issue #5: the clothes that got me through pregnancy and postpartum.

because I refused to buy maternity.

I absolutely hated being pregnant. There, I said it. Sure, I guess it was cool that I was growing a human?  The body really is amazing. But everything that came with it - the nausea, the heartburn, the exhaustion, the weight gain, the swollen ankles, the dietary restrictions, the stares from strangers, the not feeling like myself, the mood swings - was, if I’m being honest, hell. And figuring out how to dress myself every morning was a primary source of emotional breakdowns throughout the last six months or so of my pregnancy.

I was pretty adamant about not buying a ton of true maternity clothes.  I wanted things that would grow with me, but that I wouldn’t necessarily have to get rid of a few months later. Some were unavoidable - hello, disposable underwear - but I was able to find a few non-maternity pieces that I kept going back to over and over throughout.  I won’t say these lasted me right up until the end - almost nothing fit those last few weeks - but they served me well for a w…