Last week I posted that I felt stuck in a weird In Between Stage of my pregnancy in terms of my body. Thank you to everyone who commented. It seems we have people who didn’t buy any maternity clothes until very late in the their pregnancy, and we have some that wore them as early as 6 weeks. But I think the majority of the comments reminded me that comfort is key…and boy do I like comfort. So I figured it was time to bite the bullet and get a few pieces, and see what the maternity section was all about. All I can say is wow what an experience.

I started with Target in mind. I figured cheap was a good way to go. I really wanted maternity leggings since my leggings have been digging into my mid section and giving me muffin top. They really made me uncomfortable. To my disbelief the Target I went to DID NOT have maternity leggings?! I grabbed a few other items to try on, and felt that the dress just made me look even fatter, and since I couldn’t try them on with the leggings I decided not to buy the ribbed tanks. I left that Target empty handed. As I left I got frustrated! Sometimes, when I can’t find an item I just want it more, so I decided to try another Target in the area….

The second target was more successful. I found the leggings and tried them on with the ribbed tank. The leggings were SOOO comfortable, and the high waist slimmed out my midsection. I then tried a ribbed tank with them and realized that I just looked fat. My pregnant friend tells me that she prefers tighter clothes while pregnant because she thinks the more flowy items make her look heavier. At this point I have to say I disagree. I may have to stick with the looser fitting tops till my little bump forms more. I left Target with my goal item of 1 pair of maternity leggings. SUCCESS!

Saturday rolled around and my friend was going to Motherhood Maternity to look for a shower dress, I offered to go with her to help, and to be honest I was excited to see the store. Well what an experience it was! Let me paint a picture…You walk into the front of the store and the clothes look really nice. Like clothes that I would normally wear…jeans, nice shirts, cute dresses and all in great material. Then I looked at the price tag. My eyes bulged out of their sockets. $150 for jeans??!! $80 for a tank top?? $150 for a summery dress?? Ummm what? No way! Then my friend made me feel better and said the clothes in the back of the store are much more affordable…so I went to the back where I belonged. But the problem was that you could tell that the clothes in the back were just cheaper..they looked it. The material wasn’t as nice, the patterns looked cheap, and the bottom line is the clothes looked nothing like the clothes in the front. I may sound like a clothes snob right now, but I promise that I regularly shop at inexpensive places, and am very happy…maybe it’s because these clothes exist in the same store. It’s just not fair….”oh you can’t afford the clothes in the front? well let me usher you to the back where we sell our Mu Mu’s”..lol The clothes were perfect for a work type atmosphere, but if I wanted something for say a night out, there wasn’t much to choose from. I was bummed. Can’t there be a happy medium?

My favorite part of the store was the little fake bump they give you try on so you can see what you are “supposed” to look like at say 7 or 9 months. But I say it’s a crock! I put on the 7 month bump and I must admit I looked kind of cute. I wore leggings and that little ribbed tank with the bump, and I was happy. But what the bump doesn’t account for is the extra weight gain in the arms, legs, thighs, face…and pretty much the rest of your body. I should’ve taken a picture of with the 7 month bump at almost 11 weeks, and then compare it to what I really look like at 7 months. I am sure it will be nowhere close!

So that was my first maternity shopping experience. I hope that I can stick with my plan for now and wear summery dresses throughout the summer. I did buy a pair of cute white linen maternity pants from Motherhood and LOVE them. I plan on wearing maternity clothes FOREVER! It’s like wearing sweatpants everyday! Who wouldn’t want to do that?? lol Two thumbs up!!!