see...so now there is! 

This week was Thanksgiving which I look forward to each year (even if it's because I can start listening to Christmas music without getting weird looks)! I had a slight cold coming on, but not enough to take any medicine. Used the old fashioned vapor rub to help soothe me to sleep, and it did help. Thanksgiving day was great! I was able to sleep in, and casually get ready for our family dinner later that night in Rancho Cucamonga. I was looking forward to seeing everyone, and as I assumed everyone was eager to see me and congratulate us on the baby news! 

Overall a great week, and happy that the pregnancy is going by smoothly and everything seems to be alright. I'll try to keep this updated weekly, but no promises! ;)

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be