Maternity Woes

Have I mentioned how much I hate maternity clothes? I feel like I shouldn't bitch since maternity fashions have come a long, long, LONG way since I had Caitlyn 8 years ago. During that pregnancy I was forced to wear hideous sailor suit-like clothes which I thought must have been designed by the same brilliant person who designed BDUs for women. When I was pregnant with Jocelyn we were still in Japan where there are either no maternity shops (a distinct possibility considering how remote we were), or they fooled me since all their clothes are incredibly tiny (which I found very bizarre since, in my opinion, not everyone in Japan is a size 2!). Anyway, this time around I am in a major city with access to some seriously high-end maternity shops. Unfortunately, I can't actualy afford to shop in the same places as Britney Spears, so I am forced to shop on either Ebay (so much cheaper!) or at the regular mall (Mimi is really not that bad). Ebay, of course, doesn't allow you to actually try on the clothes, so I have several pairs of extremely expensive designer maternity jeans which make my legs look like huge sausages an have bands which cut into my belly so that when I sit down it looks like I have two stomaches (sooo attractive!).

There are a couple of brands I have had good luck with. Isabella Oliver is a London-based maternity company which had absolutely gorgeous clothes that are both comfortable and flattering. It's easier to get them on Ebay to try to save on shipping (I ended up paying 1/2 price for a shirt and dress). On the down side, IO clothes are hard to find from a US seller and finding pants from them has proved nearly impossible. 2 Chix is another great brand, but they only sell tee shirts (the one Susanne admired in my CA Wine Country picture is from them, as is my I Love Pickles long sleeve tee). So I am stuck with lots of greats tops and absolutely nothing to wear on the bottom that doesn't make me look and feel heavier than I already am.

My mom took me shopping at the mall while she was here, and I was finally able to locate a decent pair of pants but they are still a little too big (I finally gave in and moved up from a small to a medium but I really need an in between size), so I end up having to pull up my pants every five seconds whenever I walk anywhere (no so attractive when you have a big preggo belly hanging out!). I know they'll fit eventually (probably a lot sooner that I would like :( But it is so frustrating to not have anything that fits! The worst part is that this stage of clothes not fitting right goes on for much longer than the acual pregnancy. It will be at least a year if not longer before I can actually fit any of my regular clothes again. Wah!