“A pregnant lady does not feel amused when she sits on her side of the sofa, and the beggar collapses!” I indignantly tweeted this morning. Even I can see the funny side (I didn’t fall, just went down with a little bump), but by heck my ego just took a huge bitch-slapping! Now if I was 35weeks on with sextuplets I’d feel less fat and frumpy but I’m not, I’ll be 18wk on Wednesday!!
It may be the hormones blogging today but I just don’t care (virtual foot stamp!). We can send people into space, cure obscure diseases, clone things for goodness sakes- so why can’t someone somewhere invent something to make us pregnant ladies feel lovely, all the time. After all, it’s us superwomen who are ensuring the future of mankind through sprog-popping!
Well I won’t rant anymore, but this has brought to mind the problems I’ve had already with find suitable, stylish clothing that fits properly (therefore making me feel better dressed and less frumpy!). Being early-ish on still I didn’t expect to need different clothing yet but i have a huge bump, much bigger than I was at this stage with Kieran (not complaining really!), so my first purchase has had to be new jeans! I live in jeans, dark jeans, light jeans, funny looking tie-die jeans, so naturally I expected to be able to find a pair in maternity easy enough. Boy was I wrong! I am a comfortable size 18, 5ft 3, with very short legs and a longer body lol (gorgeous!) and I can’t tell you how many pairs of jeans i have tried on in stores or sent for and had to return. Nine times out of ten even the “short” jeans were too long! A lovely assistant in Dorothy Perkins did tell me even she found maternity trousers and jeans to be longer than usual when she was pregnant, and her legs came up to my neck (or near enough!). God bless twitter, as I had lots of people tweeting me with recommendations but only one had the right leg length, 27”, and that was Next. Now I wasn’t convinced they would fit as Next DO do shorter legs in maternity jeans but only if you are size 6-16 (sob) but I took the chance and thank goodness they are a winner!
A happy ending to my jean search story but this is ONE pair of jeans, which I wear pretty much every day so they’ll soon be washed into oblivion at a guess but I just haven’t the heart to keep looking for more clothing after weeks of previous trawling. I’m not abnormally shaped, just a short arse, so surely shouldn’t find it so difficult to find basic maternity items that fit well? To keep costs down I’ve been trying on tshirts a size bigger to accommodate bump & new kingsize boobs but these tend to hang off the shoulder or gape at the back, so what is a girl to do?
Ok, so this is a rant, but is it unreasonable to expect to be able to find reasonably priced maternity clothes, especially earlier on, when you are shorter or a larger size without wasting so much money paying for delivery, which you don’t get back when you return these items?
So, did you find it difficult to find maternity clothes, regardless of your size? Can any of you recommend cheaper brands, with reliable sizing? I’d love to hear from you if you can, and join in the hormonal rant if you can’t!
Ah this rant I remember having myself! I do not want to spend a lot of money on something I can only wear temporary and doesn't fit my particular bump that well!I took option B – begged and borrowed from friends/family who had recently had babies!KellyPiddley Pix
Ha ha great blog post. Know exactly how you feel although my last baby was born 14 years ago but being 5ft 2" and producing a Ten and a half pound baby was never going to be a glamerous look! My eldest is due a baby in November so its all coming back. Well done on this keep up the excellent rants!!
Hee hee – I love your rant!! I remember being pregnant [eek – 13 years ago] and I really can't remember owning one single item of maternity clothing. My most stylish outfit was a pair of oversized denim dungarees and a Little Miss Naughty t shirt. Who would have thought that I would now own a maternity clothes store! Keep up the rants. I look forward to reading them!
Hi Louise- thanks for your comment:)It has been as much a nightmare finding clothing as it has been controlling my hormones, but thanks for the signposting! It really helped!Thanks Jayne & Kelly for your comments. I'm glad in a way it's not just me that has had problems finding maternity clothing, was starting to paranoid pregnancy shape worries!