Maternity clothing mayhem (belated post)

The majority of maternity clothing is far from exciting, my friend recently described the high street choices as 'dull casual office wear'. There seems to be a gap in the maternity clothing market, it is either elaborate party wear or plain functional work wear, in most cases they are usually both extremely overpriced.
Besides being absurdly expensive I find maternity clothing sizes to be quite unpredictable. I purchased a body con skirt, size 8/10 from Moda Mothercare and even in my 6 month bump it was 3 times too big. I am over 8 months now and it is still just too big... 'body-con' my bum!

Below are a few pointers that may help both women on a budget or women just wanting something with a bit more flair.

1- First port of call, and most obvious place would be eBay, type in 'maternity lot', or 'maternity bundle'. I grabbed some ace bargains that way! I managed to get a bag of 20 pieces most of which were all in season, it came to about £4! The were based far away and refused to post so I asked my Mother to pick up the bag for me as she lived near by to the seller. Most of the items are lush and I still haven't had chance to wear all of them as of yet!
Another trick is to sell items you may not deem as 'mothery material', or items of which need to go to make space for all the baby stuff, trade in for some staple maternity classics.

2- ASOS has a clearance section which can offer some neat bargains. Maternity or not!

3- Most vintage clothes have high waist/empire seams, great to wear above the bump, watch out with vintage sizing though, us ladies were a bit more petite those many moons ago!

4- Most 'maternity' items are not maternity specific, its mainly items sold as comfort wear, you see a lot of Waterfall cardigans for instance, with a massive mark up because they happen to have 'maternity' labelled onto them. The same is to be said of the high street maxi dress as the in trend maxi seems to be made of out jersey material, but the maternity ones are sold for a premium price.

5- Jersey! It's cropped up already, anything cottony and stretchy will probably be your lifesaver over the next few months, not those designer maternity jeans! (-speaking of which every pair I have purchased have caused me massive discomfort around the bottom of my bump when sat down... I despise the things!)

6 - American apparel, they are quite unique in that their ranges sell in both maternity and non maternity ranges. Their maternity section is a collection of products that accommodate to both. Try to bear this in mind when looking at the price tag, though as admittidly, the prices are a wee bit steep... I purchased a body-con pencil skirt at the start of my second trimseter, I have been wearing it through out my pregnancy without any hassle, because of the density and nature of the fabrics they use in the body-con items meant that my ever growing bump was always left supported, it has been my staple piece of clothing ever since I nabbed it. It supports me and looks great, I will rocking this skirt pre and post natal.

7- Speaking of investments, there are certain things on the market I would reccomend that may deem a bit pricey such as the above, but items do what they are supposed to. The Mama Spanx tights for instance offer great support aswell as lasting that bit longer than regular tights. I have tried other highstreet maternity tights and they just don't cut it, buying these to begin with may actually save you some pennies.

8- Most of your clothes can be revised to fit around your ever changing figure, there are lots of great guides online. DIY Maternity has a great range of projects suiting to advance to novice sewers!

9- The empire strikes back! Well no, not really, but one trick I love is typing in empire into eBay/wherever and finding empire seamed clothing which can be worn as maternity wear without the insane price tag

10- Many people forgo this item, diving in for nursing bras or larger bras, but a good maternity bra will save you from discomfort and not to mention potential stretchmarks. My boobs feel great!

a twit...

Oh dear

This inventor seems to be more interested in showing off gadgets/silly ideas, rather than being excited over the kicking of the unborn... Or maybe I am just too cynical, I never really 'got' Twitter anyway...
I only find it entertaining to read what the famous kids are up to.
Also, if you care that much to have a text message every time your littleun kicks, get already poor long suffering partner to text you, don't make social networking websites even more tedious than necessary.

My baby kicks the most (and not to mention the hardest) at night. He could show Ian Curtis a thing or to, so perhaps I would get some satisfaction by the idea the baby's father was being woken up as many times as me. Hmmm, food for thought.
Ah, it wouldn't work, phones have a silent mode, I wish pregnancies came with adjustable settings!

Another thing, not to buy... The Kickbee fetal monitor!

A 'Mothery' Moan...

Today I picked up my Mum-to-be essential pack from Bounty. I wasn't too happy with its contents.

The items that are 'for Mum' all had connotations which I thought were a bit off... The pack came with nipple pads... okay, they will come in useful... laundry tablets, I suppose there will be a lot of dirty clothes... Hmm... a can of diet coke with a voucher exclusively for another diet coke. Then pow! -a pamphlet on life insurance!? So, the general consensus is that when I have my little one I will turn into a leaky, fat, housemaid who should start planning their death... Charming!

I was hoping for some samples of baby lotion, advice on healthy eating, happier sort of stuff, the odd promotion-rubbish, but generally I hoped things like this would be a celebration of mum finally meeting baby. There was a pack within the pack for the baby which came from Pampers which will come in useful, wipes and newborn nappies, that sort of thing... But still, it's called a 'Mum-to-be' pack.

