Comfy Clothes

Admit it. You all had that shirt. The one that you said, “I'll NEVER wear that. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that.” before you stuck it on a hanger and stashed it in the back of your closet. The first few months of your pregnancy, you do fine, stretching your pre-maternity clothes tightly over your growing little bump – looking as cute and fine as can be. You even start wearing a few adorable little maternity outfits and buy empire waist dresses you plan to flounce around in all summer.

And then it hits. BAM. You're sitting in your low-rise maternity-band shorts and neatly buttoned 2nd-trimester maternity shirt while lounging on the couch, when your baby starts punching your lower abdomen with all his might. He might as well be working out in there with all the ruckus he's making. At first, you're delighted that you can feel his moving and it even feels like you can tell a foot from a hand. But then you realize, man, I'm feeling him stronger than normal. And right where that – Gasp! That supposedly elastic stretch-all-around-your-belly waist band is folded over and making marks in your belly! Poor baby! You're overwhelmed with the need to liberate your baby from the confines you've subjected him too, so you run upstairs (ha. Okay, say waddle?), stripping all layers off of you (I never realized that undershirt was so tight!), all the while just feeling your belly expand in the open air. Was he feeling squashed all day??! What have I done?? You swear to never wear anything tight again (just wait till tomorrow morning when you're bloat-free and reaching for those jeans with the low-rise elastic band.), as you pull on your loosest sleep shorts and comb your shirts for something comfy that will not only fit over your gargantuan basketball belly, but also allow your baby to swim freely in his newly expanded tank (don't laugh. It really feels like that some days.).

That's when you see it. The shirt. You remember it. That one you said you wouldn't wear because your mom used to wear shirts just like that when she was pregnant with you. That one that you laughed at, thinking confidently that you'd NEVER be big enough to make that shirt not look frumpy. That's the one. You slowly pull it out of it's hiding place. Hm. It doesn't look as big as I thought it did before. In fact... it feels pretty good! You waddle your big ol' self over to the mirror and do the check. You know the check – Side. Side. Hand under belly. Both hands on belly. Straight on. It doesn't look so bad – Heck, I could wear this to work tomorrow! It's pretty cute!

See what you just put yourself through? Anything is cute when it's comfy. And alas, you have reached the point of no return. You used to roll your eyes when she said fashion doesn't matter – just wear what's comfortable. Aaaand here you are. Mom status.

Yep. That shirt. I wore two of them today.