29 Week Bumpdate - A Week Of Changes!

One week away from the 30's!
This week flew by like crazy. We were so busy getting ready for our trip to Chicago this week. My Grandma and Aunt are throwing us a baby shower and we are so excited to celebrate with our families and friends.

All you pregnant friends of mine kept instagramming pictures of yourself eating "shaved ice". After weeks of torturing me, I finally searched and searched until I found the only shaved ice in Colorado Springs. It's a traveling truck, so I surprised Ryan and took him to the park it was at one day when he got home. We got the flavor "tiger's blood"...sounds disturbing but it was delicious! Shaved ice IS NOT like a snow cone. The ice is so fine that it actually holds the juice so it doesn't puddle at the bottom of your cone/cup. I will be eating many more of these in the future.
Speaking of bumpdates...I create this little collage this past week because I am getting closer and closer to the more "ridiculous fruits" when it comes to comparing your baby. Ryan loves this chart because it's all items you can easily relate to! Rilynn is officially the size of a loaf of bread (:

maxi skirt

Yep, shameless bathroom pic - I don't even care...I haven't seen a full length mirror in months. I really need to get one for the house. I am always standing on top of our shower ledge or the toilet to get a full length view. This was while I was at lunch with Ryan after our doctor's appointment. I am so glad my sister talked me into buying this maxi skirt. It is so comfortable!
So my doctor appointment this week was also my glucose test. The drink was not bad at all. I even had the orange. What was bad was that I started getting really nauseous for the hour after it. I didn't throw up in the end, so all was well.
At my appointment I found out I had a slight infection. It had been causing me to spot and was probably giving me cramps. They prescribed me an antibiotic and sent me on my way. Once I got home I realized they prescribed me a very strong antibiotic, one I had taken during my Lyme Disease treatment, and one of the more "intense" ones I was put on. After Googling it and trying to get an answer from multiple doctors and pharmacies in town, I found out that this drug is not recommended for pregnant women unless there is no other option.
Ryan got really upset. This was a long time coming. I haven't had a very good experience with the medical services on Carson. Ryan has been begging me to just switch off base for the rest of my pregnancy. That would mean I could see a civilian doctor and get to deliver the baby at the hospital of my choice. If you are in the Army here, you get whatever random midwife happens to be on duty when you go into labor - i.e., you won't know who is delivering your child. On top of that, Ft. Carson can't handle much. If there are any complications, they send you (or just your baby) to a local hospital. Ryan's reasoning has always been, "if we only have seconds to save yours or the baby's life, I don't want them having to transfer you to another hospital".
On top of that, a good chunk of our friends have had bad experiences at the hospital. Everything from poor care to one of our friends even losing one of their babies unnecessarily (they had twins). This whole antibiotics thing was just the icing on the cake for us. Friday I took the steps needed and switched health insurances to get off base. (I do want to point out that not everyone has a terrible experience on base, we have just heard and experienced too many negative things to risk mine or my baby's health by delivering on base).
This may not sound like a big deal to anyone not in the military, but I was so hesitant because staying on base means everything is free - everything is paid for. We still have a lot to purchase for the baby, so every dollar matters. But knowing the max we could pay out of pocket, and because it is so low in the grand scheme of things, I would rather relax knowing that now I will know my doctor on the delivery day and we will be at one of the best hospitals in the city.
I believe this was all a blessing from God and exactly what we were supposed to do. I found a doctor on Friday - she is younger, a Christian and seems like such a genuine and sweet person. I am hopeful that being with her will help me to feel so much more comfortable and prepared for the baby. My first appointment is next week and I am excited to get to know her.
The doctor office was recommended by another military mom in town, who also had problems with Carson, and switched to deliver off base...on top of that, she is planning to be our photographer! I was so incredibly happy to find her, as I had some strange requests. We wanted a photographer who would do maternity pictures, newborn pictures BUT also come and take pictures at the birth. Not of the actual birth (ie, no crotch shots), but I am so obsessed with pictures and wanted the labor process and also those first moments of us meeting Rilynn captured forever. They will be beautiful keepsakes to have for the rest of our lives.

My first batch of cloth diapers arrived! Yes, they looked like illegal drugs when they arrived, but for the cost of these babies, I can't complain! These are Sunbaby Diapers. They run for $4-6 a diaper which is AMAZING when other pockets can be $18+ each. I decided to purchase 12 size 1's and 12 size 2's. Since I don't know if Rilynn will be chunkier, this should ensure that all of these will fit at some point in her life. On top of these, we are registered for some BumGenius 4.0s and I also have all the beautiful diapers that were created for me by the Etsy shops in the small business series.
We are planning to be very "laid back" cloth diaper-ers. I originally liked the idea of cloth diapers, but Ryan was SO against them - mainly for his preconceived "ew" factor. So I let it go. But then I talked to a lot of other cloth diaper mamas and I decided that even if I only use them while Ryan is at work, we would still be saving on hundreds of diapers a month. So Ryan got on board and now I am so excited!
I don't know when I will start them, probably around 2-3 months old, and I definitely am ok with using disposables when we are out and about or on vacation. If I get more comfortable with them, I am not opposed to using them more full time as well!
On the topic of diapers, I had a nightmare on Saturday night. I dreamt that the baby came and we were absolutely not prepared...like not even a diaper or wipe in the house. I woke up frantically on Sunday and when we went to Target, I bought a pack of newborn diapers finally. When we get back from Chicago I will be over 30 weeks, so I know I probably need to start getting some of this stuff ready just in case...


I have been craving legit cheesecake like nobody's business. No one sells it in Colorado Springs (that I could find). Friday night Ryan drove me an hour and a half north and took me to Cheesecake Factory! It was so sweet of him and on top of that he took me to shop for some more maternity clothes for our trip. It was nice to get out of the house and it was so thoughtful of him to do that for me.

Lastly, we bought something that is an extreme danger to a pregnant lady - a deep fryer! Ryan and I LOVE football season (Go Giants and Noles!!!). We also have a crazy obsession with buffalo wings. How we have survived this long without a fryer, I have no idea. This fryer is amazing! It's the Ninja and you can get it at Target. It's so small and cooks quicker, making your fried food more healthy. We made close to 50 wings and fries on Sunday night and they were restaurant quality. I've never been able to make wings taste like that (the grill is just not the same).
We may or may not have had buffalo wings 3 nights in a row ::yikes::


Check out one of the sweetest ladies I know: