I've been a mummy for close to 4 years now (since 2006 when I first knew that I was pregnant). And ever since then, my staple clothes were 2 pairs of yoga pants in black with coloured waistband which I bought from The Curve, 3 pairs of existing Reebok & Nike sweat pants in different colours used for my aerobic sessions and of course oversized T-shirts from my existing wardrobe or my husband's.
As I am rather petite in size, standing at only 155cm in height and weighing between 45-50kgs before marriage, my rather small stature continued throughout my pregnancy. I put on an additional 15kgs (mostly in my 3rd trimester) and was hovering in the mid 60s by the time I was due to give birth. As such my staples clothes served me well and I didn't burn a hole in my wallet or rather my husband’s on maternity wear. The occasional weddings & specials had me looking for empire tops in boutiques & shops to pair up with my ever ready black yoga pants.
Don't get me wrong...Not that I didn't try on any maternity wear back then, but because of my rather small frame, it tend to look sloppy on me. The nicer ones were of course overpriced. Anyway, I figured that the lack of clothing to wear would serve as a driving force for me to go back in shape. When I did return to my pre-pregnancy figure after about a year, I still couldn't wear all those lovely dresses draping the mannequin in the shop, not to mention the dresses hanging in my very own closet. Then, there were also sleep wears and sexy lingerie to sacrifice. The world seem to make sure you feel and look like a mummy with a capital M which is also synonymous to “aunty”.
As determine to get back in shape, I was also adamant about breastfeeding my children pass the 1 year mark. So again, no dresses until I’m done with nursing. I just had to settle with tops and bottoms for easy nursing. I finally wean my son when he was 17 months and that was because we were planning for another child. I was declared a “free person”; free from any dress restrictions I had earlier. But not for long…Soon after about 9 months, my belly started to bulge, again. I was about 3 months into my 2nd pregnancy now. This time, things started to speed up. I started noticing the bump even at the end of my 1st trimester.
Being more experience, I invested in maternity clothes this time. Not wanting to spend so much, I only bought items that were on sale, preferably with huge discounts. Needless to say, out of the 3 bottoms I bought, I only made full use of 1 – a denim skirt that have an expandable waistline with buttons at the side to grow alongside your belly. The rest were either frumpy or kept dropping off my belly, thus didn’t hold quite as well.
My weight gain throughout my 2nd pregnancy, although fast in the initial stage started to slow down towards the end. In total, I gain about the same amount of weight as I did in my 1st pregnancy.
After delivering my daughter, I started to source for fashionable nursing wear. I even made a trip to the Mum & Baby Expo 2010 in Mid Valley Exhibition Centre to see what I could buy. I tried on several brands mostly Western and they were all too big at the top for me. Most of the designs were either too low (to ease nursing I presume or to flaunt the bigger “asset” we now possess) or had a V-neckline which increases the chance for indecent exposures especially if you had a 2-going-to-3 year old ever so active son in-tow. As such, I gave it a pass and had to source for alternatives. That was when I stumble upon the Asian designers made for the Asian women in mind, fashionable, practical and above all decent.
Share with me about your fashion journey as a new mum, whether it is frustrating, successful or just plain boring. I would love to hear your comments and insights.
If you are looking for fashionable maternity and nursing wear, please feel free to browse around my page on Facebook - MOMS IN FASHION. Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Moms-in-Fashion/127195970638819?v=photos&ref=ts#!/pages/Moms-in-Fashion/127195970638819?ref=ts
