NON-Maternity Maternity Clothes

When I found out I was pregnant and felt like this one was going to REALLY happen, I realized I needed clothes.  I had maternity clothes but last time I was pregnant was different for a few reasons.  First: I had all of my BFF’s maternity clothes so I barely bought anything.  Second: I was working in the office 100% of the time and NOT going to court.  Third: I was pregnant for summer and early fall.

Long story short.  Very few of the maternity clothes I had would work, at least not for the duration of the pregnancy.  So I emailed my Front Door Fashion stylist Carson and asked her if they did maternity styling.  The answer?  At first a disappointing “No.”  But then she surprised me.  She said “Even though we don’t CARRY maternity clothes, I think I can style you with other clothes that you will like and will work for your pregnancy.”

Intriguing.  Clothes I can wear WHILE pregnant but also when I’m not?  I like this idea.

Let’s face it.  Having kids is expensive.  And it’s not just the whole doctors appointments, hospital births, baby supplies, baby clothes, furniture, etc.  But BEING pregnant is expensive because MOST of our wardrobes will NOT work while pregnant.  Add to that, I am going to Federal Court a lot now and I can’t just wear whatever there.  I was desperate for some NICE clothes.  But I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on NICE clothes that I will wear for 6 months and get rid of.  It sucks.

So I asked Carson to send me a box.

Have I mentioned before how much I love Carson?  I have, haven’t I?

The box came yesterday.

Let’s start with these two Trina Turk dresses.  How much do you love them???  I do.  Again, these are NOT maternity dresses but they should work for most of my pregnancy.  Not pictured is a beautiful scarf sent with the black dress and a blazer that I absolutely LOVED but it was just too small on my arms.  😦  I kept both of these dresses and the scarf.  Luckily I do have other black blazers I feel like I can wear with the black dress and it will be perfect for court.

Next I had two pairs of leggings, this ivory shirt and scarf and this red tank and poncho (Tank and Poncho are also Trina Turk).  I didn’t keep the leggings because I have a ton of leggings (maternity and non-maternity) already.  I also sent back the ivory shirt.  I really liked it, but it was a little snug on my arms and I was afraid I wouldn’t like it enough to wear it if it was snug there.  I did keep the scarf, red tank and poncho.  I won’t be wearing the poncho to court, but I will be wearing it to the office.  Again, none of these clothes are labeled “Maternity” but should work for the duration of my pregnancy.

Black pencil skirt.  It’s perfect.  It’s going to work the entire pregnancy because of where it lays on me.  The blue shirt is just adorable and will work for most of the pregnancy (well, maybe all – as long as I don’t get as big as I did with the twins, it should make it a long way).  The skirt and blue top are PERFECT for court.  Throw on a blazer and the look is complete.  The red floral shirt is very flowey (is that a word?  Probably not) and is perfect for me to wear to work at the office.  It’s a little bold for the courts I currently practice in but it’s perfect for work and also play, I think.  And to think when I started using FDF, I said no to florals.  I’m glad Carson changed my mind!

Finally, black pants and another blue top with a black blazer.  It’s already a perfect courtroom look!!!  This blazer fit nicely and I can wear it with the above outfits when I want a looser fitting blazer.  Also, Carson mentioned this outfit would be so comfortable I would feel like I was in my pjs.  She was RIGHT.  Next the midi skirt and black shirt.  Super comfy and perfect for days in the office.

Not pictured is a black tank by Tees by Tina.  Her tees are amazing.  If you don’t have any tanks by her, go get one.  You will not regret it.  Also not pictured is a great matte silver necklace, which I kept.

So if you were keeping count, I kept everything but a blazer that was snug on the arms, an ivory shirt that was snug on the arms and two pairs of leggings because I didn’t really need them.

Again, FDF does NOT carry maternity clothes but Carson was nice enough to pull from what they had to give me things she felt would work for my pregnancy.  THIS was a win.  I will be able to wear all of this for the pregnancy and after.  I’m already wearing the first Trina dress pictured.  🙂

If you want to look into getting a box from FDF, click here!  It’s my referral code and I’ll get a credit (BUT through the end of September, you get one too!).

Oh Maternity Clothes

I’m posting two posts today because I got a LOT of maternity clothes this week.  First, I went back to Stitch Fix for some stuff.  I told my stylist I was pregnant and I needed some casual items and some professional items.  I Have learned this week that my version of professional and others version of professional are not the same.

I received:

This Asher Maternity Dress for $138.  It was ok.  It might be cute with a bump.  But for $138 I need more than just ok and “might be cute.”  Also, it is once again navy and orange.  I am a Hokie.  I am not a UVA grad.  Navy and orange are not part of my daily attire.  😉

This Mariana Maternity Empire Waist Stripe knit top.  I felt like this was something my kids would wear and I wasn’t sure if it would work with the bump for the whole pregnancy.  It was the most professional item I received.  Cost: $48.  It was returned.

