26 weeks

This week my babys the size of:



an english cucumber!

My baby can hear noises other than me! she is learning how to blink.

I passed my glucose test! woo hoo. thank goodness because i dont think i could give up my sweets!

I went to see the doctor again today. I guess my throat infection didnt completely clear up, so he told me to take the antibiotics for another 5 days. boo. i hate taking medicine. I can also take robitussin for my cough.

neither him nor the OB seemed concerned about the baby so i guess i will stop being concerned as well. last night i just busted out crying because i was feeling so under the weather. i have never been sick this long in my entire life. plus i was feeling so incredibly guilty for anything i was doing to the baby. i was coughing pretty hard and blowing my nose hard and im just scared this is damaging her in some way. but im over it and i am going to do whatever it takes to recover!

99 days left!

stages of being sick while pregnant

i feel like shit. i think i jinxed myself too. this whole time, i have been almost cocky about not getting sick. i beat flu season. i beat 3 weeks of being in a hospital for 3 weeks straight while tending to my mom. i beat 4 days of being in a hospital while tending to my grandfather. i went through one of the most traumatic and stressful times in my life. and never got sick.

until now.

last monday - started feeling itchy throat around lunchtime. i know this feeling all too well. i have a throat infection about 3 times a year so i am familiar.

tuesday - wake up and still have sore throat so i skip work and go to the doc where he indeed tells me i have a throat infection. i am prescribed amoxicillin for 5 days, 3 times a day. I take 2 pills this day.

wednesday - i have a OB appointment. feeling really shitty today...but i have to sit through a glucose test. i get my OB to ok the amoxicillin, just to be safe. i go into the office for a bit but leave early. I nap.

thursday - sore throat is sort of gone but now i have a cough! a nasty one. i feel bad for the baby. i go into work but also leave early. i nap again.

friday - cough is in full force. i am on day 4 or 5 of my meds but still not feeling 100%. i go home but cannot nap. i guess i am somewhat feeling better.

saturday - cough is dry....i stay home and all i want to do is sit on the sofa and do nothing. i force myself to move around and get some errands done. i nap at around 7 and wake up around 9. all goes to hell here bc i am hacking and coughing and feeling really shitty and groggy.

jae is helping with whatever he can and thats when i discover steam. dont know why i didnt think of it before. i boil hot water and just let myself breathe in the steam. 10 minutes later, my phlegm loosens and i cough up a big lungee which is yellow (prior, the phlegm had been white). relief. i do 2 cups of these and finally fall back asleep around 1:30 AM.

sunday - feeling somewhat better. i can even go out. having dinner at grandmas but around 6ish i start to feel really tired and sluggish, and i feel sick again. i feel like i need sleep. we get home and i instantly go to bed. i try to steam throughout the day.

monday - back to work. i steam in the morning and cough up another yellow lungee. i am not sure if seeing yellow now is good or bad. but i feel somewhat better. only now, the cough is subsiding but i have a runny nose.

thats my past 7 days. sucks doesnt it? i didnt nearly half of the things i needed to do done. but i need rest and my body is telling me to chill. i hope this is the end bc i really cant take it anymore. being sick while pregnant sucks. i have never ever been sick for this long a time before. usually after one day of meds, i am back to 100%. being sick for a week or more is really tiring and draining for me.

A father's role.

As much of control freak as I am, I don't want to hold 100% of the responsiblity of raising this baby. I want Jae to be as involved as much as possible. I feel like I can trust him but i can tell he doesn't trust himself.

I don't want the baby to be attached to me... I want her to be able to go to Jae as well for anything. I want Jae to be there after work and be able to give her a bottle so im not the only one feeding her. I realize this will be tough on him... but I really want him to try.

My goal is to have him with the baby at least 2 days of the week. alone. I know he can handle it and I actually think he will do a great job. I have faith in him. The first time I brought this up to him, he didnt say anything...and I could tell he was both surprised and nervous. I brought it up once more and he seemed more receptive. I know he can do it. and I think it would be great for both him and the baby.

I am surprised I am able to let go of this control, especially with something as major as my child. I always imagined myself doing everything, because I know I can do it better. But I think ultimately I think what drives me is the benefit a father and child can have from being more involved. Plus it'll give me a break when I have a partner to work with me and hand the baby off to, and the baby is willingly able to to go that other partner. I have learned i am not superwoman, and I need breaks too even if i dont realize it at the time.

