Week 35

Only five more weeks until Little Foot's guess date! I really feel blessed that this pregnancy has gone as smooth as it has. I'm one of the very few women (so I've heard) that have been this lucky and thinks the past thirty-five weeks have flown by!

I think this is the first week that I seriously thought the baby can rip through my skin because it was stretching out so much! I had to put my hand over my belly to try and hold it in. Then, I started thinking all of these crazy possibilities...what if it could break or rip the amniotic sac. (Next few sentences may be a little TMI, just letting you know). So here's my crazy pregnant woman thoughts...What if the baby was strong enough to rip the sac and I had no idea? What if the mucus plug was still there and I didn't feel anything leaking because it was blocking any fluid coming out? Is that even possible? Yeah...those are my crazy thoughts.

Jorge took a few days off this week which was nice because he was able to see how much I still need to do to feel comfortable before baby arrives. I love how he gets me. He's been awesome this whole pregnancy, I'm grateful for him 100%!

Nothing more to think of this week, next week is Easter so I'll be updating about that!

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be

Week 34

Thirty-four is my lucky number, and week 34 was definitely another great week!

I spent the week working from home and it went a little smoother than it did last week. We're learning what works and what doesn't as far as making sure everything can run efficiently in the next few months. There are still a few kinks to work out, but that's okay we still have some time.

This week sleeping was definitely more of an issue more than any other week. One night I woke up exactly every three hours. Not sure if it's just a way of my body preparing me for when baby arrives (or my subconscious) but either way it was a new symptom. I'll wake up due to heartburn and reach for the tums, prop my pillow up a bit, and take a small sip of water. Or I'll wake up having to pee immediately! It's now come to the point where I lay on one side, use both hands to prop myself up so I can get out of bed. I'm sure this is amusing to Jorge, but at least it's not the worst of symptoms that can occur. Still thankful this is all I'm feeling as far as symptoms goes, hoping it continues this way til Little Foot makes his/her arrival.

Jorge and I attended a wedding on Friday night in Redlands for one of my best friends. Vanessa was a co-worker when I worked at Frisco's and will always be a great part of my life. Thankful we've been able to keep in touch for special events like this. She was such beautiful bride! I can't wait for them to start a family of their own so Little Foot will have some playmates! (hint hint) ;)

34 Weeks Pregnant with Little Foot at Vanessa & Dylan's wedding

Vanessa & Dylan

Saturday was Devo's birthday and we went out with some of our girlfriends to celebrate. We met up with Ani, Pyka, Elisa, and Brittany for dinner at CPK and then followed it with some bowling (Judy met up with us there). Before we left to bowling both my mom and Jorge didn't think I was able to bowl, I honestly hadn't thought about it much but didn't think it would be an issue. I told them I would stop if I felt anything uncomfortable and take it easy. But I was fine! I didn't take the long approach like a pro and stood at the line like a newbie before rolling the ball down the aisle and I felt perfectly fine the whole time. It was funny because we kept the bumpers up from the previous party that was at our lane so I didn't do too bad. Overall it was a great night, I really enjoy bowling and should really go more often.

I think that's it for this week. Next week we are down to only five weeks left (which is a little scary to think about since we only have to be 37 weeks to deliver at the Natural Birth Center). It's exciting!!

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be

Week 33

 This past week was a great week! First things first, it was my first FULL week working from home. I really thought this would be a little more relaxed, but I was definitely wrong. Jorge's parents (and younger brother) went out of town for a week because Bryan was in his cousin's quincinera. Due to that, I was doing much more to try and keep everything organized in the office (at home). Not only that, we had an earthquake on Friday night so there were a few emergency calls from customers who needed a repair for underground pipes! For my first week at home I was expecting more time to try and wash baby clothes and put things away, but I didn't feel like I had much time during the day and only made time a few nights this week. But, it still got done, so I'm not complaining.

Sunday was the baby shower for Little Foot hosted by my Mom and Devo. It was beautiful! They had an Owl, rustic theme for the shower and all of the decorations were very cute. I'm so thankful for them and all of the time they put into making our shower fun for us as well as all of our guests. I'd also like to thank all of our friends who helped with set-up and cleaning up for the shower. We didn't ask for the help, but all of you were so great and did it because you're amazing, so thank you very much! Little Foot is extremely blessed with all of the great gifts he or she received, and I'm so excited to put these clothes on him/her in just a few weeks!

Monday we had a Midwife appointment and everything is still looking good. They got the results to the last blood test that was checking for my iron levels, and they came back in the normal range which means I'm no longer anemic. I do need to keep taking the liquid iron to keep those levels up though, but it's not that bad. I only gained 1 pound since my last appointment (two weeks ago) so I'm staying on track to only gaining 27-35 lbs. overall. Baby's heartbeat was strong, I'm measuring right on track, and baby is still in position (head down). Next appointment they are going to do the GBS test, which tests for bacteria. If it's present then I believe they just have antibiotics available at the time of the birth.

