Shopping for maternity clothes as an athlete is a frustrating expedition. Shopping for maternity clothes as a trainer, when you are stuck in the clothes 5 days a week for 12+ hours, just fuckin’ pisses me off. I’m at the point in my pregnancy where the waistline of my shorts is no longer a loose, comfortable fit, but a rolling, gouging noose around my hips. The baby growing in me probably feels the squeeze as well, so I’m starting to feeling guilty...already...and he’s not even born yet! I shouldn’t feel guilty though. His growth is causing me to have to shop outside of my Patagonia comfort zone. And let me vent for just a few lines on how disappointed I was to learn that Patagonia, my favorite clothing line for work, mountain running, lounging-at-home-wear, and daily-wear does NOT carry a maternity line. I actually cried. And if you say that is just the hormones talking, come a little closer so I can kick you.
I know a lot of women resort to wearing the maternity tights, however I am not really a tights person. I do my absolute best to not be an uptight person, so squeezing me into tights only occurs when I’m going for a mountain run in the snow and ice, and there’s a slim chance I won’t make it back quickly and need a bit more warmth until I crawl my way out. Otherwise, if you see me in a pair of those tights not in the snow, it’s because we failed to do laundry due to our schedule in the evenings with a 2 year-old, and therefore we’re out of underwear. (This exact situation happened last Saturday.)
I went onto GAP.com today to look at maternity clothes and I immediately diverted my attention to the toddler section. I almost ordered $200 worth of clothes for our son (that is out of the womb already), but checked our account balance and staved off that purchase until payday. Whew! That was a close one. They at least offered a work-out shorts option, so come next payday, I’ll order a pair of those and see how they do as I continue to expand my waistline...not the horizon.
My goal WAS to work as long as our doctor let’s me before the birth, but the lack of clothes might force me to stop working sometime over the next two weeks...weeks 17 & 18. We’re living on a tight budget already, but it’s going to get a lot smaller! Just like my clothes.
OKAY! Rant over.