keep walking

no, my post is not about drinking and getting drunk (although it is the tagline of one popular alcoholic drink). i literally just want to remind all pregnant women out there to keep walking!

walk! yes, walk! it's the simplest and can be the best form of exercise for pregnant women.

i am on my 32nd week and i weigh 117 lbs! i've only gained around 20 lbs but guess what? my baby's weight is in the average range. ;-) everything is a-ok!

one thing i track whenever i walk is my sweat. weird? well, it's just that i make sure i walk a lot but not to the point i'll sweat or tire myself out. i'm pretty much following what the doctor ordered: walk as tolerated. 

although i feel hot a lot, i just find it easier to walk even with a big belly. my balance is not off unlike my 1st pregnancy where i had to walk like a duck. haha! plus, i don't easily get tired.

since i missed being "tall", i wore wedges today at work (and i just wanted to show off my legs, hihi). a lot of my colleagues were protesting but i assured them i'd be ok.

 i don't know what i was doing here, but i'm posting it anyway. hahaha!

 

super adore my new shoes! 3 and a half inches, i think - and i never wobbled! balance. balance. balance! thanks to minutes of walking. wanna see a close-up of my shoes? :D

so again let me say to you, keep walking! 

but please, don't walk to lose weight, that's a big no-no during pregnancy. unless of course your ob-gyne gave you the go signal. in any form of activity, always get your doctor's green light. :)

wear it proud

when i was pregnant with uno, i bought several pieces of clothing from different maternity stores. BIG mistake! looking back at how i dressed up then, i feel like i missed out on a lot. i should have showed-off my tummy more and let others see that pregnant women are sexy!

i also realized that the items i bought were actually expensive and they were really unflattering! that is why with my current pregnancy, i only have 1 piece of maternity wear - the 1 pair of jeans i bought during my first. yep, recycled. but i don't think i'd even wear it again. i remember the garter to be really annoying and itchy. so it's probably just going to hang in my closet, hehe.

one thing that my friends noticed about the way i dress now is that i almost always cinch my outfit with a belt. like i said, i want my tummy to be the focal point of my get-up. so belts play a big role in emphasizing my tummy. ;-)

most of my "maternity" clothes were bought from regular women's stores... some even from the teens' department. haha, oh yeah! the top i'm wearing today can actually double as a dress, without the preggy belly of course. that means after i give birth, i can still definitely use this top. 

all i do is just get 1 or 2 sizes higher. i'm a size small, so i just get either a medium (if from a lady's store) or large size (if from a retail store for teens). but you'd be surprised! there are times i can still get away with a small sized item. like the dress i was wearing in this post or the dress i wore to our year-end party:

 

 i was 28 weeks at the time of the party and that's a size small. nice, right? rockin' mommy, rockin' body! woot! lol

so you see, you don't really need to spend on maternity clothes. buy regular clothes that you think will grow with you and your tummy. make sure to get ones with stretchy and cool fabric. i say, a pair of maternity jeans is not really necessary. leggings are more comfortable for me and less-straining.

and don't forget that comfort is always the key. if you're not comfortable with an item or let's say it's tight, don't bother. you might end up not wearing them...until probably after you give birth. or even a few months after you give birth. ;-)

single mom style

i've been checking out a lot of fashion blogs lately and i can, without a doubt say i (seriously envy and) am inspired by a lot of looks. just because i'm a single mom on a budget, it doesn't mean i should not make an effort to dress up nicely, right?

i decided to recycle my leggings from my pregnant days. did you know that before i got pregnant, i didn't own a single pair of leggings? i only bought them coz i couldn't fit my jeans anymore. when i gave birth, i already had 5 in my closet -- 3 blacks, 1 brown, and 1 gray. believe me when i say, leggings are a pregnant lady's bestfriend.

the shirt is my dad's. i'm lovin' white shirts lately. ;-) i couldn't find any vintage items from my mom's closet, so i raided my dad's instead. the shirt is not vintage, but it's now mine! yay! 

fab finds | maternity outfits

after telling a friend that i was pregnant, she requested me to buy maternity jeans 'coz she didn't want me wearing a dress all the time. honestly, i find it cost-effective to buy dresses instead since i can still wear them post-maternity.

maternity jeans, i soon realized, are expensive. well, they have the same price as regular jeans but if you factor in its functionality, it is expensive. you only get to wear it from your 5th month onwards and after that, it's off to the baul.

i did buy (and might still buy) a few maternity clothes but of course they're and have to be affordable. so for soon-to-be moms out there, here's where you can find clothes you can wear during and after pregnancy.