Til next week!

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be

Baby Shower pictures

Guesses of gender and birthday from our guests

Signature mat of well wishes

Week 32

Thirty-two weeks have come and gone! A lot has definitely happened this week that I'm very excited to share with all of you!

This was my last full week at work and started working from home. It's nice because I'm able to do just about everything I'm able to do in the office from home. Calls are forwarded to my cell, using the remote desktop connection to use the computer from work, and even call for inspections for current projects. It's nice to be able to still be in my pajamas and working! Don't get me wrong, i'm still working full days, but being able to slowly get baby stuff done during the down time, and getting snacks from the kitchen whenever I feel like it is a huge perk!

On Saturday Jorge's family held a Baby Shower for us and it was great! It was "bee" themed so everything was yellow and black, and decorated so cute. I'll post pictures in a separate post or add them to this one later. We are very blessed to have our family around us during this time, and we are very thankful for all of the work and time they put into the baby shower for us. Little Foot is already so loved!

Now onto the exciting news! Jorge and I officially closed escrow on Friday on a lot! Yep you read that correctly, not a house, but a vacant lot. We started this process in September and finally got everything straightened out and we now own a lot! Our plan is to build a duplex in the coming months but that's going to be a whole other process but I'll keep updating as we go along. 

Looking forward to all that's coming in the next few weeks! 

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be

Week 31

Okay, so since I'm extremely late on posting this update, once again I'll be doing a very short bullet point update on what happened this past week!

• On Thursday I met Jorge up in Solvang for a mini Babymoon! He was up North since Sunday night for a work conference so I was very anxious to see him. Although it may not seem like a long time to some of you, but four nights apart is the longest time we've spent apart since being married. It was a nice short vacation but being in Solvang was such a tease because of all of the wine tasting places! We'll have to make another visit after the baby is born.
• It's been pretty hot here in Southern California lately so I'm not sure if I'm actually getting swollen or reacting to the temperature change. But it has been more and more difficult to get my wedding ring on and off! I'm sure soon I'll stop wearing it, but maybe have it around a necklace, we'll see.
• Since I'm posting so late I've already been to the baby shower for the Ortiz side of the family, but I'll update you on that next week!

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be

Week 30

Only ten more weeks to go!

This week was my Mom's and my birthday week so we went to dinner with my Grandma at a restaurant called The Market Place in Downey. It is delicious Greek food! During dinner my Grandma made it a point to ask me about my birth plan and the birth center where we're planning on delivering Little Foot. After giving her some information she made it a point to say how she would like to be there if she could! I had never really thought about asking her if she would be interested in being present for the birth, but she made it very clear that if I would allow her to be there, that she would love to be a part of the experience. (She did also make it a point to say that if I wanted her, or anyone else out of the room during my labor, to just say the word and she would leave). My Grandma is going to be 93 in May, and knowing that she wants to share this experience means a lot to me.

This week Jorge and I kept up with some cleaning and rearranging furniture in the room (I feel like it's never ending!) and bought some bins to organize and store baby blankets, clothes, and some swaddle blankets. We definitely need to buy another dresser or clean out some of ours because we are NOT going to have enough space after the baby showers.

I think Little Foot's now in position...I could be wrong, but I feel more pressure towards the bottom of my belly every time I stand up which makes me think it's the baby's head pressing down on my bladder! It's still so amazing every time I feel the baby move inside me and try to stretch out. The baby's definitely running out of room in there, but I'm sure my belly will continue to keep growing to allow for space.

Below is a picture from the front of Little Foot and one of my favorite quotes. Might print this out and put it in the nursery for decoration :) See you next week...almost in the single digits for how many weeks are left! 

One of my favorite quotes with a picture of Little Foot inside :)

My view at 30 Weeks! Feet are almost gone!

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be

Week 29

Whoops! Well this week was pretty busy so I'm going to quickly do some bullet points of what this week has brought us!

• Glucose test came back normal!
• Found out through the blood tests that i'm anemic :( Now have to take some liquid iron+herbs to help and we'll be retaking some blood tests in three weeks.
• Took the RH- shot...have always hated shots but it really wasn't that bad.
• Bought some nursing bras that I started wearing right away because they were so comfortable! Figured it was a smart purchase since i'll be needing them.
• Painted the tree design on the wall where the crib will be! It's not completely finished but I'm so excited about the colors and the way it looks so far!
• We received our first registry gifts! Thank you to Jorge's co-worker Walter for gifting Little Foot's car seat, and our ex-neighbors for purchasing the crib mattress and sheet savers! It's so exciting receiving the first gifts, but also reminds me how much we still have to do to get the room and find space for all of Little Foot's gifts that we'll be getting soon. Only 11 weeks to go...time is going by very quickly.

There's a short re-cap, hopefully i'll be doing a better (quicker) job at posting these weekly updates in a timely manner!

-Heather Ortiz, mama to be