He made 50% of this baby and he should take 50% responsibility. Some argue that earning that paycheck is a big enough job. To me, there is no job bigger than becoming a parent. I dont care what it takes or what sacrifices you need to make, time is something you cannot get back and it is up to each of us to put in our time now. Of course I expect to give him free time off, and I expect free time off as well. But I fully expect jae to be completely involved and i actually think he wants to as well, but just is not sure what to do. I hope we can work through this together and ultimately I believe this is what will make us a happy family.

Though my one big fear is how our relationship will change once the baby is here. I have heard marriage changes, and not always for the better. Am i scared about this? yes. the baby thus far has brought us closer together. probably the best we've even been. but will that change once the baby comes? we will have to stay conscious about this to make sure it doesnt!

25 weeks

today my baby is the size of



a rutabega! whatever that is.

i know i have been bad with the updates... i havent been feeling my best. but i promise i will update more soon bc i have lots of them!

For now, i am at 25 weeks. I start my drs appts every 3 weeks now instead of every 4. yikes! that just means im getting closer to the due date.

my doctor is upset with me bc i gained 10 lbs in the last 4 weeks. =( the nurse said maybe the baby had a growth spurt. my total weight gain has been 23 lbs.

i currently have a throat infection and feeling under the weather. it sux.

my wrists and ankles have begun to swell, and my rings are super tight now. i thought i could last longer than 25 weeks but maybe not.

i am starting to get more tired... and feeling like more naps. i havent napped since the middle of the first trimester, so for me, this feels like a step backwards.

last week i was crampy and uncomfortable... but luckily that has sort of gone away.

i just feel like sleeping and resting all the time. what happened to all my energy? i was doing so good too. oh wells.

maybe next week will be better.

im getting so fat, im leaving imprints in the sofa (this is where i put on my shoes everyday, since i cant bend over anymore)


boo!

this past weekend was fun. friday night we went to ikea to shop around. i didnt plan to buy anything but mr. dad did! so we bought a dresser. we ended up having dinner at chilis afterwards.

saturday i spent the morning and afternoon with my SIL And the nephews at their tae kwon do tournament in queens college. it was fun!

its like karate kid!


both boys were competing at the same time in different areas. we could only really see philip.

his form test


breaking 3 boards


silver medal baby!


i walked over to where Ryan was competing. I couldnt see him at all during the competition but he found me in the crowd and showed me his boards that he broke


i didnt notice at first, until he was done... but he ended up winning 2 gold medals! me and my SIL were so excited! haha.

he was pretty proud himself


the boys with their medals


they arent even my kids and i was so proud of them! it was nervewracking watching them!

we left the tournament and met up with the other SIL in flushing for lunch. we visited jae's store and then headed back to LI.

while i was at the SIL's house, jae went home and started the nursery



i love it.

i went home a bit to rest...but later on the in afternooon, since we were cleaning out the nursery, we had to get rid of the old ikea dressers we had in the co-op. so my SIL took them. we delivered them to her house and had dinner there.

Sunday - jae assembled a dresser we bought for the baby. he did his household things while i took an hour long walk with my aunt in the park. that was fun and it was a beautiful day! i came home and took a nap. at about 4, we left the house. jae went to get a haircut and i went shopping at michaels. then it was back to grandmas for dinnertime!

all in all, a good weekend! too bad the rain has come in. boo!

I love Dr. Seuss.

Growing up, i had a ton of books. Massive. my mom was cool like that. But my favorites were always the Shel Silversteins and the Dr. Seuss books.

For my moms funeral, my brother and I each put something of importance in her casket to be buried with. My choice was obvious. I gave her my copy of Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places we will go". I wrote a little letter on the inside. A lot of people saw it at the funeral and laughed and thought it was a great idea. You just had to know my mom.

I gave her this particular book for many reasons. It reminds me of my childhood. One that she was a huge part of. She was an educator and books were her thing. No matter what, she never denied me a book. She also always told us, we could do whatever we wanted in life. She knew all the places me and my brother could possibly go...and it's that faith that she had in me that gave me my own faith to believe in myself.

You might also remember that in Jae's wedding band, I also inscribed "Oh the places we will go..." inspired from this very book. I wanted Jae to know we had places to go together, too. and the limits were endless. I wanted him to have the faith in us that I did. The same faith my mom gave me.

