Size: Prego

I very much like shopping.

I don't even necessarily have to buy anything...just walk around and look at lovely things and know that they are there for me to buy, if I had the money/desire to buy them.

Oh, who am I kidding? It's much more fun when you can actually buy something.

But I am a very careful buyer. I'm not a very trendy person. I really only buy something if I'm fairly to moderately positive that there is a high probability of my wearing/using the item for years to come. I'm proud to say that this is absolutely true.

Which, I just realized (I mean really, just realized. We are discovering things together, reader - you and I), is probably why shopping for maternity clothes is proving to be...well...frustrating.

And yes - the time has come. I mean, I'm not suddenly in dire need of a whole new wardrobe or anything. In fact, I still have no trouble at all fitting into most of my pants. But the shirts...well, it just gets a little annoying to have to keep constantly pulling them down. I can still comfortably wear probably a third of what I have. But what's more, I don't want to stretch anything out to the point that it's unwearable post-partum.

I don't really know the first thing about buying maternity clothes. Well, that might not be true...since the first thing is probably that they are usually bought by pregnant women. But the second, third, and all subsequent things, I am a little bit lost on.

For instance - will the maternity clothes that fit me now still fit me in 3 months? I mean, they're not sized from month to month, so I assume that they are made to fit throughout your pregnancy. But I also don't want to have tons of barely worn clothes that I can't squeeze my ginormous 8 month tum into.

And I don't want to spend precious house-down-payment dollars on clothes that I'll only wear for a month.

That's the other thing - helllloooo expensive! I mean, ok, it's not that bad. Shirts for $15-$20 really aren't that bad, compared to some other things. I'm not looking for Gucci prego sweatpants, or anything. It probably just seems so pricey because we are trying so hard NOT to spend money. And I found some cute stuff on Down East Basic's website for $5, which is suh-weet. But still...if I have to buy a lot of this stuff... it's gonna add up. I also tried a thrift store... to very discouraging results. And no, I'm not above shopping at a thrift store! Are you?

But seriously - found nothing.

I went over to my aunt's house to borrow some of the large stock of clothing she's collected over the years. The thing is, all of it is kind of on the large side. And while I'm willing to sacrifice some style in the name of frugality, I still want to look...well, nice. There are a few things in there I can use, because they tie in the back and I can cinch them up as needed, but the majority of it is most likely going to go unworn. Sigh...some of it is cute too.

Anyway, I will survive. A lot of the shirts I have are pretty long to begin with, so they will work for now. And I found a couple reasonably priced things at Target. AND my darling husband has assured me that, if it makes me happy, I can spend the money. And he was totally sincere.

But that sounds like a guilt trip just waiting to happen.

So...advice?

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the little one who's causing all this trouble...

I went in for another ultrasound on Tuesday. At the first one, when we found out the gender, the baby wasn't really moving enough for the technician to get quite all the measurements she and the doctor wanted, so she had me come back. We got some better pictures this time - post-worthy pictures, as a matter of fact. Check it:

Here's his cute little alien face (technician lady says he has chubby cheeks!):


And a little foot, which is being thoroughly exercised, by the feel of things:


And, my personal favorite, the profile:



And, of course, as this little guy grows, so do I. Here I am, sporting the 23 week tum:


I so look pregnant. My sister said I look "huuuuuge," and I'm thinking, "Uh, first of all, this picture was taken at night, right after a big meal...so basically when I'm my largest, thank you very much. And secondly, I'm going to get bigger. Probably much bigger. Let's save the huuuuuges for then."

But I do love having a tum! For now.