October 2022 Shopping Reflections

Well my third trimester bump is so large and unwieldy now, and my pregnancy-related physical discomfort so substantial, that I'm definitely no longer able to expend any mental energy on trying to wear cute clothes! Almost all my fashion-related purchases this month are maternity wear, to get ready for fall and early winter temperatures in NYC. 

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I was originally thinking I might be able to wear my usual fall/winter uniform of dresses and tights (and sweaters, particularly the J.Crew Juliette sweater blazers) once the weather cooled down during my third trimester. But after ordering a single pair of maternity tights (from Spanx) to try on, I quickly realized that just wasn't going to work. It takes so much effort to get into a pair of tights now - even putting on socks can leave me winded these days, and significantly more contortions are required to get a pair of tights on fully - that I could only ever manage it for special occasions. It's simply not happening for everyday wear. Thus, I'll be in maternity pants or leggings for the remaining six to seven weeks of my pregnancy. 

Fashion - (TOTAL: $372.95) 

• Kizik Vegas Sneaker, white - $140.45* - I got these solely because of Kizik's primary gimmick, that their sneakers are "hands-free", and slip right on. I'm happy to report these shoes work as promised: I do need to angle my foot in a little since I keep them fully tied and the opening for my foot isn't that large, but it's easy enough to do, even in my heavily pregnant state. These took a little time to break in the toe box and ankle, my feet got a bit sore after several hours out and about on the first day of wear. But that's typical enough and I didn't have any blisters or anything. I've been wearing my Kiziks almost every day since receiving them in early October, and they seem to be holding up reasonably well so far. 
• Pact Maternity Airy Long-Sleeve Tee, storm - $40.00 - I bought four maternity tees from Pact once I knew I'd be in pants and leggings for most of my third trimester, and I'm quite satisfied with the quality. (All my non-maternity tees are too short to accommodate my third trimester bump.) The cotton fabric feels nice, though is slightly on the thin side (but the white tee is not sheer, so there's no real problem there). I don't layer sweaters over these for now because it's still somewhat warm. As with many other maternity wear lines, Pact recommends taking your size from before pregnancy - for me, a M - though I found these tees ran a noticeable amount larger than that. This is probably the first maternity wear brand I've tried that I'd describe that way because I grew so much in the bust and bump early on that I'd have done better sizing up in many brands by the middle of my second trimester. One additional issue is that my pre-pregnancy bust measurement puts me solidly in a M on Pact's sizing chart, while my waist and hip measurement belong in a S. 
• Pact Maternity Airy Long-Sleeve Tee, mink gray - $40.00 - While all these Pact maternity tees are good quality, I don't love many of the color choices in their maternity line. This "mink grey" seems awkwardly in between olive green and light grey, so it's not my favorite as far as neutral shades go. Though I needed a lot of tees, so I still ordered this, and it was at least more neutral than some of the other remaining shades. 
• Pact Maternity Slub Slouchy Tee, white - $40.00 - The neckline on these is a bit wide, so the effect can be a bit pajama-like. But I personally still prefer a slouchy, loose maternity tee over a ruched one. Just my nitpicky style preference... 
• Pact Maternity Slub Slouchy Tee, ore - $40.00 - This is another somewhat odd neutral from Pact. The storm color the long-sleeve tee comes in is truer dark gray. Meanwhile, this ore shade is somewhere between slate blue and dark gray, though that works for my wardrobe a bit better than the more olive green mink gray. 
• J.Crew Factory Maternity Jamie Pant, black - $44.50 - These have a comfortable soft stretch, though the fabric is fairly thin. I ordered two sizes - 6 and 8 -  to try on. From that, I don't think it makes the biggest difference with these pants to size up from your pre-pregnancy size or not, as the two sizes felt very similar. I ultimately kept the larger one because I figured it'd leave more room for the continued growth of my third trimester bump. 
• Spanx Maternity Tights, black - $28.00 - (also here) I can't really give much of a review for these because I tried them on just once at home and quickly realized I just wasn't going to be able to regularly put on tights in my third trimester. My belly is just too in the way! As suggested, I ordered my pre-pregnancy size on their size chart and that seemed correct for my early third trimester bump. (Though as with many other brands that suggest taking your pre-pregnancy size in the maternity line, I think that by the end of pregnancy I'll be close to or actually in need of sizing up from that recommendation.)  