I MISS HER SO MUCH.

I had given her my only copy, but when I was cleaning through her stuff in the basement, I found another copy. I clearly gave this to the baby. A baby I will also pass this faith onto. See, my mom had a lot of faith. in everything and everyone...so i have a lot of share.

A few weeks ago, I found a great deal on some Dr. Seuss books, so I picked up a few. Coincidentally, weeks before that, I found a good deal on some Dr. Seuss bedding which i also picked up (just the sheet).






I think of Dr. Seuss, and I think of my mom and my childhood. What a great mom and I Can only hope to be just a part of what she was to my own child.

I ask for the strength to pull through this without her, and to raise my child the way she would have wanted me too. I don't want to fail at this. I wish she was here to guide me, but I can only go on the faith she gave me. She said I could do everything I wanted to do. My daughter, the one who will bare her name, is my first true test.

i have this coworker. Tuesday she gets a call saying her brother is really sick and is at the ER. He has a bad cough and its pretty bad.

I feel bad for her... but then I hear her on the phone calling everyone she knows to update them and then she starts crying.

Call me cold hearted but I feel disgusted. I hate feeling this way bc I should support her, but i dont say anything. I actually begin to ignore her.

I know right away why. I have been in the hospital more times than I can count in my lifetime. Between my mom, and my grandparents, I have been through a lot of medical issues. In fact, the last time I was there with my grandpa, a nurse overheard me talking and asked me how i knew so much about medicine (I was explaining to my grandma what a certain medication did and why they were giving it to my grandpa...of course no one explains this to him themselves so i have to step in). I told her that I was used to this and around hospitals a lot. She told me i knew a lot and that i should become a doctor or physicians assistant.

This didnt make me feel good. I shouldnt know any of this! But i do.

So back to my coworker. I felt like she was making a huge deal out of this. Granted, maybe she or her family has never been to a hospital before and I totally get that shes worried and stuff. But I'm desensitized. If its not a serious medical issue, I am sure they will be fine and I am not going to go ga-ga over making it a big deal.

I watched my mom pass away in front of my eyes in a hospital. You are not going to impress me with your brothers cough.

I know this sounds harsh. and bitter. and im totally in the wrong here. I am using my own feelings and experiences and taking it out on everyone else. But I just can't find it in me to feel empathy for her situation. I've had it much worse and i want to be a baby about it.

Yesterday she did not come to work, telling me "it was pretty bad" and she needed to watch her nephew while her brother was recovering. I did not respond... even though i know the normal response should have been "hope hes ok" or "keep me updated". Her facebook was updated "saying prayers for my brother". i didnt even know she was religious.

Today, she came into work and we exchanged good mornings but I did not ask about her brother, even though i know i should have.

I really hate feeling this way. I want to be a good friend....but i cant find the strength.

My situations have been extreme. My family has been put in the hospital many times...and i was there as a young child into young adulthood and into mature adulthood. Am i just completely numb to any medical situation unless its dire?

24 Weeks

this week my baby is the size of...


an ear of corn!

My baby is probably over a pound now! woo hoo!

my wrists are starting to swell. when i take my watch off, there are indentations =(.

i cant wait for the weather to get better though. no more puffy winter jackets i have to squeeze into. no more uggs. i will get to wear comfortable loose shirts and flip flops! since the weather is nice this week, maybe ill even go walking in the park after work. thats a plan!

i ordered the crib today. and jae brought home the paint last night. i got a box filled with diaper cream and baby lotion. i believe the nesting has begun!

yesterday my belly was lopsided! how freaky! i guess the baby was in a weird position, because the right side of my stomach was way further out than the left side. you could see it from over my shirt!

the baby has not been moving as much lately. this could be a combo of my anterior placenta and the babys new sleeping habits (they sleep about 12-14 hours now), but nonetheless, its always constantly on your mind when she is not moving.

in terms of getting things ready for the baby, i believe we have a paint color chosen. i cant wait to see it on the walls. i have bad experience with paint. most times it doesnt come out the way i want it to =(

i have been purchasing little things here and there as i see a sale. i set aside about $3K to randomly spend on some little things i wouldn't register for. these include...

crib, crib mattress, mattress pad, nursing bras, baby carrier, nursery decoations, dresser, closet organizers, glider, shopping cart cover, baby detergent, baby medications etc. its a small budget but i think i can do it or come close.

