my maternity essentials
I may not know everything when it comes to pregnancy but the second time around I sure do know how to dress my changing body. With Birdie I was clueless, didn't want to spend a lot of money and kept reading all these posts about "I just wore regular jeans all through my pregnancy!!" posts and figured I can outsmart a 30 pound basketball around my midsection. Silly, silly, silly old me. I am having none of that this time around. Perhaps for some their bump really is the size of "personal melon" but for me it became pure torture to stuff myself into regular pants by 13 weeks. Nothing a little online shopping couldn't fix! I can now happily report that I have been wearing maternity pants exclusively ever since! I figure there are enough uncomfortable aspects of pregnancy that can't be alleviated (or more than uncomfortable, like morning sickness) so why not fix what is in your control? Below I'm going to break down my favorite maternity purchases thus far:
pants - first and foremost one needs a good pair of maternity leggings. Between two pregnancy I've tried a few brands and most of them just don't stay on which leads to the dreaded "my hosiery is still bunching!" look a la Boy Meets World. Enter Boden maternity leggings! Great coverage, quality and feel and they have stayed put since I was 12 weeks! They are so incredibly soft you will never want to take them off.
jeans - I've had very good luck with both James Jeans and Liz Lange (from Target). I went with over the belly bands for both and they are comfortable and look great. As far as James Jeans they can be pricey but I've found good deals through Gilt and Amazon. Either way it's a great investment.
tops - for basic tops I would definitely just go with Target. For something a little more interesting I invested in a top from Hatch Collection that I adore and will be getting quite a bit more wear from come this fall as well as some tops from the Puella line at Anthropologie. They don't market the line as maternity but they couldn't be better for that purpose - they're longer, super soft and nice and roomy so they will fit you no matter how far along you are.
lingerie & swimsuits - as far as bras go it doesn't get much better than Cake. I so badly wish I had known about this brand with my first pregnancy as I struggled to find a bra that would fit, offer decent support but still make me look nice. In fact towards the end my shoulders ached daily and I know it was due to the terrible bras I was wearing. These Cake bras are pretty much magic, they're expensive but worth every penny. I haven't had any shoulder pain and they actually are pretty cute for a maternity/nursing bra. For swimsuits I have loved Target's selection, and prices, and Hatch Collection just came out with two stunning swimsuit options that I think would work great regardless of how far along you are.
Also of importance are comfortable shoes and I have been living in my flats by Yosi Samra I got through Shoemint. As far as dresses go I just always search for "shift" or "smock" dresses. They're pretty easy to come by these days but in case you are looking for a maternity specific line I love More of Me Maternity dresses and I just got my first Sonnet James dress that I adore already! And last but not least ASOS may be the best for cute and affordable maternity clothes!
Whew!! I think I covered most of it and I hope you guys find this helpful! If you have any other questions feel free to ask in the comments or email me! And here's to looking lovely with a bump!