Maternity Clothes

Many of you know that I am cheap and thrifty. Well, maternity clothes are expensive! Luckily I was able to wear my regular clothes into the 5th month with a few baby doll tops and friendly elastic waist pants. : ) In early June in anticipation of my trips, not sure how much I would grow and not wanting to be uncomfortable, I bought a pair of shorts and an empire waist blouse at a mall maternity store. Major sticker shock sent me looking for affordable alternatives. Fortunately I have a couple of friends who were pregnant and due a few months before me and they blessed me with some great stuff they couldn't or didn't want to wear anymore.

THANK YOU, Anne Marie and Deidre.

In addition to my dear friends, I explored other options - Craig's list, thrift stores and consignment sales. Jai can and will attest to my slightly obsessive nature, especially during my maternity clothes searching time. Once we returned from Seattle where I acknowledged that I couldn't get by as before, I literally scavenged the city for maternity clothes.

Finally EUREKA! Southern Thrift Store (one on Gallatin Road across from our house which is sweet and another one on Charlotte Ave.) and New Life Thrift Store (also on Charlotte) have well organized maternity sections and I got some good stuff. I went to Goodwill on one of its $0.99 days; unfortunately there wasn't a separate maternity section. Since I was on summer vacation and thrifty I looked. I found some more good stuff! The most expensive item I bought at any of these stores was $11 (with the original sale tag on it!). I was so bummed that it wasn't 1/2 off 'brown tag' day; however, I wasn't taking a chance on waiting for that day and those great pants being gone. It was still an awesome deal. Most stuff was $2-5 and you cannot beat that.

Whatever your attitude is about used items, these maternity clothes were in excellent condition - you grow out of stuff fairly quickly - and I always wash items before I wear. : )

The only other items I've bought "new" were bathing suits (I go to the outdoor pool a lot in the summer and I love my water aerobics class, especially as I get bigger), underwear (though not maternity, I couldn't find anything I liked; I just got a bigger size of my favorite stuff) and bras (organic cotton that can be nursing bras, too!). However, you know me - I got them all on SALE! : )

Second Trimester - the beginning weeks

June started the beginning of trimester #2 and am I glad. I almost literally to the day of ending the first trimester started to feel better! Partly psychosomatic I'm sure as well coinciding with the beginning of my school's summer break, but I felt much more energetic. Lucky for me since I would need it as I embarked on a month of traveling that took me from Nashville to New England to London, ENGLAND!

I visited friends in Rhode Island and Vermont and Maine as well as a family reunion in New Hampshire. Also during the NE trip I was at tennis camp for 3 days during an unusual heat wave that took down non-pregnant people. I had a great time with my sister and 2 Wellesley friends, Pauline and Lisa. Thankfully they checked on me often and made sure I rested and rehydrated. I also enjoyed the carbo-loading necessary to play tennis 5 hours a day in the SUN! Ahh, I'm loving the eating part of pregnancy. : )

THEN Pauline and I headed to England for a week and went to Wimbledon to watch TONS of tennis for 3 GREAT days. We saw the Williams sisters play doubles TWICE, one time on Centre Court! Jet lag and pregnancy sleepiness seem to be interchangable, almost indistinguishable actually, and we made the most of our trip abroad. Also I got the cutest baby hat with the Wimbledon emblem!

When I returned to Nashville after a harrowing journey via Chicago's O'Hare airport (never again!), I was done with travel. Or so I thought since Jai & I already had travel plans to Seattle for July 4-8 and off I went again to the beautiful and green Northwest. Thank goodness for summer vacation - I was able to rest without having to go to work between these wonderful trips.