Too Big for My Britches

I am nearing the five month mark in my pregnancy, and it's official... I need to switch over to maternity clothes. Blurgh.  The Belly Band (a pregnant woman's miracle) I bought at Target has been working until now, allowing me to wear my normal jeans, however, this baby is growing... so it's time to pull out the heavy artillery.

It's been about three years since my last baby, and while many of the maternity clothes styles have improved, the locations where you can buy them have dwindled.  Wal-Mart and Old Navy have pulled maternity wear out of their stores and moved everything online, and even Bon-Ton (usualy a last resort) has decided to leave pregnant ladies in the lurch.

While online shopping is convenient, maternity clothes, I find, are often ill-fitting and need a good trying-on before buying. I hate paying for shipping (I usually look for free coupon codes) and REALLY hate paying for shipping returns.  Some stores offer in-store returns, however, a salesperson at Old Navy said they don't accept maternity clothes any longer.

In my desperation, I have traveled the Capital Region looking for places for a 'woman with child' to get some duds.

Target:  Liz Lange has had a line there for a while, but this time around the selection is pretty sparse.  I remember the selection being more varied, but there are some basic t-shirts, leggings, etc. you can start with.


H&M (Crossgates Mall):  Nice selection, very trendy, and reasonably priced. Keep checking back and you can find some good sales.

JC Penney:  They had a pretty decent selection, more for the working mom than the sweatpants/jeans mom I am.  There were some good sales, but overall, not really my style.  I have a weird thing with jeans.. if they are not the EXACT wash I like, I won't wear them.  Even if they are mega discounted for 14.99. I tried explaining that to my husband, but it's lost on him.

Destination Maternity (Colonie Center):  Finally, a whole store dedicated the process of populating. The front of the store boasts their boutique line (Pea in a Pod) where everything is pretty, but EXTREMELY overpriced (the sale prices made we weep).  The back of the store has the Motherhood Maternity section, which was more in my price range.  The salesperson was very helpful and friendly and the big bonus here is that there is a big gated off area in the middle of the store complete with a TV, lego table, and other diversions for the kids.  I actually got to try some stuff on knowing my kids were comatose in front of Nick Jr.

*Motherhood Matenity apparently also rents out spaces in Sears, Boscov's, Macy's (all in Colonie Center) as well as Babies R Us, so you can find similar items in all of these places, however they do not offer the in-store discounts that Destination Maternity has.

The Gap (Crossgates only):  So, of course you can look super cute and put together with anything the Gap sells in their maternity section, but if I'm going to pay full price for a pair of jeans... you are darn tootin' that I'm going to be able to wear them for more than three months. That being said, I always check out their sale section.  I am so over being that shopper that pretends to browse the front of the store mulling over a $68 t-shirt, only to casually make my way to the sale rack. I only ever buy 'on sale' at the Gap and always make a bee-line to the back of the store.

I have yet to check out any consignment shops and would take any suggestions. I'm pretty sure PolkaDots on Western Ave. has some stuff, so I'm going to check that out tomorrow, but I usually save consignment shopping for when I don't have the kids... there's something about that combination that kinda leaves me frazzled. And to find other used clothing, there is always eBay, Craigslist, and eMommie.