This Adriano Maternity knit Dolman top.  I did like this one.  So I kept it.  The fit was nice.  It should work for the whole pregnancy and I could possible dress it up with a skirt for days in the office.  Cost: $68.

This Abia Maternity knit top. I felt about this one like I felt about the above shirt.  I think I can dress it up some. It’s comfortable and should fit the entire pregnancy.  Cost: $48.

Also, I am wearing a pair of Kera Maternity Skinny jeans above which were in my box.  Eh.  I didn’t love them.  They weren’t particularly comfortable and for $118, I want comfy.

I ended up keeping two shirts.  Not bad.

I also ordered a BumpStyle Box.  This seemed a lot like Front Door Fashion, which we all know I love, so I thought I’d try it.  When I pulled out the clothes, I sent a text to my bestie which said “Apparently my version of professional and their version of professional is not the same.  Unless my profession is hooker.  Which it’s not.”

Those are all the clothes I received.  I kept three things.  The black leggings because we can all use black leggings in our lives.  The Coral dress.  And the black floral skirt.  The red dress, which was by Tees by Tina, which is a brand I ADORE, was WAY too curve hugging for me to wear to the office, much less to court.  The white dress was quite see through (which is why I left the leggings on in the picture).  I felt like I was trying to fly in the poncho type shirt.  The red shirt had elephants on it.  Which is something my 3 year old would wear.  The blue shirt was ok, and it said it was maternity, but there is NO way it would stretch over a belly in the future.  The maxi was ok but it had zero shape to it.  And the jeans…well, Honestly I liked them.  But they were crazy expensive for jeans I will only wear for 6 months.  Oh, they also sent spanx.  I kept those.

So, all in all, these two boxes resulted in a couple of ok things but I was not overly impressed.  I don’t think that I will do another bump style box.  I might do one more stitch fix during the pregnancy simply because I will need winter clothes at some point.

Just wait though…as always, Carson at Front Door Fashion NEVER disappoints me.  And they don’t even CARRY maternity clothes!

So that happened

My husband and I have been through a lot when it comes to babies.  First we spent years trying to get pregnant with the twins (literally years…3 to be exact).  After two surgeries and plans for IVF, we were able to get pregnant without the IVF –  we found out one week before our IVF preliminary appointment that we were pregnant.

Then I had a twin pregnancy.  Which is not the same as a normal pregnancy.  A twin pregnancy is harder.  I can’t imagine ever having a triplet or quadruplet or higher order multiple pregnancy because the twin pregnancy almost killed me.  Again, I mean that literally.  I almost died.

And then we got pregnant really easily without even trying when the twins were barely a year old.  And we lost that baby around 7 weeks.

Then we spent another year trying to get pregnant, which we did.  Only to lose that baby at 10 weeks.

Then we spent another 14 months assuming we just wouldn’t get pregnant again.

Only to actually get pregnant.

So here I am.  12 weeks pregnant.  Waiting for this one to end, hoping it doesn’t, and worrying about what will happen in 6 months when it comes time to deliver.  Will I develop preeclampsia again?  Will I end up with HELLP again?  Will I even remember being in labor this time?  Will this baby actually make it to term?

Knowing that 90% of the problems I had in the last pregnancy were because I was carrying twins makes it easier to think I WON’T have those issues this time.  But I also know it’s still a possibility.  Chances of preeclampsia in subsequent pregnancies is higher if you’ve had it.  I would assume that also means the chances of developing HELLP are also higher, since it’s a severe form of Preeclampsia.

So now we wait.  We wait for February when we can, hopefully, bring a beautiful little girl or boy into this world.

And I try not to fall asleep at my desk.

A Year Ago Today

When I woke up one year ago today I was pregnant.

When I woke up one year ago today I was figuring out how I was going to survive having three kids under the age of two.

When I woke up a year ago today I was happy.

When I woke up a year ago on November 9th, my heart was broken.

It happens that fast. I found out on October 23, 2012 that I was pregnant. I was happy yet sad. It was good news – don’t get me wrong – but I was sad that my dad wouldn’t be here to meet this baby. I was sad that this baby would never get to know my dad. But I was happy because we always wanted three kids (ok, that’s not completely true. I always wanted two, Hubby always wanted four, we were meeting in the middle). We shared the news with my mom, who wasn’t ecstatic. We then shared the news with Hubby’s mom who WAS ecstatic. We also told Hubby’s siblings and their spouses and my sister and her husband. Then we decided we would wait for our first ultrasound to tell anyone else.

You know, just in case it was twins again. That was why. Just in case it was twins again.

