Pregnancy Update
I figured I would give some kind of bump date on my blog before my pregnancy comes to an end…CRAZY! I have a first trimester update on my YouTube channel and will be filming how my second trimester went this weekend!
April is here and that means baby is coming quick! I’m due the first week in July which means if I have baby early I could be delivering in June…two months away!! We can’t wait for our little bundle to be here. I pray every day for our little one’s health. I am very realistic when it comes to pregnancy and know anything can happen which is the scary part. It took so long to get pregnant and I know anything can happen, but I try to stay optimistic and hopeful that our little baby will be here safely and healthy. I broke up into sections for this bump date and hopefully I covered everything. My second trimester video will go more into depth with tips and tricks and how to get through your second trimester.
How is the Baby Doing?
Thank God our little baby is doing amazing and kicking and moving all the time. I have felt the baby flutters since I was about 9-10 weeks. It was weird at first because I’m like are these cramps? Butterflies? lol what is this? Then as time passed on I in fact realized those were flutters and baby began kicking and moving in there more frequently when I began my second trimester. Baby measures right on point with my due date and is currently 2 pounds and 12 ounces, almost 13 pounds! I had an ultrasound appointment this week to see if my placenta had moved. I hadn’t mentioned this to anyone really besides my close friends and family, but my placenta was lower than usual at 20 weeks so my doctor scheduled an ultrasound appointment at 28 weeks to verify my placenta had moved. If it was still that low then I would have to have a scheduled c section. Thankfully, my placenta did move and the option of delivering baby vaginally is there. Of course, we all know birth plans don’t go as planned.
We got to see baby in 3D/4D when I surprised Alonso with an ultrasound for his 30th birthday. He has gone to majority if not all of my appointments, however my ultrasounds are in the morning and unfortunately he cannot make those. So he hasn’t been able to see the baby in an ultrasound since the baby was really small. It was really nice to see him so happy and being able to see our little one’s facial features and little toes and feet and hands! I vlogged surprising him if you want to checkout some of the photos there.
We are figuring out if baby has my lips or Alonso’s it’s so amazing wondering what your little bundle of love will end up looking like. I love it!
How am I Doing?
Honestly, I’m beyond blessed for this pregnancy. I have felt amazing. Up to this point I haven’t really had any back pain, which I thought I would. I’ve been super active my entire pregnancy which may be what has helped. I haven’t had any sickness besides feeling nauseous from the glucose test and fasting. I know right now with everything going on a lot of expecting mothers are scared and worried, but I have maintained relaxed and optimistic. I have been keeping my distance and staying home if it’s not for doctor appointments, but I won’t have anymore until the first few weeks in May. It is a scary time but for right now I’m thankful that the hospital I will deliver at allows one person to be with you which is better than having none like others have had to endure. This is our first baby and I really want Alonso there but we both talked about it and if he wasn’t able to be there we honestly can’t do anything about it so we have to make the best out of our circumstances. We have been wanting our little baby for so long and if God wanted our baby to come into this life during this crazy time, we have to trust his timing. Our baby will be strong and loved!
I have been working out everyday and finishing out my workout with 20 minutes of yoga which is so helpful when pregnant. Not only does it help you connect with your body and relax, but it is preparing your body for labor to be more smoothly. I don’t know what we will encounter when I give birth but I would rather prepare myself now as much as I can than not do anything.
I do want to mention that lately I have had like acid reflux/heartburn symptoms right before I’m going to go to bed. I don’t take anything but breathe through them and drink some water. I usually sleep with my pillows tilted so my head isn’t flat and it helps a ton. My sleep is great, but I hate that I move so much and the belly is a bit heavy lol I can literally feel myself moving from one side to another. Other than that, I have had a super smooth pregnancy thus far, thank goodness!
Are we Ready?
