I always knew I wanted to have a baby, so for as long as I can remember, I have been thinking about what I would wear when I got pregnant.
I never planned to buy a whole new wardrobe (and in fact, most maternity clothes are not my style), so I always knew I would just work with the clothing I had. Every loose shirt and shapeless dress I bought, I would think "I can wear this when I'm pregnant."
Well, now that I am in my ninth month and birth is imminent, I am reflecting back on my pregnancy wardrobe with some interesting learnings:
1. I didn't actually look really pregnant until I was about 8 months pregnant.
Therefore, although my pants and most of my woven blouses ceased to fit me past 5 months, I was until not in full-blown maternity territory until almost the very end.
2. I didn't need a lot of clothes due to my new career.
I found out I was pregnant 10 days after quitting my full-time job. Being a consultant means that I work mostly from home, and being a pregnant consultant means that I mostly wear oversized T-shirts and sweatpants all day. As such, I really only needed a handful of outfits for client meetings. In fact, I survived on basically five professional outfits throughout my entire pregnancy, and only the bottoms (leggings and pants) were from a maternity store. The rest were just really loose or stretchy dresses and tops.
3. Some things change, some stay the same.
I was amazed at how quickly pregnancy changed some aspects of my body, and how it basically left others the same. For example, at only 2 months pregnant I could no longer wear regular bras. Since that time, I can only wear sports bras and maternity bras.
Also, my hips widened considerably, which meant I sized out of my bottoms and skirts very quickly.
On the other hand, my face, arms, legs, and feet stayed exactly the same. I was afraid my shoe size would increase like some women, but that didn't happen to me.
I never planned to buy a whole new wardrobe (and in fact, most maternity clothes are not my style), so I always knew I would just work with the clothing I had. Every loose shirt and shapeless dress I bought, I would think "I can wear this when I'm pregnant."
Well, now that I am in my ninth month and birth is imminent, I am reflecting back on my pregnancy wardrobe with some interesting learnings:
1. I didn't actually look really pregnant until I was about 8 months pregnant.
Therefore, although my pants and most of my woven blouses ceased to fit me past 5 months, I was until not in full-blown maternity territory until almost the very end.
2. I didn't need a lot of clothes due to my new career.
I found out I was pregnant 10 days after quitting my full-time job. Being a consultant means that I work mostly from home, and being a pregnant consultant means that I mostly wear oversized T-shirts and sweatpants all day. As such, I really only needed a handful of outfits for client meetings. In fact, I survived on basically five professional outfits throughout my entire pregnancy, and only the bottoms (leggings and pants) were from a maternity store. The rest were just really loose or stretchy dresses and tops.
3. Some things change, some stay the same.
I was amazed at how quickly pregnancy changed some aspects of my body, and how it basically left others the same. For example, at only 2 months pregnant I could no longer wear regular bras. Since that time, I can only wear sports bras and maternity bras.
Also, my hips widened considerably, which meant I sized out of my bottoms and skirts very quickly.
On the other hand, my face, arms, legs, and feet stayed exactly the same. I was afraid my shoe size would increase like some women, but that didn't happen to me.
Overall, here are the stats:
Maternity Purchases:
4 bras from Motherhood Maternity
1 pair of pants from Motherhood Maternity
1 pair of leggings from Motherhood Maternity
1 winter coat from H&M
Regular Clothes purchased while pregnant:
2 dresses from H&M (in Portugal)
1 dress from Uniqlo (in Taiwan)
The Evolution of a body and outfits:
