Step Three: Enhance (Then Pass On)

You might be an expert at canvassing and collecting (good job!), but you’ve still probably got a few needs in your maternity wardrobe. Here’s where the enhance part comes in. Take a look at what you have, what you “found” (thanks friends!), and make a note of additional items you can get to fill in any holes for the nine months of pregnancy (and those first few months afterward).

We’ve got some suggestions, depending on the size of your belly, and the needs that go along with it. But here’s a sampling to get you started.

WARDROBE ENHANCERS

BELLABAND®

If you buy only one maternity-related thing, it should probably be a Bellaband. Here’s why.

BABYMOON PIECES

With all the items you already have and then collected, it leaves a little flexibility for getting a babymoon piece or two that will make your last couple’s-only vacay even more cute and comfortable.

BABY SHOWER LOOK

Your baby shower is the one day where it’s extra important to feel like your best self, wearing your best possible outfit, so you don’t have to worry about tugging or pulling or feeling self-conscious and you can instead focus on soaking up all the love and support for you and your coming babe.

WORKWEAR

Even if you’ve got a couple of work-friendly pieces on hand, considering how much time you spend at work, you’ll probably need a couple more. We got you.

ACTIVEWEAR

With the sweating you do during prenatal yoga, and the regularity with which you’ll need a nice pair of leggings, adding some activewear (especially with the support of our Crossover Panel®) is a good move.   

NURSING

With leakage, and spit up, and diaper disasters, you can truly never have enough nursing bras, tanks, and camis. Adding one or two will save you some laundry days.

PASS IT ON

The very last step after you are done with all of your maternity clothes: pass them on. Consider it the “pay it forward” part, where you can thank the mamas who gave you items, by giving yours to the next pregnant friend in your social circle (once you’re done with them, of course!). This works especially well when it comes to Ingrid+Isabel pieces—these are quality items made to last for probably a lot longer than you’ll want to wear them (and we’re taking the postpartum period into account as well). So hang on to your items, and pass them on to a mama-to-be! What goes around comes around, in the best possible way.