Third Trimester Favs

i wanted to start posting my monthly baby favorites, but realized i never finished my pregnancy favs. it seems a little silly to post something that feels like forever ago, but here goes!

the Preggle pregnancy pillow: yes, this is making its second and final appearance during the third trimester. i am fully convinced this is the sole reason i slept extremely well up until delivery. though quite large, it's just what a large pregnant lady needs to give her hips some relief during those last heavy weeks!

Preggatinis book: the last trimester is hard for a lot of reasons, and abstaining from alcohol when you are SO CLOSE to being able to have it is hard. my husband was so kind to offer to make me one of these whenever i wanted. i have to say the Momosa (OJ + non alcoholic sparking wine) was my favorite.

Bandini bras: they looks like a sports bra, but they aren't! i wore these almost exclusively the last trimester because my favorite Victoria's Secret Incredible bras were started to dig into my rib cage and belly. they have no wire, but only offer decent support. but i didn't really care at that point. and lets be honest, no one is looking at your chest during the 3rd trimester.

Leggings: more elastic clothes? yes please! those maternity shirts sure know how to work with leggings at all times. don't get me wrong, i had some regular maternity pants that looked like regular people clothes, but if i could get away with leggings, you can bet i would. there are a few brief points in life where someone can wear them and not be judged and pregnancy is one of them.

Carefree Panty Liners: ok girls, let's be honest. pregnancy does all types of things to your body. and just because you don't get your period doesn't mean that everything is hunky dory down yonder. i know you catch my drift, and i'm just glad i kept a stash of these in my purse at all times to keep myself feeling fresh!

The Happiest Baby on the Block: the third trimester wouldn't be complete without a little reading preparation. this was my favorite book and is SO useful. the husband and i have used all 5 of the "S's" with LW and they WORK. enough said.

Medela Double Action Stretch Mark Cream: told you this would be featured in the 3rd trimester if i didn't get any stretch marks on my belly and I DIDN'T! i can't say the same for my boosies, but i also never put any cream on there because i didn't feel them getting any bigger. let this be a lesson to all of you- don't neglect the ladies. the good thing is most of the bad ones are on the underside, and the way my boobs now look, they hang low enough that i can't even see the underside anyways! ahh, pregnancy.

and that's all folks! my last post on pregnancy. thank you all for reading along with me. it's baby talk from here on out!

dressing the bump

i never knew when i would be pregnant, but i knew one thing: i was going to make sure i embraced stylish pants. i've seen women at the mall who think that being pregnant means wearing a mu-mu or a tent that doubles as a blouse. no siree, that was not going to be me. i was also pretty confident that i would spend the copious amounts of money it took to get myself a pair of designer jeans, and probably 7's. they're the only jeans that i wear sans bump, and they were surprisingly cute in maternity. i justified my thoughts by saying it's money well spent because i'll wear them every day!

but when the time came to enhance my wardrobe with some stretchy goodness, i was appalled at the price of "designer" jeans:

really 7 for all Mankind? $198 for a 3/4 pair of jeans? Because really the top part is all elastic. and these aren't Chanel jeans! i don't spend that on regular jeans, so why would i fork it over for a pair of pants i'm going to wear for 4 months? no matter what you tell yourself before you get pregnant, or even in the first few months, you will NOT wear these every day because a) you don't need them til at least 6 months, and b) you won't want to wear ANY pants if you don't have to. the moment i get home, it's off with the non-sweatpants. and the people at Destination Maternity are evil geniuses because these NEVER go on sale.

finally, they aren't made that well. i picked up several pairs to look at and all the jeans were already separating from their elastic bands. i even talked to a good friend who bought a pair of Joe's maternity jeans and she said that her Old Navy maternity jeans held up WAY better than her Joe's. go figure.

so in lieu of dropping almost 2 hundy on a pair of jeans, i decided to go with the Heidi Klum Loved brand at Motherhood. even if they weren't that great, i would only be spending $40 on a pair of pants. they could fall apart after Little Wood comes and i would still have gotten my money's worth. turns out, these pants are amazing! they are just the right amount of stretchy, comfy, and are still stylish.

i also got a pair of grey pants because a girl's got to have more than 1 pair to get through approximately 100 days of hugeness. these were also $40:

i will offer another piece of advice when shopping for maternity pants. obviously there are conflicting opinions on this, but i am a full believer in the full panel pants. in case you didn't know, there are two types of maternity pants, demi (or "under the belly") and full panel.

before i needed to wear them, i thought that i would NEVER wear full-panel. i thought they were disgusting and totally mom-ish. then i realized the error of my ways when i had to buy some professional work pants that only came in full panel. OMG they were so comfortable! i felt like they held everything nice and tight (which feels even better the further along you get when you feel like everything is flapping in the wind) and they were a welcome relief from the belly band which made all my pants look bumpy. plus, they help shield my ever showing belly button these days. i must say, i don't hate wearing pants as much when i can look forward to wearing these. all in all, shopping while pregnant hasn't been as bad as i thought. but i'll still be glad when i can return my focus to clothing that doesn't require spandex!

stretchy pants

this last week at work has proven most uncomfortable. last Monday i attempted to pull on a pair of black dress pants and they wouldn't even come close to zipping.  not even the belly band could manage this one. so, i relegated them to the back of the closet for another day. my only pair of maternity pants still needed to be hemmed so i was beginning to find myself up a creek.


