So, I'm 24 weeks pregnant, and I am so grateful for a healthy pregnancy thus far. God is gracious, and my ultrasound last week showed perfect progress on track with my due date of September 10, and a beautiful, healthy baby (gender is, happily, unknown). We are so blessed.
But isn't it just like us to get frustrated in the midst of blessing?? I am starting to once again be frustrated by my maternity clothes. Anyone figured out a solution?? If someone could start a company with cute and appropriate maternity clothes, I would be so happy! (oh, did I mention inexpensive??)
Pants/Shorts: I have some jeans with a full, very stretchy, panel. They do stay up at first, but once I've had them on for a few hours, I feel them losing their staying power. Plus, that stretchy panel is HOT! The underbelly styles seem to creep down, too. I have this step-step-tug gait that is *just* as appealing as the late pregnancy waddle! And I need to find some shorts, pronto! I've been pregnant for 3 summers and still no shorts? EEK!
Shirts seem to be cut to show more than I've ever been comfortable showing - which would be fine if I didn't mind wearing 2 shirts but summers are sticky enough and sometimes it's just too hot!
A lot of the clothes this season are made from jersey - the clingiest fabric ever! Now why would someone want to wear clingy fabric when crazy things are happening to create bulges where none were there before? And who decided a stretchy band on the bottom of the shirts, under the belly, would be a good idea?
My solution so far is to wear more sundresses, and I do have a couple of skirts that are just stretchy regular sizes that seem to work well. The downside to this is figuring out how to play with and chase 2 active preschoolers and retain some level of modesty!
When I was pregnant with Evan I got so annoyed that I got out my sewing machine. And then proceeded to make a tent - ha! The pattern looked so cute and easy - but the result? um, not so much!!
I've had the best result shopping at garage sales and thrift stores, and even the "regular" clothes section for loose fitting tops and altering as needed. I know what I need to do is have a garage sale, sell a bunch of what I already own that I'm not wearing or that only "kinda" works, and shell out the extra for some basics. Then, just do more laundry. Or maybe I'll try sewing a tent again - I'll just grab some super cool and breezy cotton and make some of those mumu-style stuff our moms wore. I really think they were onto something.
6 comments:
I got out my sewing machine 2 pregnancies ago too! In fact, I still have a few of my homemade tanktop style shirts if you want them. You just have to promise NOT to look closely at the sewing. I've gotten a little better at sewing since then but not much. :) Email me your address if you want them, ok? They are cute but they're both tank top style with a gathered empire type waist but I always wore them with little light short sleeve sweaters overtop.
I found EXACTLY your same problem during my summer pregnancies. Ugh. But I was soon big enough to make those belly panel capris work great. :) I suggest capris/short jeans with the cuffs rolled up instead of shorts. Or calf-length cool skirts?
My go-to places for maternity clothes are Goodwill and Ross.Ross is about $6-$9 new for good quality maternity clothes. I found the cutest maternity clothes a couple years ago there when I was expecting Andrew. They stayed up pretty good!
Ruthie was born in the beginning of October, so I went through the summer with similar woes. I almost always layer a tank underneath what I wear, pregnant or not, so I just bought a few extra long tanks from Walmart so that I could make the maternity shirts work longer. Have you noticed that the shirts keep getting shorter? I got to about 30 weeks or so and was really frustrated because I didn't want to have to buy MORE maternity clothes, but my shirts would not come down far enough. Ugh. Hate when the elastic waist is showing!
I think the idea with the sundresses is a great one. Super cute and comfy. I've found some great shirts at consignment shops and the clearance section at Target. I definitely second the suggestion to check out Ross if you have one close. I wish we did.
I'm sure you look adorable, Jenny! I really do think pregnant women are the cutest! :)
I have been humoring the idea of sewing some clothes. pregnancy clothes can be VERY ill fitting.
i found here that a man's white cotton tank shirt (tim call's 'em "wife-beaters" layered under other shirts has been a very good option for me. they are very light and tend to be long... supported a growing belly and allowed me to have a layering option that was no more miserable than anything else here. :-) might try that.
You just echoed every single complaint I had about maternity wear. I had one pair of maternity shorts that I really really liked and I wore them EVERY DAY june - august. No lie.
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