Pregnancy brings about a lot of changes in a woman's body. I've heard that women become concsious of how they look but trust me, if this is your planned pregnancy, the joy of having a life grow inside you is beyond all looks and appearances.
Looking fabulous during this time only adds to your happiness and gives you confidence that this is the best phase of your life so far. So, here are some tips based on my own personal experience.
1. Be proud of your bump. The bump in most cases doesn't really start to show until the third month. Once it does, flaunt it, it's something to be proud of and not hide (unless for some reason you need to keep the news under wraps!)
2. Always wear comfortable clothes. I stopped wearing fitted clothes like jeans etc from day 1, the reason being I wanted no physical discomfort or stress on the womb. You can decide for youself what feels comfortable. Do not purchase maternity clothes in the first trimester unless you are really growing in size rapidly. As time progresses so will the size of your bump.
3. 2nd month onwards visit maternity stores to find out clothes that are specially made for maternity specially if you like to wear pants or leggings. I got 2 very comfortable pairs of maternity leggings from MAX stores, 1 pair of jeggings from H&M (gifted by my sis), 1 pair of jeans and a pair of leggings from H&M. I also bought 4 cotton full length dresses/kurtis. Since it was summers and hormonal changes were making me feel awfully hot, these came in very handy. Some of my old clothes like western tops and kurtis actually fit me fine right uptil the beginning of the third trimester. If you are working you definitely need more clothes because who likes to wear the same things again and again.
Maternity pants and leggings are a must have. They are amazingly comfortable and give a little bit of support to your growing belly.
3. Buy bra extenders - they will help you save a lot on lingerie. I bought 3 new pairs of bras and the rest I managed with extenders. Remember for nursing you will need separate bras and that too you need to purchase in the last month when your breasts are the right size. They will grow once you start feeding as well so invest wisely.
4. Underwear - I grew one size during the second trimester and another size up in the 8th month. There are special maternity underwear as well but I didn't need them personally. I prefer bikini style underwear but hipsters felt more comfortable during and after pregnancy.
5. Shrugs - all my shrugs came in very handy. While I flaunted my bump throughout my pregnancy, I did use a shrug to make my outfits look more polished for work. A shrug also works well if you are wearing an older garment that looks just a wee bit tighter than you would want it to be, yet feels comfortable to wear.
6. Shoes/slippers - in the second trimester when my feet swelled up (almost in the 6th month) I outgrew my old ballerinas and slippers overnight. One fine day I woke up and nothing seemed to fit. I had my mom send over her shoes (a pair of basic ballerinas from Sketchers) that I wore throughout the rest of my pregnancy. I had my sister pick up a pair of household slippers for me one size bigger than my existing pair and thankfully I didn't outgrow these. (The reason I wasn't shopping myself was due to limited exertion allowed as my pregnancy was high risk)
7. New socks - if you wear socks and your feet are swell up you'll need a bigger size for sure.
Depending on the season you will have to tweak the above to suit your needs.
This is about it. Go stylish as you flaunt your bump, take regular photos that will later remind you of this incredible journey, and enjoy yourself in whatever makes you feel happy! I took one pic every single day mostly in the office restroom since I wanted to capture each day in some form. They are basic mirror selfies nothing grand. If you have the time you could get professional pictures taken each week as well!
This is your time, don't listen to people telling you you're wasting too much money on clothes that would later not fit, do as your heart desires and stay fashionable, always!!