at lunch that day i decided to go to the Old Navy in Fullerton since they are only 1 of 2 in my area that carry maternity. so i drove myself over, only for the first associate to tell me they don't carry it anymore, and that i would have to drive to Brea. i was super pissed because i had JUST checked the website before coming over and it clearly stated they carried maternity! I was so irritated that i actually wrote to Old Navy when i got back to the office and let them know that they needed to update their website. i think it was the panic setting in that i was quickly approaching a pantless wardrobe.  there was a Target Greatlands in the same shopping center so i figured i would see if they had any work pants i could find. i've since come to find out that i simply don't fit well into Liz Lange for Target. they are too baggy and just don't make me feel good about myself. but i did find this little number instead!

yes, it's not work appropriate but i haven't found a lot of maternity that i like so i figured i would take advantage of the situation.

anyways, my mission on Saturday was to actually find pants so i went to South Coast Plaza.  they have the only Gap in the vicinity that also carries maternity, even though it's a bit of a pathetic selection. i found pants that i liked, and they even had the right length for my short legs, but there were no pants in my size with the right length. i also was a little hesitant in spending $65 on them. i figured if i couldn't find anything else i could always order online. but i wandered over to Destination Maternity and had someone pull a crap load of pants into a dressing room for me.  and lo and behold, pants that fit me exist! and only for $35!! i can't wait to wear these to work (i never thought i'd hear myself say that) and not have to constantly adjust my belly band to make sure i'm not flashing the entire world.  i picked up some in black:

 

and some in gray:

this is a scary picture, but the stretchy band is going to give me a run for my money, this i'm sure. i'm going to check back for more colors, because i can't beat the price and they're pretty darn comfy. here's to stretchy pants!

is this a good look for me?

a few posts back i remarked on my gradual foray into maternity wear. i also mentioned the pros and cons of the idea of the "belly band." while i do like the flexibility it gives me in remaining in my pre- pregnancy pants, i hate hate hate that it gives me a lumpy midsection i just can't hide. i still don't understand how people say they wear this in lieu of actual maternity pants. i guess if i wore, ill-fitting, drapey, maternity shirts 24/7 i could get away with them, because then i wouldn't look like this:

see how obvious? this doesn't look natural.

anyways, since i nearly flashed everything below the belt last week at work when my belly band scooted up and my zipper was obviously down since i can't zip them anymore, i decided it was time to take the plunge and buy some new pants.  somehow i scored the last pair of black dress pants at Target today (what, pregnant women don't need to wear nice pants to work? sheesh!)  and walked away with these:

they are very scary in this picture and actually don't look this awful. mine don't have those horrendous pleats, but you get the picture. i'm hoping they are as amazing as everyone says they are!

babies are expensive!

or should i be more specific at this point and say that pregnancy is expensive?

case in point:
it's been hot out. and i literally feel at times like i am an oven. needless to say- sweaty and tired. so we've been sleeping with the air on and it's been GLORIOUS! i feel like i can breathe, and it's actually nice to snuggle under the blankets instead of feeling like they are smothering me to death.

but then the electric bill came over the weekend and my party has ended, per the husband. our bill had tripled! seriously Southern California Edison? don't you know how hot it is? i feel like if i didn't have the air on at night i would suffocate both myself and my unborn child. not to mention that my downstairs neighbor has been running her AC 24/7 and her unit is blowing hot, exhaust air right into our bedroom window non-stop. i should say that our initial bill was not huge- in fact, it's under $50 so even if it tripled, it's money well spent in my opinion.

so we are going cold turkey, or rather HOT TURKEY, and sweating it out at night. it's been miserable. it feels humid and stifling in the house and my sleep the last 2 nights has been mediocre at best. coupled with the fact that i somehow pulled the h-e-double hockey sticks out of my left groin muscle (thank you Hollywood Bowl), going to bed is not my favorite activity anymore. i have literally prayed every day that God would provide respite from this awful weather. it's SEPTEMBER. i'm sick of hot weather, and so is Little Wood.

and that's my first pregnancy rant. i hope you enjoyed ;)

maternity garb

maternity clothes have always terrified me. i'm not sure if it was because of the actual styles or just the meaning behind wearing them, but they still scare me just a little.  i'm really not in the maternity clothes phase yet, but am still keeping my eye out for what i may like.

i'm still too small to fit into most maternity options, but my regular clothes are uncomfortable to say the least. people keep telling me that i should just buy regular clothes, but in a size larger. i'm not really a fan of that idea because i don't want to look like i'm buying clothes that don't fit me. and while they may give me more room in some areas, it's going to look like i'm swimming in them in others.

i have purchased exactly ONE "maternity" skirt, and i actually think it's pretty cute. i think it's only maternity because of the stretchy waistband, but who cares! It's comfy and i like it:

of course i don't fill it out like this momma does, but that will come soon enough.

in the meantime, and on the weekends, i'm sticking to stretchy maxi and jersey skirts. they are SO forgiving and i never feel uncomfortbale. i picked up a similar skirt as this at Nordstrom the other day:

it's a little different style but the same color and i can mix and match a lot with it. and yesterday, whilst hanging out with my step-mom, she let me borrow some of her Old Navy fold over jersey skirts that she isn't using. Hallelujah! i'm wearing one today and it's heaven.

for my tops, i've been digging into my Target Mossimo Micro-Rib tank collection. I seriously have at least 10 of these in a variety of colors: white, black, brown, navy, pink, mustard yellow, lime green, purple, red, emerald green... Ok i have a lot of them but now they're coming in handy to wear with all my solid colored skirts! Boo-ya! And i've always bought them in a medium so they're longer and now i couldn't be happier because they smooth out my bulgy mid-section.

so far, my changing body hasn't bothered me too much. to be honest, i'm much more comfortable (let's be truthful- skinny jeans aren't all they're cracked up to be) on a daily basis.  i'm trying to enjoy this time while i can, because i know larger days are around the corner!