*Indicates that price includes sales tax

Nothing too exciting this month on the shopping front, and that will probably continue to be true for the rest of my pregnancy. There isn't even that much time left now, most likely around six or seven weeks, and that's such a daunting thought! Though I'm also feeling so big and unwieldy already that I'm totally kind of looking forward to it being over. (I was my mom's first baby and was born almost two weeks early with no complications or issues, so part of me is wondering if I might also deliver a bit early.) 

Early Third Trimester

Pact Maternity Airy Long-Sleeve Tee: Finally ordered some maternity tops, and Pact's are pretty good.

Things have quieted down considerably for me at the office, just in time for my third trimester pregnancy symptoms to escalate! I have noticeably less energy now and am definitely much less physically comfortable, and I still have around seven weeks of pregnancy to go. I can't even imagine how much bigger this bump can get, and how much more unwieldy it will feel... 

Alas, given my current lack of physical and mental energy, including for blogging, I think I'll be a lot quieter here until after my mid-December due date. I think I'll check in intermittently with my monthly shopping reflections and pregnancy-related posts. Not much room in my brain for thinking and writing about anything else!

Gestational Diabetes 

Fortunately, my gestational diabetes ("GD") remains well-controlled without medication, or even any particularly onerous changes to my eating habits or the limited physical activity levels I'm currently able to sustain. I'd always gravitated to a somewhat lower-carbohydrate diet just due to my personal tastes and preferences, and I'd also generally craved sweet foods less during pregnancy than at other times, so I'm really not eating that differently from how I was before the diagnosis. 

The only real changes I've needed to make so far are: 

• (1) Like many GD patients, I have significantly more trouble digesting carbohydrates without blood sugar spikes in the early morning than later in the day, so I do need to be careful about breakfast. Strangely enough, half a regular white flour English muffin works better for me than a similarly small slice of whole-wheat bread for breakfast, even if the two items have the same carb content. Milk also contains carbs - which I never needed to think about before my diagnosis - so morning lattes are not an especially good idea at present. (This isn't a big deal because I also seem to be back to my first-trimester issue where coffee just doesn't taste right anyway.) 
• (2) Only a few foods I enjoy are probably too difficult to successfully work into my lunch and dinner diet at present. One of those is pizza, which is unfortunate. (I could probably have a small slice or two with some non-carbohydrate side dishes for lunch or dinner, but that doesn't quite fit our habits on days that K and I feel like ordering pizza. It's easier to just avoid pizza for the next few weeks rather than try to make it work with my GD.) 

And that's it, really, at least for now, which isn't too bad! I'm starting to notice some of my fasting blood sugar readings are now a little higher than in earlier weeks - though they're still a margin below the typical cutoff for an abnormal reading at that time - which is consistent with the experience of many GD patients around 32 to 36 weeks. Fingers crossed things don't escalate to the point of needing medication or insulin, because those things are more complicated to manage and would also make the pregnancy somewhat higher-risk. 

Physical Symptoms

Oh lordy, things have continued getting significantly more uncomfortable as I progress into the third trimester. It almost feels like each week unlocks new levels of previously unknown discomfort. These days, getting dressed and putting on pants and socks is a big chore that can sometimes leave me feeling a bit winded. It also feels like there's less room in my torso now that the baby has grown considerably, which accounts for both some mild shortness of breath at times and being less hungry or less able to eat larger meals. That also causes a bit of heartburn or reflux.