We haven’t really bought anything for our baby besides maybe like 5 onesies that I randomly purchased one day online. We don’t know the gender so we haven’t really wanted anything gender specific anyways. I’m not really into all the super boy or super girlie colors. I love the simple outfits that are practical for everyday. We have finished the baby’s room. We originally had nasty old carpet in there but wanted to add laminate flooring and purchase a super soft rug. So far the laminate flooring is done, and it currently is my office because our office was also getting laminate flooring. We have yet to move everything back. I was hoping to purchase some baby furniture but I have to rely on online shopping only. It’s kind of a bummer but I’m just going to wait until the middle of May to see if we can finally go out, if not, then I’ll have to end up purchasing everything online.
Alonso and I are really simple when it comes to buying things for the baby because we understand they outgrow things and there’s no need to overbuy when they won’t get good use out of clothes. I want to be practical and have less waste. The good thing is I love all the neutral colors so I can reuse if we end up being blessed with a second baby!
Okay so I think that’s all. I didn’t want to make this super long, but wanted to document an update to look back on of course. I love being pregnant and I know I’ll miss this, but I also can’t wait to meet our little one!
We are Pregnant!!
Surprise! I’m pregnant, it still feels so shocking and crazy to say that, but it’s true. I hadn’t mentioned it on my blog yet. But I’ve shared a couple of posts on my YouTube and Instagram and I’ll recap some of those in this post…so bear with me this may be long! Check out this video to see our announcement.
We found out we were pregnant in November of last year (2019). Alonso and I had been tryingt to get pregnant, but it took longer than expected. We approximately tried about 2+ years. However, we stopped stressing and worrying about it when I began coaching soccer. If you didn’t know I coached soccer for the 2018 and 2019 fall seasons. I wasn’t going to coach in 2019 but I was fortunate to have the help of one of my friends to balance the workload. Because I had her as an assistant it made the season so much less stressful and way more fun. The girls were doing amazing and that was all that was on my mind. I wanted them to have an amazing last season with me. I had totally forgot I was even supposed to get a period, and during this time, my phone broke. I never re-downloaded the period tracker app so I figured it just wasn’t my time if the month yet. I didn’t have any symptoms besides now looking back. We went to Canada at the end of October and when we are on vacation we rarely eat three full meals. Mostly a brunch and dinner but when we were in Canada I was so tired and we ate all three meals every day we were there lol. That must’ve been a sign but I had no clue.
It wasn’t until my boyfriend asked me if I had started my period yet that got me thinking oh let me check. I downloaded the app and my “estimated” period start date had passed almost a whole week. I was supposed to have started in Canada (a week before) lol. I still didn’t think much of it because I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I figured I would start my period the next day. I had one pregnancy test left and I took it. To my disbelief, it had the two lines. I was shocked and couldn’t believe it so I went to work and picked up more tests. I took them and they sure enough said PREGNANT!
I was going to tell Alonso that day, but fail he never opened the drawer where I had the pregnancy tests to surprise him haha. I originally had told him I had started my period so he wouldn’t suspect a thing. We had some brand content to shoot the next day so I figured I would take the tests with me and put them in a little bag. If I made it a cute gift surprise he would’ve known, and I honestly wanted him to be surprised just like I was! If you want to see his reaction, check out this video! He turned red and thought I was showing him “failed” pregnancy tests lol. He couldn’t believe it, I mean we both couldn’t. After I stopped filming it he was so in shock, excited, and I could tell inside he was crying. He doesn’t show his emotion much but he’s way over the moon with the opportunity to finally be a dad. I love it!
I would explain everyone’s reaction but it’s probably faster to just watch the video, here! Everyone was so shocked, ECSTATIC, and even emotional. My dad’s reaction is the cutest and most sentimental one. He was so excited and even wanted to buy me maternity clothes for Christmas lol. I swear I have the cutest dad and I’m so grateful and blessed to be his little girl forever.
So I hope this post wasn’t THAT long. I tried to make it quick and short to announce our little one here. I have a couple of posts to share next. I have uploading a couple of videos on my YouTube channel: First Trimester recap, Gender Predictions, and Pregnancy Night Routine.
For those of you who have showed us so much love, thank you! We really appreciate all the blessings and happy thoughts you send our way. We are so thankful for our little bundle of joy.
