When I was pregnant with Pea, I gained about seventy pounds. I was eating for two, right? So it was okay, right? And as my girth grew and grew and grew, I did a lot of shopping at Mimi Maternity. A lot. The saleswomen knew me by name. I was just so determined to be the best-dressed pregnant woman around.

After my pregnancy with Pea, I never entered Mimi Maternity again. I’m told that sales dropped dramatically that year that I was pregnant with Coco. Just kidding. Sort of…

My pregnancy with Coco? Much different. Although I still gained an obscene amount of weight, it was slightly less. Twenty less. I gained fifty pounds. I don’t know what happened. Sure, I was still eating for two, right? But I was also chasing around a toddler, so…

I decided on a uniform. It was important for me not to completely give up on my appearance during those nine months. Those brutal nine months. I wanted to look simple but put-together. But I wanted it to be effortless. And I didn’t want to spend a fortune. For everyday trips to the grocery store, the park and walks to pre-school? Cute sweatpants, a tank top with a shelf-bra (my boobs ached and I couldn’t stand to have anything touch them… and the universe scrimped big-time in the chest area, so I was able to do without a bra… lucky me…), a bright and happy-colored tee-shirt layered over the tank and sneakers. And then for an event that called for a little more effort? I slipped off the sweatpants, threw on my jeans and changed my shoes.

I didn’t shop as much. I just didn’t. I bought what I knew would fit the bill in the beginning, and that was that. I headed out to TJ Maxx and discovered velour sweatpants that were cute, fit well and were inexpensive. I bought some in a size larger then I normally wear. In several different colors. And I wore them throughout my entire pregnancy. And then I invested in a great pair of pregnancy jeans. And although they were ridiculously over-priced and I knew I was only going to be wearing them for 9 months, I did a cost-per-wear breakdown in my head and realized that they were so going to be worth it. Because any place that I had to go where my beloved sweats were not going to be appropriate, I was going to wear my hot new designer pregnancy jeans. Those jeans? At the end of my pregnancy? They walked out of my closet and begged to be put out of their misery.

And in addition, I bought a slew of new shirts – on sale – from C&C California. Gorgeous colors in the softest cotton that just got better and better with each wash. I again bought one size larger then I normally wear and they worked for me my entire pregnancy. Actually, I even wore them beyond my pregnancy, in that weird stage where you still look pregnant. And the check-out girl at the Petsmart will ask you when you are due? And you will say “three days ago. That’s when I had my baby. Three days ago. Thanks for asking.” And then, you will walk out of the store, mutter “bitch” under your breath and cry.

And for those rare occasions when I wanted a little more “oomph,” I found some cute and trendy tops in the Junior Department at Target. Of course, you knew it had to be Target, right? And since Junior’s sizing is fairly small, I went up to a size large or extra-large so I could guarantee enough fabric to cover my expanding belly. And paired with my designer maternity jeans, cute ballet flats, pretty earrings and a chic little clutch, date-night with my husband was a success. No standing in my closet, screaming about having nothing to wear. Once I was dressed, you would never have known I was pregnant. Mmmm… that’s not true. At about 3 weeks into my pregnancy, I was already doing the duck waddle. But I looked cute doing it, so there.

Anyway… the most important thing for me during my second pregnancy, which was a tough one, was also being able to comfortably deal with Pea. She was coming up on The Terrible Twos and was quite the handful. I was sick, exhausted and busy. Non-stop. And I just could not be bothered with anything that wasn’t completely comfortable. I found what would work for me. What would feel good to put on in the morning, when I wasn’t feeling so good. What was going to stand up to multiple washing machine cycles in a week, sometimes even in a day. Something that wasn’t going to devastate me if it got stained and had to be tossed.

But I am human. This is me, twelve days before Coco joined us. I was still trying. Actually, it was the very last day that I was trying. And that belly? It had a mind of it’s own. And I am pretty sure that the day following the one on which this picture was taken found me in one of my husband’s flannel shirts. And that would be exactly what I wore for the next 11 days…