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! : )