I want to spend March getting most things for the baby ready. Order all furniture, have the room painted and set up.

then relax in april, although i already have a few parties to attend.

May will be a completely hectic month. I have 6 baby classes to attend, plus my cousins shower, plus my own shower (May 16th - Save the date!). Plus things like packing hospital bag etc to do.

June i plan to relax and interview some pediatricians.

Holy crap, only 3.5 more months to go!

Cynthia.

that was the last name suggested to us.

I am going crazy. My sister in law is obsessed with my babys name. Everytime I see her, she asks me if I have a name yet. When I say no, she proceeds to spew off a thousand names to me. Kathleen, Emma, Samantha...... she even suggested I name the baby after my mom. She will use the name with the last name, or with the middle and last name.

I can't take it. I have to stop her. Next time, I am going to tell her that we won't be talking about the babys name until after she is born. I even complained to Jae about this, hoping that next time he would tell her to back off. I have run out of ways to politely nod my head and smile and come up with ways to avoid saying "i hate that name".

I saw her Saturday...and she said "did you pick a name yet? ive been thinking about it. cynthia! cynthia oh!".

help. me.

to make myself feel better, i picked up one more onesie. This one suddenly appeared after I posted the last ladybug post. Strange coincidence? Either way, I felt it was a sign and had to have it. lol

23 weeks

my baby is the size of a...


mango!

only this week am i finally feeling like "wow, im making progress". the pregnancy seemed to drag on in the beginning but when i saw 23 weeks today, i was like whoah.

at this point, she can definetely hear things from the outside world. She also sleeps about 12-14 hours a day.

symptoms:

1. pooping. pre-pregnancy i was a consistent pooper. i would go everyday, same time.
since becoming pregnant, i have had bouts of constipation. im sure most of you have heard my big story of 45 mins on the can and giving birth to a turd the size of arkansas....traumatic. but overall, i was doing pretty good and still going daily, even if only a little bit.
since moving to our new office, we no longer have a private bathroom, so i had to train myself to poop before i leave the house bc i HATE public restrooms. somedays i would go no problem, others would take more time but overall, i would go. well for the past week or so, ive been having problems going in the morning. i really dont get up until i get something out... but i can be on there for half hour or more. this annoys me bc on these days, i always end up having to go at work which is just gross. I am trying to keep my fiber up but it seems nothing is really working. i hope its just a phase. sorry if TMI. hehe

2. stomach cant be held up without propping on pillows during sleep anymore. one night, i was sleeping on my side and apparently there was no snoogle or pillow under my belly and i woke up in pain. it felt like i had been straining to hold my belly up all night or something. finding a good position to sleep in has become increasingly harder.

3. kicks! i can time them now and count them. baby kicked about 10 times every half hour last week. this week, the time is decreasing. so awesome.


4. wedding rings starting to get tight but i can still pull them on and off.

5. leg cramps. I have been lucky to not get any yet. but this past week, i started to feel the onset of them. but i caught them all in time to not become a full fledged leg cramp. one time my hand cramped up using the food processor. and last night, my foot cramped. but it hasnt gotten to my leg yet. thank goodness! The doctors dont' really know why pregnant ladies get leg cramps - they think it could be of the extra weight on your legs with the pregnancy. or the uterus sitting on blood vessels which carry blood to the legs.

found this on my window last night:



this is supposed to be good luck, right? i looked it up this morning and it said if i count the number of spots on its back, its how many children i will have. oops, jae took it outside before i could count. oh wells. =)

so much for taking it easy. i was at my sister in laws last night for final dinner with the aunt and uncle. We had Grimaldi's pizza... yum! this is what the aunt and uncle requested haha. It was good and then SIL fed us cheesecake. omg. so, once we got home, went straight up to bed.

My house is still dirty from Saturday night. i have streamers on the floor, ping pong and MJ table still out, candy wrappers everywhere. ack! I will have to do a quick clean tonight before the boys come for dinner.

Anyway,



I have an obsession. Baby clothes. I can't help it, everything is so small and cute. Especially girl clothes! (one of the better perks of having a girl) I realize the mistake i'm making here by purchasing anything. I have a lot of time left to spend. not only that but other people love buying baby clothes and i am sure i will be getting some pieces here and there. not only that, i have 2 nieces who i am sure i can hand me downs from. I realize a baby can outgrow clothes in a weeks time. but unless you've been there, you won't understand.... i think every soon-to-be mother will have episodes where they buy things for their child they may not necessarily need.

