Adventures in Shopping: The Maternity Clothes Edition

So yesterday, Corey and I decided to brave the mall to go look at baby furniture at JCPenneys. I don't know where I thought they had there magical furniture room, but I didn't even check to see if they would have samples in the store. I just assumed and asked Corey if he wanted to go take a look. Pregnancy brain strikes again--we got there and they explained they don't have any baby furniture in the stores, it's all online/in the catalogs.

I'm a big fan of online shopping for a lot of things, but furniture is not one of them. It scares me to buy something that large and expensive without feeling the weight of it first, seeing if I like the color of it in person, etc. So I think we will be going with something we find in a store unless we come across some great deal in another way.
But the trip to the mall wasn't a total bust. First of all (and most importantly in my mind!) Soft Pretzels! Second of all, Corey had surprised me by saying we should look for some clothes and/or a purse for me. My husband is the best!

So after a disappointing trip to JCPenneys and a delicious trip to Auntie Anne's, we walked around aimlessly trying to find the Motherhood Maternity store. I think they have moved it, but I honestly don't know for sure, because when would I ever have been shopping in there before? We happened upon it at the exact opposite end of the mall of where I thought it was.

At this point, I don't really need maternity clothes. I'm still fitting in my jeans fine, and I have plenty of flowing tops that seem to cover up my food/bloat baby (which is really what it feels and looks like at this point) without anyone noticing (or at least they aren't mentioning it if they do).

The picture below was taken right at 12 weeks (please ignore the overall grossness of my appearance as this was taken at the end of my first day back at work after 4 glorious days off. I definitely had to take a nap when I got home).

So yeah, I'm doing okay with my regular flowy tops and my "fat" jeans (every girl has them). But I'm kind of concerned that one day I'm going to pop and then I'm not going to be able to fit into anything and have a momentary freakout. So in order to avoid that, it is good to be prepared and have some clothes I can wear when I'm ready.

So we entered Motherhood Maternity. I was afraid that once I walked in I would get the side eye for not really looking like I belonged. But once I started looking around, I went into shopping mode and holy crap, there are some really cute maternity clothes! Motherhood Maternity is a little expensive for me to shop at exclusively, but I think I will definitely go back and buy more stuff there.
More, you ask? You better believe I bought something! They were having a buy one get one half off shirt special and a deal where you earn money to come back and spend later in the month. I'm always a sucker for that kind of deal, so I bought 2 shirts and a pair of jeans.
And I've heard many ladies rave about the awesome maternity jeans. I've always been puzzled by this. I've always found jeans buying to be a difficult process, and I absolutely despise buying jeans when I'm up a size or two. But now, I get it. I have seen the light. Maternity jeans are a gift from above. NO BUTTON. NO ZIPPER. And they come in the following sizes - Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large (they also have them separated by length as petite, regular and long). So I got my regular medium jeans in a suitable wash and tried them on. They pull on like pajama pants. They are stretchy, so they will grow with my ever-expanding hips and waist. They have a band at the top for your belly, but for now I'm just folding that over. And they are SO comfortable.
I had fun trying on all of the clothes. I ended up with the magic jeans and two short sleeved shirts (one with stripes, another is a solid brown). There were a lot of clothes that I tried on that I liked enough to buy. With each item I tried on, I would try it on see how it fits as I am now; then I would slide in the fake belly pillow they have in the dressing room (it supposedly adds on 3 months to your belly size) and see what I looked like then.
Sidenote: It's funny, when I saw the fake bump pillow hanging in the dressing room, I wondered if that is where soap characters like Nicole get the fake bump so they can fake a pregnancy. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you've never watched Days of Our Lives. I have to admit, I was really excited to see what I looked like with a baby bump. I still don't feel like I really know yet. The pillow they had in the dressing room was fairly lumpy, but you get a general idea of how things will fit. Corey got a kick out of seeing me with the fake bump on. He took a picture.

It was just amazing to see how clothes that are made for it can really stretch. It makes me wish that they made average women's clothing to stretch like that. Becuase we all know that there are some days where we could use the extra room, even if you aren't 3 months pregnant.
Anyway, I had so much fun shopping with my hubby, and now I have a coupon to go back from more at the end of the month. I'm currently wearing the maternity jeans and I'm loving the way they feel.

Have a great weekend!
Elizabeth