Something for all you future moms out there! One thing to look forward to once you are past the nuisance of first trimester symptoms, is the end of second trimester joys of shopping for the bump. Yes there are days where you will get frustrated because you can't manage to do the rubber band trick on your favorite pair of jeans anymore without having your zipper entirely undone, but depending whether your baby is a spring or summer baby you may get the luxury of wearing no pants! Now by that I mean, dresses and skirts. If a bunch of pregnant women walked around without pants there may be some problems..
Here are a couple of tricks or finds that I found helpful and worked for me as I have gotten bigger throughout my second trimester! Granted, everyone's body is built differently and luckily I have only gained weight in my belly and a little in my face so far.
Rubberband Trick :
Yes the feeling of eating too much at Thanksgiving dinner, this is about how I felt for a long time toward the end of the first trimester. This was mainly from bloating and not a baby bump, but man did I feel stuffed all the time!
https://babybump.alt12.com/community/groups/97-first-trimester/posts/3757859-the-hair-tie-trick-for-when-you-arent-quite-ready
Belly Bands :
God bless whoever created belly bands *praise*
I wear my belly band under shirts to make my bellybutton less noticeable in tight clothes or dresses, I also wear it to cover up my unzipped jeans in the beginning and over my normal leggings so I don't show any extra skin. Also the one I bought has a sticky lining to stay snug on your pants and avoid slipping around. Below is the link to Target where I bought mine!
http://www.target.com/p/bematernity-by-ingrid-isabel-beband/-/A-50534888
Maternity Leggings :
While browsing Targets tiny tiny maternity section here in Ames I realized maternity leggings a) don't fit my small petite body and b) are extremely expensive for my kind. I like thrifting for my jeans and getting deals from the Gap and Zara that I simply could not get myself to pay $50 for maternity pants that I will only wear for a couple months! I stopped by the Walmart by my apartment and I had come across their maternity section, even smaller than Targets not to mention, and found these great leggings that go up over my belly and nearly match up to my bra. It is almost like a body suit and I love it! There is ribbed compression around my back and under my belly for support and they wash great. Walmart has a great selection online!
Dresses :
Dresses that feel like you are wearing a robe?? Yes! There is such thing and I am thrilled that wrap dresses are in style right now. They are adjustable so as you grown you can still wear the dress without feeling constricted. My biggest goal of shopping for spring and summer clothes is to be able to wear them after the baby is born. I currently have bought some dresses that are size small (my regular size) but are a looser fit or for once maxi dresses. You don't have to only buy the hideous maternity clothes they sell in some department stores. So what I suggest is, try things on and see how they adjust to your body! You never know unless you try them on, also shoutout to Pinterest for providing cute ways to wear current clothes. I have found out the hard way that rompers will never be flattering on me during pregnancy and that when you are looking at lengths of dresses and shirts, keep in mind to subtract about 3-4 inches off the bottom to account for how much your bump will lift your clothes. Normal fitting t-shirts may become crop tops, and if you can work it girl then go head! :)