I went over shopping twice already. It was during the time when the Gap/Old Navy items were on sale on top of the sale items. For gap, it was 25% off sale items, where for old navy, it was 50% off. 50%!!!!

This was before we knew the gender of the baby, so i picked up a lot of neutral basic items, like sweat pants and hoodies and stuff at Gap. It was fun, i didnt even have to spend money. Most items were 5 bucks and under!

So I got addicted. I went to Old Navy...score! This was even cheaper than Gap, not only the base price but the discount at 50%. I was in hog heaven. Again, being addicted, I decided to try another Gap. heres where i decided to be brave and start purchasing girl stuff. We had a very strong feeling it was a girl.... and i figured if it wasnt, i could return the items. So I started buying girl stuff.

it was fun, i must admit. i bought stuff for 0-3 mos, 3-6 and 6-9 and even 12mos. (this is how its categorized in my first picture, 4 piles) Since most of the items on sale were winter items, I thought ahead, and picked up a lot of 6-9 month items for the wintertime.

Oh man.. i couldn't stop myself. I hadnt even spent 200 bucks total yet. but i stopped here. i knew i was getting out of control....

here are some of my favorite purchases.

this is super cute in person.



again, cute but not too girly.



this is probably for a boy but who cares. i think its cute for any baby.


could you just DIE at this outfit? OMG.


here's the kicker. jae looooves this item. I swear, everytime he looks at it, his chest gets bigger because I swear his heart is literally swelling. sometimes he'll even read it out loud, as if he can't wait to be a "daddy". or maybe its just that he can't believe he'll be a daddy. either way, he just loves looking at this. at first, i said i wish they made a mommy one. but now, i dont even want one... i would rather let jae have his moment. hehe.



a few months later... i found a great deal at childrens place online. all their sale items were cheap...and there was an additional 15% off coupon plus free ship. lets get shopping. i only picked up basic necessities though.

$4.25


capri leggings. i love the lace on the bottom. would look cute under a dress. $4.25


Fleece pants, perfect for winter time. $2.54! I got two of these in different colors.


bought this more as a keepsake than anything. $4.25


the most expensive item, but i thought it would look cute with jeans. plus i love the tshirt over long T look. $5.94


My total was under $25 bucks. kind of boring choices but i think i picked up some good basics for a low price.

Now, this kid is not even born yet. I think im in trouble. I got 18 years to go. Must stop shopping!

longest weekend ever

officially done!

had the roughest weekend ever but it was fun.

Friday night we hosted Jae's family as well as aunt and uncle from Korea. We ordered in some yummy korean food (sushi platter missing from this picture).



Jae's crazy aunt is worse than any college student i know in terms of peer pressure. wow, the drinks going around were crazy. she even tried to make ME drink! haha. shes a riot. this is how bad it was...heres my sister in law in her late 30's, HIDING from her own aunt. can you spot her? hhaha



they ate and drank... and drank....and drank. lets see, soju mixed with beer, straight up soju, johnny walker black, my sister in law mixed up some lemon drop shots. yeah, it was a long night. they didnt leave till after midnight.



Bc of my party the next day, i had to clean up a bit.... tired!

SAturday, JAe went off to work, so i had to clean up more and then start cooking. spent all day cooking, took a nap in between and people started showing up around 4PM. It was a long day but fun! We revealed the babys gender to our friends. Originally I Was going to do cupcake icing:



but decided to do a pinata instead (cupcakes/cake is too overplayed).

We did Bingo and ping pong and ate way to much. Here are some other videos from the night.:

Julie vs. Pinata - once again Julie shows no mercy


Face off #1 - Dave does NOT win


Redo- face-off: Ronaldo Vega wins!


Face off #2 - Anna vs. Mike. Mike's face is priceless


SUNDAY:

We took jully, judy and dave to dim sum.....yum yum.

we lounged around and then they left. Jae and I took a quick nap (needed more!!!) and then headed over to grandmas for my aunt and Michael's Birthday. wayy too much food but delicious.

it was a long weekend and i still have massive cleaning up to do tonight. not only that but everyone raided my fridge and i have nothing left so i have to run to the supermarket tonight.

i realized this weekend that i am really overextending myself and i vowed to get back into my normal routine. i havent been cooking, havent been walking or exercising, and i am feeling out of it and feeling unhealthy.

i need to get back on track!

it doesn't end

sometimes it just never ends...

sometimes i still get mail with my mom's name on it. it sucks. it always has her name on it...somewhere on there will be the word "deceased". and of course, the date of death.

