Our family’s about to get bigger! We are expecting Baby #3 in early July, and it’s a BOY!
Pregnancy So Far
I’m almost 18 weeks along and feeling pretty good overall (after some very mild nausea and fatigue for the first couple months). I still feel tired more than usual, but it’s nowhere near how tired I was during those first 10 weeks. Just been going to bed really early and drinking extra boba to accommodate! 😴 😄
We’re constantly asked if we were hoping for a boy or girl. Benson and I are pretty low key about that kind of stuff and neither of us had a strong preference. We are just grateful to be having another kid!
Addie is really excited about a new baby while also preparing herself for the ruckus that will ensue with two siblings. She’s super particular about her stuff, and while she’s had to become more flexible with Ella around, she knows she’ll have double the trouble with another little one. 😜 She’s a fantastic older sister, though!
Ella is too young to understand what’s going on. But, I’m pretty sure once the baby arrives, she is going to have a blast loving him AND tormenting him. 😂 She’s not quite 2y/o yet (2.5 more months), but she’s really charismatic, silly, funny, and sharp–she knows what she’s doing and is intentionally mischievous to get a rise out of you sometimes! She knows how to mess with Addie, so I can imagine her delighting in pushing her baby brother’s buttons, which cracks me up just to think about. But she’s also really helpful and responsible, so she’ll love taking care of the baby with Addie also.
As for Benson and I, we are of course excited and grateful! But to be honest, we haven’t thought much about it because life has been so busy. I mean, not in the sense that this is a surprise. We’ve planned to have three kids for a while and have been creating our life rhythms and family structures to accommodate that. But the details of stuff like when someone asks how far along I am or when my due date is…I honestly have to think so hard about it or pull out a calendar to count the weeks. Haha! Or when people ask us how we’ll dress the baby boy or what the kids’ room situations will be–we haven’t thought that stuff yet. We’re not even halfway through the pregnancy, and we’ll get to that stuff eventually. But for now, with two little ones keeping our hands full, life has just been chugging along.
Bump Style
As far as clothes, I’m following the same path as my past pregnancies, which is to hold off on maternity clothes for as long as possible and wear as few of them as I can once I do need them. 😆 I wear pretty loosely fitting clothes as is, and they’re usually pretty bump friendly.
Typically maternity jeans are the first thing I need to switch to, but thanks to Wit & Wisdom Ab-solution jeans with the stretchy waistband, I haven’t had to switch yet despite a visibly growing belly. These jeans are AMAZING, you guys! Good thing, too, because I can’t find my 3 favorite pairs of maternity jeans that I wore throughout my pregnancy with Ella! And they’re not sold in stores anymore. 😭 I absolutely hated the maternity jeans I wore with Addie, so finding a few tolerable pairs with Ella felt like a miracle. And now I can’t find them! I’m pretty sure we accidentally gave that bag of clothes away by mistake. Dahhhhh!!! On goes the search again. 😩
In case you’re interested, my plan for maternity style is to build off the Starter Kit Wardrobe Guide lists at each new stage I need to dress for. With clothing needs changing constantly as bump size changes, I’ve found Starter Kit Wardrobe lists allow me to create a small but versatile wardrobe for each of those transitions. I’ll use more clothes beyond that, but those lists help me put together a versatile core.
I have plenty of non-maternity tops that I was able to wear through past pregnancies, such as my All in Favor tunics, twist fleece tops, twist tees, tunic sweaters, and empire waist dresses.
My biggest need is usually jeans, so I’ll be working on finding a replacement pair of dark wash jeans and black jeans a la the Starter Kit Wardrobe Guides. I’d rather stick with low panel jeans and avoid full panel jeans, which limits my options. And since we don’t plan to have anymore kids after this one, I’m also sticking with lower budget options. I started with Old Navy Front Low Panel Rockstar Skinny Jeans and Old Navy Front Low Panel Rockstar 24/7 Sculpt Jeggings. Hoping one of them works!
You can check out all my maternity outfits HERE, or always find it through the menubar at the top of this blog under “Outfits by Lifestyle” –> “Maternity Style Outfits.”
Here on the Blog
I typically don’t talk that much about maternity style or pregnancy on the blog while I’m pregnant. Sorry if you were looking forward to that! Things stay pretty much the same here on the blog, focusing on style tips and clothing finds. And as I mentioned, I try to avoid maternity clothes as much as possible and mostly non-maternity clothes up until the last few weeks. I might share more about pregnancy as an add-on at the end of PMT Emails, so if you’re hoping to catch any of that, subscribe to those!
Meanwhile, we are soaking up our time with the girls and grateful for what’s ahead!
