Maternity Style: 5 Tips for Dressing Your Baby Bump {First Trimester Edition}

‘They’ say it’s pretty easy to hide your pregnancy during the first trimester but if you’re anything like me, you might’ve been super bloated with difficulty buttoning your pants. I’m not ashamed. It is what it is. If you are looking for some ideas as to what to wear during your first trimester, here are a few options and things to keep in mind.

1. Consider the season that you’re first trimester is in. You’ll have a much easier time hiding any growth, whether it be baby or bloat, in the cooler months since you’ll be able to wear scarves, jackets, and other loose fitting yet figure flattering items.

2. This particular suggestion may work for some of you which is why I’m mentioning this, but it didn’t work for me. Those belly bands. Girl, no. Even if my pant couldn’t buckle, I simply cannot wear this belly band and leave my zipper unzipped for the world to see. The one I got was from Target and It didn’t do a great job of holding everything up and together. I’ve tried both sizes and even the smallest wasn’t small enough to do the job. Another option is the hair tie through the button look trick, as seen below.

As Seen On Pinterest

3. Wear loose but flattering tops. If you’re going through your first trimester in the warmer months, throw on a maxi dress (those will come in handy later on). If you’re going through your first trimester in the cooler months, throw on a tunic and some leggings.

4. This tip is sort of a continuation from #3. Leggings. In the cool months, leggings will be your BFF. It doesn’t hug to tightly and it has stretch to accommodate your growing parts. In the cooler months, you can easily throw on some leggings + a tunic, leggings + a dress, leggings + and an oversized sweater; do you get the picture?

5. Maxi dresses. Mid-length dresses. Dresses. These can pretty much work year round. In the warmer months, throw on a maxi dress and you’re good to go. In the cooler months, throw on your maxi dress with…..leggings. Yep, you got it! You can wear dresses with boots and leggings. Add your jacket and a scarf and not only will you be warm and cozy, but you’ll be comfortable to.

For many women, the first trimester can come with much tiredness, nausea, and other really fun stuff so be gentle with yourself and make the process of getting dressed simple. Trust me, it’ll be a lot more fun when you’re really showing!

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Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Today, I think of the glimmer of life that could have change mine and my husbands for ever. I remember the joy that I felt when I dreamed of one day holding you in my arms. Although I am hoping that these painful moments will occur further apart, I will never forget the spark of joy that I felt in the thought of you alone.

Today, I pray for all of the families that have experienced pregnancy and infant loss. There aren’t any elaborate words or advice that can be given to appease the broken heart of a parent or expectant parent. But, I offer prayers of comfort and I hope that beautiful memories in the good moments will dawn on the difficult ones.

xo

Footprints On My Heart

Sigh…here it goes. I’ve been dreading this post for a few weeks now. Posting this now isn’t my attempt at trying to get this over with, but it’s me trying to heal as the days pass and I continue to both remember and be reminded.

As I sit here typing this post, I can’t stop thinking about the fact that I should be sitting here pregnant. Right now, I should be about 9 weeks and 6 days pregnant with my first baby. Tomorrow would have been 10 days. Although I’ve been able to reintegrate into life after loss, I can’t help but feel like every day that passes is a reminder of how far I would have been.

On August 11, 2013, I had a thought. I said to myself, “Self, I think you are pregnant. Take a test.” So Myself said, “Ok,” and took a pregnancy test. After taking the test, I looked at it in the way that many women look at them…in every possible lighting and angle there is to look at it. I thought I saw a line but I wasn’t completely sure so I asked Jay and he said he thinks he saw one but he isn’t sure either. So after a few days passed, I took a First Response test at about 8 a.m. while we were away on vacation. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to put the test down before I saw the brightest positive on the side of Tennessee. My mouth dropped, my heart fluttered, and I was hungry. Cravings, blissful soreness, nausea, and sleep overcame me over the next few days. Those were some of the best days I’ve had. I remember throwing up and feeling a sense of joy overcome me for the reason of my regurgitation.

Shortly after we returned from our vacation, things started going south. I was bleeding, some of my symptoms began to disappear, and I was very afraid. Every day that passed felt like time itself tripled in length. I communicated with doctors who couldn’t tell me very much because it was so early on in my pregnancy. I had my HCG tested every other day and it seemed to be doing a tormenting dance, going up and then dropping. When I tried to make peace with a miscarriage, it went up again. The doctor concluded that my pregnancy is ectopic and they were worried because those can be very dangerous.

On September 5th at 1:30 p.m., I showed up at the doctors office distressed, tired, and defeated. I was 30 minutes late because I couldn’t make myself get off of the couch knowing that I was going to terminate my pregnancy. For 45 minutes, they tried to inject me and for 45 minutes, I cried.

I didn’t want that moment to be my last memory of my pregnancy so I purchased a little chest to place everything from that pocket of time (as Kara would say) to remind myself of God’s blessing of my pregnancy, that it really happened, and so I will never forget. Today, I still cry. I cry because I am sad. I am frustrated and heart broken. I cry when I think about how my little silver chest holds all of the hopes and dreams that my husband and I had for this life, for us as a family, and the future of what would have been our baby.

Though my heart is broken, I will continue to move forward because it is the only choice I have.