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Sleep is becoming difficult, since it's becoming impossible to get comfortable, even with my trusty pregnancy pillow. Whenever I try to adjust my position while laying down, my belly feels so heavy and unwieldy.

At the moment, my most severe third-trimester ache or pain is that I get especially sore in my ribs, always on the right side. (Our little bean tends to kick and move in that area more than any other, maybe that's a factor.) Earlier on, I didn't start feeling rib pain until late evening some days, but more recently it's starting in the mid-afternoon. A pregnancy support belt helps, but not as much as it used to. 

I'm now seeing my OB-GYN for routine appointments once every two weeks. With my specialist referral for GD, I also have a separate remote video visit with either a nurse or a MFM roughly once every two to three weeks. Everything still looks healthy and on track, which I'm very grateful for. Fingers crossed that everything continues to go smoothly for the remaining weeks of pregnancy! 

September 2022 Shopping Reflections

I haven't done too much shopping this September while things have been so intensely hectic at the office. At least the end to this last big busy period before my eventual parental leave is finally in sight. The nature of my job as an attorney and litigator is, of course, that more work can always come up suddenly. Realistically, though, my parental leave is likely coming up so relatively soon and with some uncertainty about exact start date - my recent gestational diabetes ("GD") diagnosis can cause added unpredictability - that it's difficult to staff me on new longer-term cases or projects.

With the escalation of my pregnancy symptoms in the last weeks of second trimester - I can hardly believe I'll officially enter the third trimester this week - and the ever-increasing prominence of my bump, I don't feel especially comfortable in any clothes now. That's even true for maternity clothes. 

Please note that this post contains affiliate links that could result in my earning a small commission - at no extra cost to you - if you click and make a purchase. Thank you for your support!

We had a few cooler days here recently, so I wore my Tibi oversized shirts and Madewell maternity skinny jeans (also here and here) out again for the first time in a few months. And the shirts have definitely gone from intentionally oversized chic to "wow, I look like I'm hiding a balloon under there!" My bump still fits comfortably under the belly band of my maternity jeans, though it's hard to imagine what happens when my bump gets even bigger.

As you can see, I finally made my long-delayed decision about a slimmer laptop backpack for work (after a pretty big misjudgment in that product category in March). Not a moment too soon, either, because pregnancy is definitely starting to make it harder for me to carry shoulder bags or totes with the typical amount of things I bring to and from work every day.

I also tried a somewhat relaxed-fit current-season Tibi merino wool-blend sweater (also here) with some subtle distressed details and an interesting cutout in the back this month, in my normal pre-pregnancy size M. While it fit and should continue to fit through most of the rest of pregnancy, it was just too difficult to imagine what it would look like after pregnancy for me to justify keeping it. The material was also not the lighter, smooth knit texture I normally expect from merino wool sweaters, there would have been a noticeable itch factor. 

Fashion - (TOTAL: $481.56)

• Knomo Beauchamp Backpack - $205.77* - Amazon currently seems to be the only place Knomo's Beauchamp and Beaufort laptop backpacks are particularly available to US customers. To be completely honest, I'm also not 100% sure the Amazon listing is fully legit? I don't typically buy fashion items on Amazon... But the product I received feels right, based on having seen the Beauchamp or Beaufort in real life (one of my law school friends has one, but I'm not sure which one). I picked the larger Beauchamp that accommodates up to a 15.6'' laptop, instead of the slimmer Beaufort that's supposed to fit up to a 14'' laptop. I don't find the Beauchamp too large, and I wanted the bigger size that's a bit more flexible because I sometimes need to carry a binder or a lot of papers home. I've been bringing my new backpack to work every day for a few weeks now, and have no complaints so far, though I've also only needed to carry my laptop twice in that time. The straps have been comfortable enough, though I can tell they might not be ideal if I really stuffed the backpack full and it got much heavier. 
• Catbird Ballerina Bracelet - $275.90* - As I mentioned last week, the decision to actually move forward with this purchase was a bit impulsive, after I pulled a near all-nighter to get our most important summary judgment filing out. Though I was also thinking about this bracelet since a few months ago. This bracelet is on the dainty side - it's small enough that it feels a bit difficult and fiddly to put on -  but it's also not too dainty. I've enjoyed wearing it 24/7 since receiving it and feel like it's reasonably noticeable for such a small piece. My listed price factored in a 10% off code for new Catbird customers signing up for the store's emails, though not the 2% Ebates/Rakuten cash-back (~$5) I also received. 