The reason to why I am writing this up on here, is that I usually find that pregnant women do have things mentioned and said to them in passing which wouldn't when not pregnant, it would be seen as rude and unseemly. Not to mention these packs are handed out within NHS hospitals (also Sainsburys and Boots). We should be encouraging women to relax with their bodyshape during this time, altered or not. We should be encouraging women to apply a new routine with their child which does not include just cleaning and weight loss. Also, what about the men? The men could benefit from nappy rash cream too! - they will have to learn at some point so why are these packs and vouchers pushed out to the women.

This slightly relates to why I started this blog in the first place, as I read pregnancy magazines I found them more and more pushy. When writing up my baby shopping lists I found it difficult to differentiate between things I needed and things that they told me I needed. As a first time Mum how can I ever be sure? With these messages how can I feel relaxed or prepared? My answer; stop reading those magazines and talk to women who have done it, speak to anyone in the hospital who will listen or seems enthusiastic about babies (this is not at all difficult to find on an antenatal ward!).

Pregnancy magazines/documentaries/stories usually centre around two things shock and/or aspirational living: 'Look at this poor woman!' or 'Look at this rich woman living it up!'. I would like to see some articles becoming somewhat more humble. I recently saw a documentary on (BBC3 of all places) called 'Cherry is having a baby', it was patronising and a bit rubbish but it interviewed all different types of women from different backgrounds and it made for an interesting narrative. The women who had more in the way of money/career had massive concerns over their body image and changes of lifestyle, whereas younger parents/single mums would remain headstrong and would be very much open to the idea of change. There is a dialogue to be had that would be more interesting to have amongst new mothers and fathers. New found parenthood is tough on everyone, let's not make it worse by singling out women who are already vulnerable to commercial ads.

In any case, I am going off on one. With this I will finish.

Mini Mode

Mini Mode are my favorite high street-big name baby clothing brand, it seems they are to be no more. If it isn't that than they are making massive adjustments to their company.

I like Mini Mode as they make casual normal-looking baby clothes which are also a bit of fun. Most of their designs are vibrant and well made, they are also not too expensive either, which is always a bonus.

This post is intended as a little bit of a heads up really as there are some strange goings on with the company. Mini Mode online is no longer selling direct to the public, which seems rather odd. Boots, their high street retailer has also stopped selling their range from the Boots website. But some good news! - In store in Boots most (pretty much all) of their stock is on sale! They have items that have just come out going for up to 50% off.
This includes toys, blankets gifts and sets. Sounds like yet another company has been hit by the recession.Its a shame Minimode look like they are on thier way out, but it can be made into a bittersweet situation when checking out the new discounted prices.

I got my little un' this little romper suit today (picture left), amongst other things...

My person to be is already following in its mother's footsteps, it already has a bursting wardrobe full of silly items.

Hooray!

Things you need not buy

The Ritmo Nuvo Mp3 player. Plays your music to your bump. Or something...

'Ritmo allows you and your baby to share the sensory and emotional experience of bonding through sound and music, while being supportive, safe, and stylish at the same time.' - When are people going to admit that you don't really 'share' anything with your baby at this point. It can hear stuff yes, it can hear you, It can kick you. It doesn't have the ability to appreciate the finer things in life yet such as your new Eminem album...
Sort it out.
Also, I have seen more stylish bits of 'kit' at an old people's home.

The Mon Babe Perfume... For your baby?

Yeah, that's right a perfume to make your baby smell more like a baby. Claims to have aromatheraputic proprieties, I doubt it, as someone who dabbles in that sort of crazy thing you have to use strong essential oils which then need to be diluted for topical application. Not the kind of thing which is good for babies skin, also, perfume for your baby is just a really stupid idea and at £25 it's a snatch!

The 'Why baby cry' analyzer.

This apparently figures out why your child is crying... but going by the product description below I wouldn't feel comfortable buying from a company who sells to an English market yet has no grasp of the frickin' language.

Sometimes when a baby keep on crying, parents are so confused do not know what have to be done, at this point it would be nice to have a baby’s translator. Think Geek with this innovative product is here to rescue you by analyzing why your baby cry.

...Yeah

Disney's new range of maternity clothes.

NOTHING needs to be said here other that 'Ugh'.

Sweet cake tub baby bath

If you are one of those people who insist on pushing every passing fad onto your first born then this product for you. It's overpriced and used by passing celebrities all over. Hoorah.
Its unsuitable for new borns and takes up lots of room... Not to mention it's tacky and expensive to boot. What a combo!?

Prince Lionheart Ultimate Wipes Warmer

Just in case you never considered the temperature of shit, you will now! At a steal at £25.

MummyWraps with Swiss Shield®

Radiation protection for your unborn child. A fabric which apparently guards anything beneath it from radiation poisoning.
Mummywraps, geniuses in making money from people's most irrational fears - hence the discount for expectant mothers in Chernobyl.

Dream Machine exercise bike.

Using this machine will assist with you losing your baby fat because obviously we are all so fat and ugly after giving birth, childbirth, it's a that stop gap from being sexy to pretty much decrepit. The idea behind this machine is that we combine those efforts to being passable again with a rocking baby to sleep action.
Stupid. Also you shouldn't exercise for a few months after being postpartum. So, just another reminder that all new mothers are fat and undesirable, obviously.

I picked this picture for it's fantastic tag line 'safer than putting baby on a real bike'... A baby microwave, safer than putting baby in a real microwave!