My Changing Body
Cheesy title, right? That's what I labeled a secret Pinterest board to store ideas about what-the-hell to wear during pregnancy.
I'm not going to lie - I have had a really hard time with the changes happening to my body during pregnancy. And I want to put this out there, because I feel like people don't really talk about it! Whenever I envisioned myself pregnant, I always thought I'd look like myself, just with a cute belly. NOPE.
I have always had a "pear" shaped body. In high school, I had a guy tell me my legs were "voluptuous". IN HIGH SCHOOL. When everyone is always the skinniest. (And no, he definitely wasn't hitting on me - he was openly gay). And it's true, I have always disliked my legs. But luckily to offset my "voluptuous" legs, I always had a flat stomach. Score! Well.. until pregnancy that is. It seems as though from day one, my legs started getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It's like my body was thinking "OMG, we have to sustain this baby! Let's store a TON of fat in her legs, and he will be content for 9 months!". It didn't help that during my first trimester, I was terribly sick and the only thing that made me feel better was eating lots of carbs all day long. They say you shouldn't really gain weight during your first trimester.. ha! What a joke.
I grew out of my pre-pregnancy pants pretty much right away. First I went to my "fat" jeans, then around 12 weeks I was in full fledged maternity jeans. UGH. And all the while, my flat stomach was no more, too. I know all this sounds like a pity party.. but it's a hard thing to go through when in a matter of weeks nothing in your closet fits and your self-confidence plummets. You know what they say.. when you look good, you feel good, and I was not looking or feeling good at all. There were a couple nights where I burst into tears out of frustration in my closet trying to figure out what to wear.
I got to a point where the frustration had to stop - I had to buy new clothes. So that's what I did.
I mentioned my secret Pinterest board above.. during those couple of weeks where I was desperate to find a solution to my changing body and clothing situation, I searched Pinterest for some ideas (which is also pretty depressing.. all the pregnant girls on Pinterest look AMAZING and are a size 2. UGH again).
Here are some outfits that I saved:
via
After gathering some inspiration, I went on a mission to find some pieces that I felt good in. And 90% of what I found was NOT from maternity stores (maternity clothing is THE WORST. I think that added to my frustration). Luckily all this happened during the Holidays, so I had a bit of Christmas money to spend on some new clothes and there were some great sales!
If I put on an outfit that didn't make me want to cry, I took a picture so I would remember it. Here are some of my "go to" maternity outfits (sorry for the bad picture quality):
All I have to say is... THANK GOD I'm pregnant during the winter. Being able to layer has been such a blessing. I've had a lot of people tell me "you don't even look pregnant!" and it's because I choose not to wear things that accentuate my stomach. Honestly - I feel the most comfortable in big, flowy clothing. I've found that maternity clothing that accentuates my stomach also accentuates my very large behind.. and that's not something I want out there in the world to see.
Some of you may be looking at the pictures above and thinking "she doesn't even look big!" But luckily I have found clothes that help minimize my "pregnancy induced thick leg and butt" syndrome. (Plus I think that angle in the mirror is flattering.) The same day I wore that last outfit, the Charlotte Observer came and took our picture and did a really cool little write up about us. Here is the picture they used:
I'm not going to lie - I cringed when I saw how wide I look, especially next to my husband who now officially weighs less then me. Talk about an unflattering angle! (I'm blaming the wide angle lens.. haha!)
I wanted to (and I am going to) share my favorite maternity clothing "must haves", but this post has gotten much too long for that.
Sooo.. I want to end on this note... I know it sounds like I'm super vain and whiny in this post. And maybe I am a little on both accounts. And honestly - I am SO HAPPY and BLESSED to be pregnant. We didn't have an easy road to getting pregnant and thought we were headed towards infertility drugs. But then we got that positive on the test and it was the best thing ever. And every time I feel our little guy moving around in there, it makes me so incredibly happy and excited. Pregnancy really is such an amazing, awesome, crazy cool thing. BUT I really believe that every woman wants to feel good about themselves, and I wish I had known how hard the "vain" side of pregnancy is.. when your body no longer feels like your own and you so badly want to feel good about yourself again. And that's why I wanted to share my experiences with you!
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