Pregnant and Covered

After the morning sickness subsided (somewhat) and my regular clothes weren’t fitting any more, I decided it was time to add a few pieces to my current maternity wardrobe. I thought (silly me) that it would be a fairly easy task…order a few things, make a couple more, and *poof*…you have a great set of maternity clothes!

Yeah…And the moon is made out of chocolate. *Ahem*. I discovered that finding decent maternity clothes that didn’t cost several times the amount of our monthly clothes budget, seemed near impossible.  But after much searching, a few returns, and a few “scores”, I am here to tell you that it is possible! You just have to know where to look…

So these are a few of the things I’ve found, that have been great!

1. Maternity tank tops.  I got mine from DownEast Basics. Be warned however, that you might want to order a size larger than you normally wear. I returned the ones I ordered in my original size, for larger ones because they just didn’t seem that they would fit for 9 months. I’m only 5 months pregnant now, but I’m already glad I got a larger size. These are nice and long, and have a higher neckline.

2. Denim skirts.  I have a couple from New Creation Apparel, and one from Motherhood. Since it’s summer, I have been wearing my Motherhood one more since it’s a little shorter. (I also adore their “Secret Fit Belly Panel”…It is incredibly comfortable, and fits at all stages of pregnancy and post-pregnancy.)  The two from NCA will be perfect when the wind starts to blow and we get snow (so, about 2 weeks from now..lol!). I like the front panel with the adjustable elastic waistband.

3. Dresses. Heh. Finding these were a trip. I ordered several from Motherhood thinking that since they were knee-length on the models, they would fall mid-calf on me (I’m short)–which is exactly what I wanted. But no, they were barely under my knees. My husband thought they were fine, but they seemed a little shorter than I am personally comfortable with so I returned them.  However, after a lot of searching on Ebay I found one that is perfect!  One thing to keep in mind though, is that even if you can find normal retailers that carry dresses long enough, they normally also have plunging necklines. So I can either use my tank tops to fill in the neck or you can get something like this.

4. T-shirts.  I had a doozy of a time finding plain old t-shirts that didn’t have really low necklines, and were long enough to cover a belly panel. The ones I ended up getting were from Old Navy. You might prefer to layer them, but they have a beautiful selection of colors and the length is great.

5. Jeans. I don’t normally mention jeans, because they aren’t that hard to find. But this is a plug (yet again) for the Motherhood Secret Fit Belly panel. I got jeans and a pair of dress pants all used, and they are the most comfortable things ever. They do run long though… :-)

In the end, I probably could have sewn some things also…but I have a 3 year-old and am still exhausted. So, the sewing will have to wait for now. :-)

A wife to my handsome man and mama to my little man. I spend my days fixing meals and cuddling. I live in the cold, cold north, where there are four seasons: almost snow, lots of snow, more snow, and the two days of summer. I love the subject of modesty, but am dissapointed that there seems to be so little of it in today's clothing. Maybe this will be my very small way of helping to bring it back.