Worth noting: first stranger said something about me being pregnant today. Sorta. Patient, guy in his 50s (I knew a guy would say something first, I don’t know if it’s because they’re gutsier or tackier than women, lol.)
He didn’t come right out and ask. He was actually a nice guy. He said something like, “So, do you have any kids?” Sometimes I just say, “not yet” …because in the earlier stages of pregnancy, I just didn’t need to tell every random person I just met. But this time I said “One on the way, actually.” To which he replied that he suspected, but he wanted to be sure and phrase his question carefully. Ha. If he wasn’t so cautious, I would have considered him pretty gutsy. Because yeah, I’m starting to show, but maybe I’m just thicker in the middle. =P I wouldn’t have the guts to say something to a pregnant woman unless she was like…wayyyy obvious. And maybe not even then….
So I thought, if I’m preggie enough for people I just met to say something, maybe I’m preggie enough to go try on clothes. The belly bands are still working alright, and I still think they’re great and everything. But they are getting a little tedious, and now that I can’t zip most of my regular pants up even a little bit, it’s a little more challenging pulling the band down far enough to cover the entire zipper. When I do pull it down over my zipper, it has a tendency to roll up a bit, which is just not okay. Maybe I can just tweak my methods.
Well, I went to Motherhood and Old Navy to try on some preggie jeans, but they were too big at both places. =( The belly panel at Motherhood felt great, but the hips, crotch, and thighs were really loose, bunchy, and awkward. I could order a size smaller at oldnavy.com, and it may come to that later. But I’m nervous about buying something like that online when the return policy is kind of inconvenient and costs money (if it’s a return rather than an exchange). I guess I’ll deal with the belly bands a little longer! Maybe when I’m bigger, I’ll try the ones at Old Navy again and see if I still think I should go a size down. I originally wanted to put off buying maternity clothes as long as possible because I don’t want to be left with nothing to wear again at the very end (I’m NOT buying two sets of maternity clothes!), but I was just getting a little tired of the belly bands. Overall, minor inconvenience I can deal with just fine. If/when I visit Tulsa or St. Louis in the not-too-distant future, I may go to one of the Gap stores that carry maternity. They have smaller sizes. Bleh. But I didn’t want to spend that much.
One last thing! One of my friends (also pregnant, about 7 weeks ahead of me) posted something on facebook about enjoying a peanut butter and dill pickle sandwich. I LOLed thinking wow, that is quite the pregnancy food. But apparently, her dad has been making them and enjoying them for years. As weird as I thought that sounded at the time (very weird), tonight I can’t help but think that I would really like to try a PB and dill pickle sandwich, just to see. It doesn’t sound all that bad to me right now! But alas, I have no pickles. Or bread.
I think I waited about the same length before breaking down and buying maternity clothes. I managed to make one set work for the duration of my pregnancy by wearing the belly band with the too-big maternity pants, mostly to keep the belly panel up (all of my pants were the huge “comfort fit” over-the-belly panel from motherhood maternity). My favorite pair was a pair of loosely cut dress pants, because the shape was intentionally loose, they continued to look great right up to the end…although they were a little snug in the rear by the very end, lol. Don’t expect toooo much from your maternity clothes, they just don’t fit as nicely as regular clothes. Plus, your body shape will continue to change in ways other than an extending belly (such great news, I know). Good luck, I am sure you are so cute pregnant!
You might also try some of the second hand shops for maternity clothes. That way it isn’t so much money if you DO have to buy bigger pants later.
Yeah, was going to try at least Children’s Orchard and another one, can’t remember the name of it. Do you have any recommendations? But they carry so many of the things that are available HERE. Will definitely look into it later anyway though. =)