All About Our New Puppy (FAQ + Answers)
Long time, no talk? I bet! So happy to be blogging again! I missed coming on here and typing up some blog posts. I have so many updates, but I will start with one super important one. Alonso and I got a puppy! If you follow me on instagram you probably already knew this, but if you don’t, now you know. I wanted to gather some questions that I frequently get asked about him and figured I would answer them here on my blog.
Let’s get started!
1. What breed is he?
Chewy is a Mini F1B goldendoodle! His dad was a mini poodle weighing about 10-13lbs I believe, and his momma was a goldendoodle weighing around 20lbs.
2. How much will he weigh?
Chewy was really tiny when we picked him up at 8 weeks, weighing barely 2lbs! Can you believe that? He was so tiny and practically fit in my hands all curled up. He was smaller than his siblings and will most likely weigh around 15lbs max. He is not even 10lbs yet and he is 7 months this week.
3. Where did you get him?
We got Chewy from Rollins Goldendoodles. Allie is the point of contact and she’s awesome. You can tell her and her family love each one of the pups they breed, and want them to go to a loving home. I first found her instagram handle because I was frantically googling left and right trying to find goldendoodles in our area. I will be completely honest with you guys, that Alonso and I almost purchased another goldendoodle from a breeder in Reno. We even went to see them and put down a deposit! However they were standard goldendoodles meaning they would be 60lbs full grown. We thought about it and we wanted a smaller puppy so we lost our deposit. I then found Rollins Goldendoodles online and jumped on their waitlist. Sure enough, nine months later, we got our little guy! He was worth the wait.
4. What is the meaning behind his name?
We had a couple of ideas for names before we actually got Chewy. When we went to pick him up and saw there were two little guys we instantly new we would pick Chewy because of his apricot color, just like we wanted. We named him Chewy which is short for Chewbacca (Star Wars) since he was fluffy like him and similar hair color. Totally off topic, but I am not sure if you guys have seen that video that went viral on the internet where a lady was trying on the Chewbacca mask? That is one of my favorite videos and I seriously love Chewbacca’s character so we felt it was the perfect fit! We also nicknamed him some Spanish names like Peluchin (teddy-bear-like) and Chucho (dog). I thank my mom for these lol!
5. Have you thought about taking him to puppy school (professional dog trainer)?
Prior to getting a dog I thought this was a necessary thing to do when you got a dog. But after getting Chewy I realized it wouldn’t be necessary. Chewy is really well behaved and he is pretty smart (lol I feel like everyone says that about their dogs). Anytime we want to teach him something it takes a couple of tries and he picks it up right away.
6. How do you manage work/time when you are away? Where is he when you are away?
It is pretty hard getting a puppy especially when you work full time and commute. Originally it was very difficult because I was coaching and would be gone all the time with practices and games. Alonso and I balanced it well where he would take care of him on my away games. I make sure to take him on walks during the weekend or play with him when it is still light outside. He loves playing inside, and we play fetch all the time. Then he gets tired and just wants to cuddle next to me. You have to make time for them because, well they love being around you and they deserve that time with you.
I get up really early in the morning and take him out for his morning potty break and give him some food. My mom has been really helpful in taking him out for a potty break, and then I take him out when I get home from work. He loves being in his crate and we trained him since he was a tiny pup. When we get home he loves being around us and wanting the attention. So we make sure to balance “our time” with also being home with him. A little of both!
7. How is his temper/personality?
Ahh I love everything about Chewy’s personality! It reminds me a lot of my own. He loves kids, like LOVES them. And if you know me, you know I do too. He gets too excited sometimes so I have to calm him down. You should have witnessed him during Halloween it was Christmas to him haha. But he gets excited when he sees people and wants to meet them. After a while he begins to relax and starts cuddling or laying down next to them. He is very relaxing and gosh I feel like he’s the smartest little dog in the world. Chewy picks up on your moods, like if you are sad or happy he acts the same way. He listens to us when he isn’t supposed to do something. Chewy has been a very good puppy and I haven’t seen him eat anything he isn’t supposed to or go through trash cans like I hear some puppies do. He just plays with his toys and sits on the couch. So lucky that he is easy to train! He has his potty bell that he rings each time he has to go outside and learned in one day. Oh, I also want to mention that Chewy practically never barks. I think we have heard him bark maybe 7 times since we have had him the past 5 months. If you want a calm, active, and trainable pup goldendoodles are awesome!
