Thursday, July 23, 2009

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.

8 comments:

  1. ah my prego friend...how much I love you, and I hardly know you!!
    Firstly, you should remember that I am about to burst and am not very happy with the prego life right now, so take what I say with a grain of salt....
    I am so jealous that you are looking so cute-and not HUUGE!
    Maternity clothes are terrible to shop for...my personal favorites(more like ones I tolerate most) are the gap and target clearance sections.
    Trust me, the day will come when Dallin is gonna take you out on a fabulous date-you're gonna go to your closet and just start bawling because every piece of maternity thing you own is just BLAH. For this-you need to splurge on one outfit at least-one that makes you feel NORMAL...perhaps even CUTE! And include the shoes too!!
    I am so excited for you two! The ultrasound pics are stinkin' adorable! He's gonna be a cutie for sure.

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  2. Oh and NOTHING fits well after 34 weeks....it just doesn't.

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  3. I always loved Ross when I was prego. Ceri has had some good luck there too. Maybe you can find some good finds there! : )

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  4. First, you are NOT huge, I wish I looked that good at that stage.

    Try Burlington Coat factory at AZ Mills, they had some cute stuff when I was pregnant, flattering and good prices.

    Also, if you see a normal shirt you like, just buy it in a bigger size, that way you don't have to get "maternity" clothes.

    Usually most shirts, especially those with ties, grow well with your growing belly so you can wear them the whole time. Its usually the jeans, depending on the style, you might not be able to wear the whole time. A lot of people like the jeans that have a small band around, and you wear them below your growing belly. Those most times can work the whole pregnancy!

    Good luck!

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  5. It is possible to buy shirts that can be worn later. I too just HATED spending money on such a short term item. You have to find just the right shirts though, or you'll be miserable.

    Lookin Good.

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  6. Katie you are so cute! so I have to say, I only really owned one or two pregnant shirts; and I was huge! I actually went to Ross, TJmax and places like that and got shirts on sale. All those larger shirts that are flowy and long. I got so many compliments on them and they only cost me $5-10. They looked so cute on pregnant and I still wear them now and they look great not pregnant too. Thats what really worked for me. I could wear them from 4 months all the way to when he came out and they didn't stretch to wear I couldn't wear them at a smaller size. But yeah, I hated feeling like I had to buy stuff for only a few months and not use it so thats why I love the stuff I got because I can still wear it and don't feel like I wasted a bunch of money. Pants though, its a lose lose. The nice pants that stay on the big belly are more expensive..so theres no way avoiding that unless you are smaller..haha.

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  7. I have some really cute maternity clothes that you can borrow if you want to. I just have to go get them out of storage. I was able to wear a size small from beginning to end. I honestly didn't get very big and the end result was a small baby. :) Just give me a call and I will be more than willing to dig through the storage unit to find them.

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  8. Like everyone else said, I got some good things at Ross and found some cute things that are not maternity and bought them a size bigger.

    Nothing really fit for the last few weeks, and that's okay because everyone who's had a baby knows that. You are looking so cute and definitely not huge.

    One thing to remember, the clothes aren't a huge waste of money because you'll get pregnant more than once, and it's slightly refreshing to know you have a different wardrobe when you're pregnant. You'll hate most of it by the end anyway (for a little while).

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