Date. of. Death.

it doesn't get any easier to see those words. In fact, they just bring out everything we've been hiding. Memories come flooding back. You start to do the math in your head. Only 4 months ago. Sounds so long ago but seems so fresh in my head. I was watching American Idol last night, and for a fleeting second, I thought to call my mom to ask her what she thought about a contestant. These moments have happened a few times. They last a millisecond, but make you feel like shit for days. Wow, shes really gone. Somedays I still don't believe it.

22 weeks. and friggin huge.



P.S. I hate my hair. Luckily, it's growing in pretty fast.

last night jae's uncle and aunt from korea arrived so we were all in the bronx for dinner. what a riot...this aunt is crazy, looney tunes. i dont think anyone stopped laughing for a second. even though i could not understand anything she was saying, i was laughing at how everyone else was cracking up. what a good time they all had. even jae who is usually so emotionless couldn't help but laugh. and the best part, she thought i was only 4 months, rather than 5. yessss!

when i walked into the living room, i saw this. a garbage full of kim (seaweed). they brought an entire suitcase full of this. me and the sisters were fighting for this. good stuff.



nothing like a laughing kid..

belly...bulge...bump...22 Weeks

My baby is the size of spaghetti squash!



im growing bigger by the day. My skin sometimes actually hurts from stretching...and its starting to get very itchy...so beware of stretch marks! I read this online today. Pay attention to the last sentence.

Real estate within your belly is getting tight, with growing baby leaving little room for your lungs to...well...breathe. Expect the huffing and puffing to start soon. There's not much room for your belly button, either -- it'll pop out any day now.

Noooooo!

overall still feeling great. still fairly active although i do have those nights when im just dead tired and dont want to move. but i find if i actually get up, i am fine. i have yet to start my yoga classes, but i should do it soon. I'm still eating up a storm.... my total weight gain has been....16.6 lbs.

My baby was about 13 oz at my last appointment. Although doctors cannot be completely accurate about this, the websites say my baby should be about 10.5 oz now so the baby is just a bit big.

im a little over the halfway mark so lets look back at the progress.

my belly at 6 weeks.



11 weeks...you can see there is no real bump...just one big bulge from boob to belly. this was my "ugly stage"



at 16 weeks, my bump finally defined. i started to hang lower and there was actually space between bottom of my boob and top of my belly.


some foods ive been enjoying:

making salsa. its just so easy and takes about 15 pulses to complete!




of course i make nachos...with lots of cheese!


I also tried this Shrimp Primavera from TJs. Of course it ain't no restaurant primavera, one of my faves, but it did the trick for a quick dinner.



just heat up shrimp and veggies (already comes with sauce)


add noodles

Maternity Clothes

I thought I would never say this, but I see no need to ever go back to non-maternity clothes again. In fact, I see no reason why non-pregnant ladies should not wear maternity clothes. Try it!

I am speaking mostly in terms of pants. No zippers, no buttons. what's not to love?

these are my most comfortable jeans. It took me a loooong time to find, but i finally found one at old navy. $39.50 regular price. A lot of people dont like the full panels. I dont particularly mind them. I think they are great...these should be everybody's "Buffet" pants. you can roll down the panel when you have no belly, then after you eat too many plates of crab legs and lo mein, you can roll the panel up for full support.



I have a pair of demi-panel work pants from Gap in black. These aren't bad. If you aren't big enough, the band sort of hangs down below your belly and the pants end up too big on you. But these are really comfortable.


Leggings. these are the shiznit for pregnant women. I will probably live in these once the weather gets warmer.


My cousin really recommends the pants which have the adjustable waistband on the inside but I have yet to find these.

As for shirts, any old baby doll or long shirt will do. I found a few non-maternity shirts that were just a big longer and they have been working fine for me. Seriously, I think I will wear my maternity pants forever....because you buy your same size pre-pregnancy as in maternity, these should still fit me no matter what. then i dont ever have to worry about getting back into my pre-pregnancy jeans! hehe.