You don’t think it will happen to you until it does. It started innocent enough. My back started hurting on November 8. Not major pain, just hurting a little. So I googled it and read that it’s a sign of pregnancy. Of course, pretty much everything is a sign of pregnancy. “OH I just sneezed…wonder if that’s a sign?” Google would probably say yes. Along with being tired, being hungry, not being hungry, having a lot of energy, being super thirsty, peeing a lot (Um…because you just drank five gallons of water)…the list goes on. Lower back pain? Totally a sign of pregnancy. Of course, one line down in that same article it’s also a sign of miscarriage. But that doesn’t happen to me. I carried twins.

For the record: An ER is not where you want to be if you think you are having a miscarriage. ERs suck at miscarriages. I never even saw a doctor, they never even called my OB, even though they said they would. I ended up leaving before they told me anything because I was there for four hours. I saw two nurses, one ultrasound tech and one vampire (aka phlebotomist). A nurse told me my HCG count and I knew. The tech told me my uterus looked like I was probably 4 weeks along which was consistent with my HCG numbers but I knew I was 8 weeks. So I checked out against medical advice. I even had to sign a paper that I was doing so. When the nurse said I had to do that I told her “I haven’t received any advice.”

And that was it. Three days later my OB confirmed with blood work that I had lost the baby. Just like that it was over. I went from worrying about having three kids under the age of two to trying to figure out why I would lose my dad AND a baby in the same year. I still haven’t figured it out.

To say God and I aren’t seeing eye to eye right now would be an understatement.

All Those Questions

When I announced I was pregnant with twins, I was asked a LOT of questions.  Since the girls were born, I’ve been asked a lot more.  Some of them have been ridiculous, some have been actually intelligent and some are just downright NOT any of the askers business.  Here’s a synopsis of the top 10:

“Were you trying?”  Yes, we were trying.  To have a baby.  We pretty much hit the baby lottery.  And most people who asked this question fall into the category of “It’s none of your business…”

“Are they natural?”  Yes, they are natural.  I’m not sure what an artificial twin is, but I assume you are asking if we had infertility treatments.  The answer is no.  We did this all by ourselves.  See hitting the baby lottery above.

“Are they identical or not?”  They are identical.  And, FYI, the other type of twin is fraternal.  Not paternal.  FRaternal.

“SO you have a boy and a girl?”  No, again, they are identical.  That means they are either both boys or both girls.  No, you cannot have one girl and one boy if they are identical because then they wouldn’t be very identical would they?  Ours were girls (Yes, I know one baby is named Charlee – but she is most definitely a she).

“You gained a LOT of weight while pregnant.  Were you eating too much?”  Of course I gained weight while pregnant.  I was pregnant.  With twins.

“Doesn’t it overwhelm you?  One baby is one thing but two???”  No, I am not overwhelmed with the thought of taking care of them.  They’re babies.  I got a two for one deal.  I’m an efficient person so I can handle this. 

“You haven’t REALLY gone back to work have you?”  Yes, I have gone back to work.  I have never wanted to be a stay at home mom.  That’s just not going to change.  AND I have the best daycare provider that money can buy…actually, money can’t buy her.  She’s my sister and she loves my girls almost as much as I do. 

“You lost a lot of weight.  Are you eating?” Yes.  But I had twins.  I lost a lot of weight the day they were born.  Even worse, I had twins that had a hospital stay.  I lost a lot of weight due to stress.  (I can’t win on the weight thing…).

“It’s a good thing you had two at once.  Now you’re done.  You ARE done, aren’t you?”  I don’t know the answer to this.  We may be done.  If a doctor told me tomorrow that I COULDN’T have anymore, I wouldn’t feel like I’ve missed out on anything.  I feel like my family is complete.  BUT in a few more years, I may feel like we need another.  I guess we will see. 

“Your twins stayed in the hospital for two weeks?  They were born six weeks early?  I guess you didn’t take good care of yourself while you were pregnant, did you?”  I’ve only heard this once.  The answer is YES I TOOK CARE OF MYSELF.  I am 5’3 and when I got pregnant I might have weighed 125 pounds.  I’m also short waisted.  There were a lot of circumstances beyond my control when the girls were born and if I Had it to do over again I would not change a SINGLE thing in how I took care of myself while pregnant.  I ended up with two incredibly beautiful babies.

And I have to add number 11, which isn’t a question, but annoying all the same:

“It’s too bad you didn’t have a boy and a girl.” Um, why is that too bad?  Does it mean that my family is less of a family because we had two girls?  Are families not complete without a boy?  I know lots of families that have only had girls (including my parents – I only have one sister).  If my girls aren’t good enough for you, you probably shouldn’t even talk to me.  🙂