Looking Back at 40 Weeks

It feels like yesterday that we were awaiting results from our second embryo transfer (after the first one failed and another failed the thaw). This journey has been long, arduous and tested me in so many ways. I relied so heavily on my village (including you!) and I wouldn’t have gotten here without their support and encouragement every step of the way.

I’m forever grateful to be on the other side of it, gazing at my less than one-week-old and wondering how I got so lucky to have this wonderful, wonderful gift.

I promised I would share my favorite items that got me through my pregnancy, so without further ado:

Looking back at 40 weeks

My maternity must-haves:

• this band which helped me continue wearing my normal trousers and jeans for much longer than I would have been able to without it. Then, later, I used it as a type of support wear under tight fitting dresses – I liked how it helped me feel more confident, like shapewear. I bought black, nude and white and it covered all of my needs.
• these leggings which I wore constantly (over the belly, not folded down) when I wasn’t in the mood to dress up. Towards the end of pregnancy, however, I felt that leggings made the swelling in my feet worse – just something to keep in mind!
• I never had to buy new underwear because of this brand’s seamless styles which are one size fits most and stretched to accommodate my weight gain. They returned to size after the wash every time.
• Ditto with this bra – I never had to buy larger bras during my pregnancy. They are also one size fits most and they saw me from pre-pregnancy to today even for nursing: I just fold it up from the bottom. They are stretchy and so comfy.
• I did a lot of walking especially in the third trimester to combat sugar levels for gestational diabetes. And I also saw my feet swell tremendously in the final weeks. These sneakers got me through it all: the wool stretched enough so that they never felt too tight even though they were my pre-pregnancy size. And because it was a winter pregnancy, I really appreciated the warmth they provided without having to wear socks (bending down with a belly to put on socks? not happening).
• the only two stores where I purchased actual maternity clothes: here (for trendy items like these wide leg jeans) and here (for essentials like these lounge pants which I wore increasingly more at home as I got further along in my pregnancy).

You may have noticed that many of the items I wore during my pregnancy weren’t actually maternity. Some of my favorite non-maternity purchases:

• this black dress (which I did not need to size up for, which is a huge bonus!)
• this tweed blazer (such a chic topper and so versatile, I sized up 1 size because I wasn’t going to mind having it a little oversized post-pregnancy)
• this navy blazer (a classic, I also did not size up for this)

Thank you so much for stopping by!