Size does matter

So it turns out the when you go down two sizes in clothes between the first baby and the second, your maternity clothes don't fit.  I've been wearing a size 4 in my pants, a M in tops, and a  S or M in dresses recently, but I thought that once pregnant, the difference between an 8 and a 4 wouldn't be a big deal.  Maybe not, but maybe.  Some of the pants aren't close to staying on my body, which wouldn't be a problem except that my non-maternity clothes as 2-4 weeks from just being not an option.  I can still put everything on, and I can breathe and move semi-comfortably in most, but there's only one or two pairs of shorts that I can leave the house in and truly be comfortable in all day.  Dresses are great, and I have one skirt I can wear (but right now just look fat in, so I avoid it -- yes, I'm being vain).  Some of the medium or high panels clothes will stay on big both at the waist and through the cut of the pant.  And yes, I'm pregnant, so it probably doesn't matter, but I'm going to have to wear these clothes to school and work, at least until the weather gets cold (though I'd hoped some of the khaki pants could still be worn then).  I want to look presentable, not like some disheveled, crazy mama.  I thought for sure at least the dresses wouldn't be a problem, but even they look enormous around the arms.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do right now.  Like I said, I have several weeks until I must do something, and even then only on bottom.  I have a box of clothes in the eaves that are size 6/8/10 of non-maternity clothes, so perhaps there's an option there.  The bad news is that the closest Gap Maternity, where I bought literally ALL of my old maternity clothes (good sales, plus they have their pants in petite) is in Marietta, Georgia -- convenient to my mother and father, not so much to me.  I could order, but there's a risk in that.  Hmm, who would've thought this would ever be an issue.

Maternity Clothes Everywhere!

I have a problem. I have a gut. Not a baby belly. Not a nice little rounding of the front of my abdomen. I have a gut. I don't need maternity clothes, per se. My pants manage to stay on. It's just that the top of my pants periodically migrates south to below the gut, and since not all my shirts are extra-long, that leaves some belly exposed -- and man, it's still cold here.

So today I went out looking for something to address this issue. I went to to Gap, knowing they carried both regular and maternity clothes (and let's be honest, I wanted to look at baby clothes -- well, at least for the first time since I actually got pregnant -- but per the agreement with Wes, did not buy anything). But before I even made it to the maternity-back-of-the-store-in-the-basement area, I found out something lovely: practically every shirt Gap has made this year is a maternity shirt. It has a few buttons on top and an enormous waist area. I actually tried on one of the shirts with the baby belly available in the maternity dressing room, and it still fit!

I haven't addressed the pants issue. I figure the longer I can stay in regular pants -- even with that tube stocking thing on when it becomes absolutely necessary -- the longer I can wait to buy pants, which means we could probably get up to, hey, the 50s or 60s outside, thereby avoiding "winter pants" in maternity sizes. For now, we'll just try to disguise it in enormous shirts (but cute prints) that all the normal-size gals are wearing, too.

Project Runway -- I have a request...

I've been watching Project Runway -- or reruns of it -- every season since it started. I don't have great interest in fashion, and I don't consider myself a fashion savvy individual, but I really enjoy it. I've seen all kinds of challenges -- from dressing contestants' moms to women who have lost lots of weight to designing prom dresses and wedding dressing to using food and reinventing denim.

So here's my suggestion for next season (if I didn't miss it in a previous one): maternity clothes. Find women somewhere between months 5-9 and design something that's flattering. While I'm enjoying my expanding belly, I'm realizing that not much is going to stay on very well once it gets bigger.