Today marks the start of my 18th week. I’ve been plagued with heartburn since the end of the first trimester. It was especially fierce Friday night and it hadn’t resolved when I woke up bright and early Saturday morning for a national boards review course. I did NOT want to be in class at 8am on a Saturday when I felt like my pyloric sphincter was going to let last night’s dinner become the morning’s breakfast. On our first break, I rushed to the nearest 7-11 and got some saltine crackers–and I started cramming those suckers down every few minutes.
Since Saturday, I’ve felt very different. My belly is showing more, and remaining that way. No longer do I have the bloated abdomen ebb and flow that waxes and wanes according to water intake. I just feel like there’s more baby/uterine growth overall because I feel like I’m carrying around a lot more than just water. Apparently by the end of the 17th week, the baby was also undergoing some seriously growth spurts, too.
I stopped wearing my regular jeans and slacks many weeks ago. Forget those tummy tubes or belly bands . . . those just added more pressure to my gut and didn’t feel very comfortable when the bloating occurred later in the day. So, I’ve been wearing maternity pants and skirts for awhile now. I can still wear most of my regular shirts and blouses, but even that’s pushing its limits. I was getting frustrated with trying to find clothes that fit. Either regular clothes are too snug and uncomfortable (even when I wear 1-2 sizes bigger than my pre-pregnancy size), and yet maternity clothes fit me like giant tents. I just want something that fits comfortably yet doesn’t appear sloppy.
I found a wonderful solution at the mall this weekend. Steve took me to the fantastic Mall at Millenia which actually has anything you could possibly ever hope to purchase in a mall retail store. They had the high end maternity store Pea in a Pod which has rather regular looking blouses that run $175 on average. Since that’s about $150 over my budget for a blouse, I started looking on the sales racks just hoping to find a reasonably priced item. Nope, the “sale” items were marked down to $150. But much to my delight, I soon discovered that the store was actually half comprised of Pea in a Pod items and half Mimi Maternity, which is a step down from the high-end line, yet a cut above Motherhood Maternity. I tried on so many beautiful clothes and got Steve’s looks of approval. I actually found clothes that fit me that were reasonably priced. . . no more than something I’d pay for at Express or NY & Co. or one of the other retail chains that I’d frequent before my body started changing proportions on me. So, yea for beautiful maternity clothes that fit and are within a reasonable budget. Too bad I have to drive over an hour to get to a store with a selection . . . the mall in Daytona Beach doesn’t have any maternity items in any of the department stores. Motherhood Maternity is IT, and their selection is scarce and not exactly for the expectant mom who has to dress professionally for work. I’m very thankful for the blessing of new clothes–I’ve never enjoyed shopping so much in my life (I typically don’t have much patience for it). But, with all the curious metamorphosis that I’m enduring, I have to have something fun to look forward to when the heartburn threatens to ruin my entire day.
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