*Indicates that price includes sales tax and/or shipping charges. 

I don't always list my fine jewelry purchases in my monthly shopping reflections, though the price of the Catbird Ballerina Bracelet puts it in the zone of what I typically include. These days, because the idea of shopping for more maternity clothing has so little appeal, I find myself thinking about jewelry a lot more than I usually do. Some of the pieces I sort of have my eye on include the Jennie Kwon Diamond Wave Band and this Satomi Kawakita Braided Bracelet, and various more statement-making earrings, including from CompletedWorks (also here) or Agmes.

Except that I still can't really wear dangly earrings because I'm still fairly strict about wearing masks in public settings indoors - can't be too careful in my third trimester, especially with one higher-risk diagnosis under by belt already - and I don't want my mask straps to get tangled on my earrings. And now is also not a great time to shop for rings either, as my fingers definitely swell just a bit too much at this point of pregnancy to wear my engagement ring or wedding band anymore. (I don't think those rings are at real risk of getting stuck, but I'm a bit paranoid about that possibility so I stopped wearing those rings once they started feeling noticeably tighter most days.) Alas, I generally don't get to have a lot of fun with thinking about fashion lately... 

The Catbird Ballerina Bracelet

As it turns out, some unexpected developments in court have made it so my last big push at work before I start my parental leave will almost certainly come to an end by early October, which cuts my total workload significantly from what I originally expected. But that doesn't make this month's intensely busy period at the office any easier! For other attorneys familiar with US litigation, we are right in the middle having seven briefs due in five weeks in one major case, with three of those briefs being for summary judgment. (And our team just came off another busy period of expert depositions and other filings in another case, no less!) 

I recently had my first ever near all-nighter for work - I was able to lay down for an hour and a half before going back to the office the next day, though I wasn't ultimately able to fall asleep - in connection with the biggest filing of the seven. After that, I decided I was going to buy another gift for myself, even if there wasn't strictly a professional milestone involved. And because my near-third trimester belly is too big to feel particularly good in clothing, that gift was another piece of jewelry: the Catbird Ballerina Bracelet. 

I've been looking at this piece for at least a few months. I even mentioned it back in March as a potential alternative to the Jennie Kwon Jadeite Equilibrium Ring I ultimately chose to commemorate my first defense of a deposition as the first-chair attorney. My interest in the Catbird Ballerina Bracelet came in part from wanting a fine jewelry gold bangle bracelet someday, but all such things are extremely expensive. (Which is natural, because gold is also very expensive!) With the solid bar portion of the design, this bracelet is sort of two-thirds thin bangle, one-third chain bracelet. 

Over many years of browsing Catbird's website - they're quite trendy amongst many NYC-dwellers! - with much of the jewelry they stock, I often worry it'll be a little too dainty to really look good on me, or to have a presence and be particularly visible. Though now that I've dabbled a bit more in dainty jewelry like the Jennie Kwon ring (not a design Catbird carries, but they have many other Jennie Kwon designs) and this bracelet, I'm coming around to the idea of this more dainty jewelry. 

I've been wearing this bracelet 24/7 since it arrived, and I think it's lovely and looks good even if it's small. I hope that the design will hold up to that kind of wear and tear. It's a little finicky to take on and off, so it's easiest to just wear it all the time.  (The bar portion is a bit bendy and flexible by design, and as for the chain, I know Catbird sells chain bracelets designed to be soldered on permanently, so the chain should be hardy enough to withstand long-term wear?)