8. Where do you buy his puppy clothes?
I love dressing Chewy up he looks so cute and he loves it! I get most of his little sweaters from Marshalls, Home Goods, and TJMaxx. They are really affordable and they have great snacks and puppy items as well. I get to shop for myself and Chewy at the same time. It’s the best of both worlds lol!
Well, I think that summarizes all the questions I frequently get. If you have any more that you think I may have missed and you want to ask, feel free to comment below or DM on instagram. Thank you for reading till the end!
-Patty G.
(all photos were taking by Ashley Wartgow)
I’m Finally Walking That Stage
Wow, it’s been about 6 months since I last wrote a blog post. I’m alive, lol! It’s actually very fitting that this is the post you get to read. The truth is I have been overwhelmingly busy with school and work, and I hope this posts helps update you on some of the things that have been going on this past year.
(I apologize ahead of time for the long post):
Many of you have followed along my journey when I graduated a couple years ago with my undergraduate degree. Some may not know what I’m talking about but this blog post may help you catch up. A couple of years ago I never got to experience what it felt like to walk across the stage and “celebrate” my graduation. My family and I experienced a really hard time when we lost my grandma the same day I was supposed to walk. It was an unexpected loss. Walking across the stage is like the cherry on top to all the hard work of every student that gets to graduate. Some care, and others don’t. But I think being a first generation and daughter of immigrants, has a lot more meaning behind it. It’s an opportunity for my parents to see their hard work pay off, along with my own.
I always knew I wanted to continue pursuing my education after my bachelor’s, but I didn’t know it was going to be so quick. I started the Master of Business Administrative program at the University of Nevada, Reno in spring 2017, without having actually been accepted into the program. It’s was pretty cool that I was able to do this to get ahead. I wanted to start the program as soon as possible, to not lose time by just sitting around. I only took a semester break in between my undergrad and starting the graduate program.By the time fall 2017 (only my second semester) came around, my silly self decided to apply for another position as a graduate assistant. This position aligned with my passion of working with social media, marketing, and some web development. This meant that besides my full-time position, I was going to be working another part-time job. I roughly worked 50-65 hours a week since August 2017 and actually just finished doing that this past week. It was really difficult because I was taking full schedules at the university, as well. However, I am so thankful I was able to learn more about marketing, graphic design, and social media to help me with blogging. It was a sacrifice I had to make, learn more about marketing and take a break from blogging. But don’t get me wrong I missed not having time to create content.
During this time, I also decided to move cities and become a commuter. That is another long story that I hope I can squeeze in here. Alonso and I have always wanted to move back to our hometown to be closer to our parents. We both decided October 2017 to buy a house we fell in love with in Yerington, NV. Alonso and I owned a home in Reno so this meant we would have to sell our home in order to purchase a new one. To cut to the chase, we got an offer within a week. We moved out all of our stuff and a week before we were going to close, the buyers backed out. This happened to us twice! The sellers of the house we wanted to buy wanted us to pay way over the appraisal price. So we put an offer on another house and this also happened to us, AGAIN. In other words we spent a lot of money trying to sell our house and buy a new one. It was so frustrating trying to find a place to live, commuting, and living out of a suitcase these past 3-4 months. But in all honesty, Alonso and I have the baddest supporters that were always there for us. I couldn’t have done any of this without my parents and family helping us so much. My family helped us pack, clean our old house, and move all of our stuff while I was in class. Seriously I just want to cry 😭 knowing how amazing they are. So blessed!
Since I had to commute, this meant that I would be waking up between 4am-5am and getting home anywhere between 8:30pm-11p! By the time I was home, all the lights were off but there was Alonso with his light on waiting for me to get home. But it is so rewarding being home with our family, we wouldn’t change anything!
