Dressing up when Pregnant

I am writing this post because last week, I got 4-5 phone calls from among my limited group of readers...and they complained that I was not being regular with my posts and they were checking my blog everyday!! I tried to pass off my laziness as pregnancy moodiness...but all in vain...some of them know me too well to fall for my lies (they rightly pointed out that I had limited time to write all I can about pregnancy - the blog being about 'pregnancy')!! But it was not their scolding/insistence that has made me write this post in a hurry....It was their praise... and their simple looking- forward-to-reading-something-new-written-by-me..

I was beaming with delight throughout the week and it wasn't the glow of pregnancy!! I had to bite my finger and pinch myself  to confirm that I wasn't dreaming...because some of these friends are brutally honest and 'praise' in any form coming from them is huge!! Even my baby kicked a little more than usual - I guess it was dancing with joy!! Thanks people...you all liking my blog means a lot to us (me n the baby)..

Actually I have a number of ideas kicking inside me like the baby but they are all still growing like her/him!! And as I am growing and the baby is growing and the ideas are growing, it is becoming even easier to dress myself up (seriously...I am not joking). I have this wonderful collection of tents to wear  (yes..you heard correctly- TENTS)!! (thanks to my mom)

My mother has taken the responsibility of dressing me up in my preggie+home-arrest status. For going out to the doc's clinic or for an ultrasound, she had saved the maternity kurtas that my sister had bought during her time. She passed them on to me in the second month so that I wouldn't even dream of buying anything new (as it is you have to be at home...why do you need new clothes!). Now I know what 'revenge' tastes like...when we were younger...my younger sis always got the hand-me-downs and I got new clothes!! Then came the fateful day when both of us attained almost the same size and since then, most of our fights revolve mostly around clothes (even today- I feel happiest when I have plundered my sister's wardrobe).


But, it is the other clothes that I wear 24X7 nowadays that I want to talk about...The 'tents' - referred to as 'nighties' by my mom but I swear to you all that they are actually tents with a hole on the top and two on the sides for my head and hands to go in. Either my mom told the tailor that I was a shapeless and obese alien from outer space who could expand to unimaginable size or... she had recently seen Arnold Schwarzenegger pregnant in the film 'Junior' and emotionally thought of her pregnant daughter and then confused our sizes while giving instructions to the tailor!! 

this is a specimen of pregnant Arnie's nightie!!

This is an example of Arnie's size!!

The other designer items contributed by Ma towards my preggie wardrobe are pajamas - I prefer calling them 'Hippopojamas' and here is what I think must have happened at the tailor's shop... Ma must have given her strict instructions to the tailor, 'My daughter is a hippopotamus ...she is also pregnant...so add extra cloth if you need...but make the pajamas loose and comfortable'. Later she must have made a follow-up phone call to the tailor to ensure that he understood her well...'she is not what she used to be...she is fat now' (I tried to insert the word  'overweight' in my mom's vocabulary but she feels it doesn't carry the same weight as 'FAT'). 

So I ended up with pajamas that are loose and comfortable for a pregnant Hippo with enough space remaining for an elephant to take a stroll..Some of them have extra strips of cloth stitched on both sides as the tailor did not want to take any chances with the fitting...having being given such specific instructions!!

a medium sized specimen of a non-pregnant hippo!!

Thereafter, the only thing left to me to arrange was tops that I could wear with these pajamas... Here is where my old T-shirts came in pretty handy...very comfortable...already stretched and loose...and you can do anything with them....So, I tried painting some 'pregnancy related' messages/quotes on my old T-shirts...to ensure and assert my own creativity in my wardrobe! I borrowed some quotes from the internet and some I made on my own...here are some for you all to read and smile (don't ask me to put pictures of my painted T-shirts as the project got sploshed mid-way - I read somewhere that clumsiness increases in the third trimester - no...REALLY... :-)...but I am still trying)..

'I am growing a baby inside me...What are you doing?' (read somewhere)

'I am making a baby...What's your superpower?' (read somewhere)

'Because I am Pregnant' (mine)

'You better smile when you hear me burp' (mine)

        

Having told you all this...I have to grudgingly confess that the 'Tents and Hippopojamas' are a million times more comfortable than a few other clothes that I sneakily managed to buy one day. I love their ample comfort..I breathe better, move easier and feel less sweaty and itchy.. but I never accepted this in front of Ma.. 


Ma took time out from her busy schedule (she is a really busy doctor) -bought the softest cotton cloth available-washed it - went to the tailor- gave specific (ahem!!) instructions-got the clothes from the tailor- had them sent to me in time- and what did I do? First, I screamed when I saw the clothes and then I screamed at her on the phone asking her whether she felt I was a hippo (then she got confused between a hippo and a rhino and asked me which one I meant- as if that would make a big difference in size) !!


I guess that is exactly what my child will also do when I'll try and do something practical for her/him -'SCREAM'...get irritated..It's OK..One does this with parents..History will repeat itself...and somewhere down the line, my Ma and Pa will happily witness their grandchildren taking their revenge!!

:-) keep smiling people...

All T Shirt pictures are from this website


I have three more stories in draft stage..will post them soon