Ahhhhhh....

Soooooo, I took your advice and decided to shopping to buy some maternity pants last Saturday.

I'm still trying to pinch pennies and thought it would be best to avoid the "real" maternity stores. I was certain they'd be pretty expensive. I opted to go to Penneys.

A couple of years ago when I was pregnant with my second pregnancy (that subsequently ended in miscarriage) I was shopping at Penneys for work clothes. One of the dressing rooms is right next to the maternity section. I remember standing in line, waiting for a dressing room, and bashfully eyeing the large letters on the wall that spelled "Maternity." I thought "It won't be too much longer and I'll be shopping in that section."

Well, it wasn't to be. And the next time I waited in line at that dressing room a few months later, I completely avoided eye contact with the large "Maternity" sign on the wall. I despised it and refused to look in its direction. It was as though the letters mocked me.

That was 2 years ago. Now here I was, on Saturday, aiming directly for that section. I was definitely excited. But my excitement turned to disappointment when I finally got there and realized the entire maternity section at Penneys consisted of approximately 4 small racks. All of their yoga pants, jeans, dress pants and capris is this tiny section. I tried on several pairs, but only ended up with one pair that worked. It was a disappointment.

I headed into the main mall and thought that there might be a maternity store in the mall. Well, I was here, I might as well go check. Besides, all stores have sales from time to time. Maybe I'd get lucky.

I found the Motherhood store. And indeed there was a sale. I also had a really nice young woman clerk help me. She pulled several pairs of pants and jeans for me to try and showed me to a dressing room. I pulled the curtain behind me, set down my purse and noticed that there were small pillows with velcro straps on either side. A pillow to strap around you to to simulate a larger pregnant belly. I picked it up, wrapped it around me, and pulled my shirt down over it.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

Yup, I lost it. Just for a minute I had to quietly cry with my face in my hands. Thank you, God, for this pregnancy. I might actually have a real tummy full of baby a few months from now. And I don't deserve it anymore than any of my blogger friends still awaiting their turn.

Well, the pants were a success! A black twill pair, a gray twill pair and nice pair of jeans. Plus a brown pair from Penneys. Ahhhhh, my little belly pooch was so happy. The twill pants were no more expensive than what they had at Penneys, and the jeans, at $40, were a little more expensive, but they're pretty nice looking jeans.

I wore the brown pair to work today. Thank you everyone who suggested I finally break down and do it. So much more comfortable!
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