To sum it up, I had the worst stress I had ever encountered. I never ate, never slept, rarely hung out with my boyfriend, friends, or family. This was and is probably the hardest I have ever worked for something. My eating schedule was completely thrown off. The lack of sleep really wore on me. I was so tired and moody and if I could grab 10 minutes to nap I would take them! However, these were all choices and sacrifices I had to make in order to accomplish all my goals.
Everyday I would just wonder when would this all be over? I kept thinking to myself is anyone else this tired, or is it just me? Don’t get me wrong everyday when I just couldn’t do this anymore I would open up my phone and see pictures of my nieces, my parents, and family, just to help through my day. It’s so easy to just want to give up but it’s so important to take a step back and appreciate the hardships. We are truly blessed to be able to go to school and further our education.
Many people have the privilege of working part time or only one job. Yet, there are some of us go getters, that want to do everything and anything and somehow try to manage it all without exploding haha. I feel like none of the sleepless nights, hungry days, or stressful moments, compare to how hard my parents have worked. My work ethic is a representation of the skills my parents taught me. Work isn’t everything and I understand you have to enjoy each day. However, some people enjoy their careers and also want to work towards their own personal goals and that requires hard work and sacrifices. None of the goals we want to accomplish are just handed to us, I mean it would be nice if they did. My parents have sacrificed so much that I can’t even put it into words. Just imagine sacrificing your life in one country to seek another, for the unknown. Not sure where you’re going to work, not sure where you might live, but very certain you want a better life. That unknown scares all of us, but that’s exactly where we grow as people and what ends up defining us.
This graduation means a lot to every single one of us in my family. I am not sure who it means more to. It means a lot to Alonso because he can finally sleep without hearing me stress out lol. But for me personally, I have waited 6 years for the opportunity to walk and experience my own graduation instead of someone else’s. I truly wanted to experience this 2 years ago, but being with my family during a difficult time was by far the best decision I could have ever made. I have learned to become selfless, and put others before me. It truly is my happiness to see a smile on my family’s face. That’s my purpose in life. This experience has taught me to work twice as hard for my dreams and never give up. It has also made me realize to be very appreciative of the people around me during the hard times. My boyfriend, my best friends, my family have guided me through this, and I couldn’t thank them enough for pushing me.
My favorite quote that truly represents how I am feeling now is from Gina Rodriguez:
“My dad used to tell me to wake up each day and say, ‘I can and I will.’ Well dad, today’s a great day. I can and I did.”
-Patty G
Buying a Home at 21 Years Old [Pros & Cons]
Growing up with such hard working parents allowed me the opportunity to develop some of those characteristics and work hard for all of my goals and aspirations. At such a young age, I had always wanted to purchase a home for my parents, more on that here. It had always been a goal of mine, but it had also been my goal to one day own my home and finally have a place to call “home”. With this in mind, I always knew that anything I did was to help accomplish that goal.
I have an older brother who purchased a home at such a young age and he also inspired me to pursue the same goal. However, balancing full-time school and part-time work was very difficult. At times I preferred dropping out of college and working full-time to purchase myself the things I wanted. My brother always explained to me that things take time. Slowly and surely I would be able to accomplish it, but first my goal was to focus on school, and so I did. Things lead to the next and somehow the end of my junior year I was purchasing a home with my boyfriend.
This is still so hard for me to wrap my head around because I had just finished studying abroad fall 2014 and by summer 2015, my boyfriend and I were purchasing a home. That was crazy because I was not working that entire fall so in a matter of months I was able to save up that money to help pay for the costs of purchasing a home. I have learned so many things about being a homeowner and would love to continue sharing some tips with you all.
I have put together some pros and cons on how my experience was of purchasing a home while being in college. It was a very difficult but I feel like in anything else, hard work always pays off. It took a lot of patience to get to where I am today and also a lot of grit. I am still waiting for that moment my parents get to have a place they call their “home” as well.
Check out the full video embedded down below! Make sure to also follow me on my Twitter so you can tweet me any video requests you may have.
