A good friend of mine is having a baby. I started to email her some tips, and I soon realized the email was going to be long. Way long. I decided to move to the blog, both for ease of formatting and to break up the information. And, honestly, so I have a more permanent place for this information and can easily share the posts in the future. As I add more posts, I will link up to them at the bottom of this one.
My qualifications: current mom of a three year old and a 7 month old.
First: congrats! You will go through periods of excitement and periods of "what have I done with my life?" If you have any lingering projects that will take in the 5-20 hours neighborhood to complete, I highly recommend getting them done now. Yes, you're tired and worn out from gestating and nesting. But I promise that you won't have this level of personal time for years to come.
second: wear maternity clothes whenever you darn well feel like it. You don't have to be showing to wear them. It's okay to wear them as soon as you feel comfortable. Some people like bridge maternity clothes, which are still fairly form fitting but have some give, and then they move into the full belly panel stuff later. You do you. I held out with my first and had a month or so of discomfort in trying to cram into my old clothes. I moved over sooner with my second and was happier for it. If you don't want to buy bridge clothes, you can also wear a lot of dresses.
For maternity clothes, I first recommend seeking used options. Consignment stores are a great way to do this (and thrift stores to a lesser extent -- maternity clothes are really hit or miss when thrifting depending on the area your thrift store draws from). If you're into online shopping, Bellies to Babies is my favorite. It's based in Minnesota, but you can shop from anywhere.
Some pro-tips with maternity clothes:
- purchase shirts in longer lengths, so they'll cover your belly for longer. You will likely need those long shirts by the end
- Nice to have some options that will work for nursing, but you'll also be so ready to be out of the clothes by the end. We'll cover nursing later
- Buy for comfort
As I continue through this series, I will cover what we've done and what I wish, in hindsight, we had done. There's some things that make a lot more sense to buy with your first so you can enjoy using it for longer periods of time, but it's so hard to justify pricey items when you are outfitting yourself with all the baby gear.
One last thing before I'm out: Baby Gear Lab is a comprehensive resource for comparing baby items, and I highly recommend checking it out.
Other posts in this series:
Diapers and Wipes