Pellau Magazine: Embracing your baby bump

So after you've become aware of your pregnancy and all the awkward notifications are made, most expectant mothers take to staring at themselves in the mirror just willing that flat stomach to grow. At first the image of yourself sporting a baby bump is all that consumes your every waking thought but when you finally see the proof that your body no longer belongs to just you, everything changes.

As your new resident grows, its now time to retire that favourite pair of jeans, you are probably still trying to fit your new body into and those loose fitting tops you've been wearing for the last three months, they have to go as well. Congratulations! It's time to embrace the strange world of ' Maternity fashion'. Every period of time has its own standard of beauty and luckily for us 21st century gals, ours' has more options. When your mother was pregnant she wore only dresses but thanks to the creativity of various designers if you're not the ' dress' type you can experience your entire pregnancy without ever having to put one on and still look appropriate.

Throughout the last seven months of my pregnancy, the one aspect that has stayed constant is my dislike for maternity shopping. I found myself thinking, “ If so many women making babies everyday, why is it I have to search high and low to find a decent pair of maternity pants?” My physical appearance began to slowly engulf my entire being and truth be told, I believe, a lack of ‘proper fitting’ clothes caused my mind to play tricks on my sense of self worth.

Was I really the only woman experiencing these feelings? Despite my mother’s constant, “What wrong with you? Girl behave yuhself eh!” I highly doubted it! My growing sense of paranoia inspired a mini questionnaire, see I knew that it was only logical to assume that just like there are those of us who were consumed with frustration and nagging insecurities about our new shapes, there just had to be others, some where out there that were exuding absolute confidence and totally comfortable.

All I needed was this proof!

10 questions with Charisse Contant

Mother and Trainer TSTT Vigilance Campaign.

How long did it take you to embrace your baby bump?

Right away I loved having a bump

Did your pregnancy make shopping frustrating?

Of course it did! Shopping is frustrating in Trinidad as a whole, I had to travel !

Did you buy clothes based on style or comfort?

Style always uppermost in my mind baby bump or not

What was the first maternity garment you purchased?

Jeans Jeans Jeans!!!!!

Why?

Needed the stretch front!

Was there any particular style you found most flattering?

Cute baby doll tops...

What was your problem area?

Had none the tummy was manageable

On a scale of 1 to 5 how much did your wardrobe change during pregnancy?

2... I didn’t do many changes.

Did you wear heels during your pregnancy?

Yes until month 8

Did you feel attractive in your maternity clothes?

Very! Clothes don't make you attractive. You make the clothes look smashing :)

10 Questions with Rinell De Leon

Mother and Model

How long did it take you to embrace your baby bump?

Mines took 6 months to show, so it was not bad living with it for three months. I survived!

Did your pregnancy make shopping frustrating?

Yup but I still wore sexy comfortable clothes.

Did you buy clothes based on style or comfort?

Style....well I’m lucky because I found comfortable stylish pregnancy clothes.

What was the first maternity garment you purchased?

A baby doll dress.

Why?

It was cute at that time.

Was there any particular style you found most flattering?

Nope

What was your problem area?

.....My belly.

On a scale of 1 to 5 how much did your wardrobe change during pregnancy?

2.... I got a lot of clothes borrowed.

Did you wear heels during your pregnancy?

No it made my back hurt.

Did you feel attractive in your maternity clothes?

Hello No! (Lol) I just wanted to lose all the weight and wear my normal skimpy outfits.

Both Rinell and Charisse, two extremely different personalities have helped me form this conclusion; even the most intelligent, beautiful and sexy of women can at times feel not so attractive during pregnancy. However, this insecurity flees your mind when you think of your bundle of joy. During pregnancy you are radiant simply because of all the wondrous works taking place inside of you. No matter how awkward we may feel, the general consensus is that carrying a child is the most beautiful time of your life....next to the actual delivery- pain and all!

So journey on all expectant mothers! Smile through the weird clothes, hysterically huge underpants, swollen feet, aching back and new found curves. Pretty soon we’re going to be just like Charisse and Rinell, carrying around tons of photos of our pride and joy and telling anyone who will listen, “That’s my child!”.

Khadija Williams