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Ask any pregnant woman and she will tell you that the one
thing she absolutely needs during her pregnancy is support for the belly. This
is where an entire business has risen to cater to her pregnancy needs. And no
product has proven to be as popular or as much in demand as the simple, yet
effective, maternity belt. Not all pregnant mums use maternity belts. In fact,
some of them have the body structure that enables them to breeze through their
pregnancy. But some women do need extra support for the growing belly. And for
the likes of them, a maternity belt can prove to be immensely advantageous.
While there is much discussion among doctors, practitioners of maternity
medicine and even academicians, one thing is for sure. Women who need additional
support for their day to day activities, and especially those who indulge in
strenuous exercise, do require a modicum of additional support. And this is
provided to them in the form of the maternity belt.
A good maternity belt will have a number of special features. While providing
support, the maternity belt must be comfortable, yet elastic enough not to cramp
the stomach muscles. It should be made of an airy material that allows the
stomach and covered areas to breathe and should b ergonomically designed in
order to provide the maximum, functional comfort. A good maternity belt is much
more than a mere piece of elastic! It is a carefully designed garment that can
help expectant mothers relieve some of the pain that goes with carrying around a
swollen belly. More importantly, by working as it is designed to do, a good
maternity belt can help remove almost completely the back pain that most women
associate with pregnancy and a swollen belly.
Most maternity belts are made of simple cotton with an elastic support built
into them t relieve the strain on the back muscles. Some varieties of maternity
belts could also incorporate lace and other frills into the design to make them
not just more appealing to look at, but to provide a sense of fashion. Most
expectant mothers tend to feel undesirable and ugly as a result of the changing
shape of their body. As such, elegant maternity belts give them the
psychological feeling of looking and feeling good. Additionally, most maternity
belts come with a Velcro clasp that makes them adjustable to accommodate the
growing belly. Typically, expectant mothers start wearing maternity belts in the
6th or 7th month of pregnancy and continue wearing them throughout the last
trimester. This is the stage when the belly grows to its biggest and is when
these mothers need the maximum support possible.
The main advantages of a maternity belt are that it provides support to the
growing belly, relieves the stress on the back muscles and prevents bounce and
impact when indulging in day to day activities or even exercise. The reasons to
buy and wear a maternity belt are many, but care must be taken to choose the
right maternity belt. After all, this is more than merely fashion. It is a
practical garment that is designed to protect expectant mothers and their unborn
babies.
Whatever the joys of having a baby are (I am trying for
my second with a bit of luck) they must be substantial for the human race not to
have died out completely by this point. There is nothing, and I mean nothing in
this world, more difficult and depressing than pregnancy. Your body swells up to
a shape perfectly inconvenient for – well – everything. You get moody. You get
strange food cravings at all hours, day and night. Your body becomes sensitive
and generally grouchy and unhappy with you. But worst of all are the maternity
clothes.
I know, I know. I should be more tolerant of my own body. My therapist says I
should even be proud. I mean, I'm bringing a new life into the world, and I
guess I don't look too bad for a pregnant woman. But I feel just awful in my
maternity clothing. I mean, would they make something called a “moo moo” if it
didn't make the wearer feel like a fat cow?
Of course, I don't spend my days in moo moos. Far from it. My maternity clothes
are just grotesque, misshapen versions of my normal clothes – mostly maternity
jeans and maternity t-shirts, thank you very much. But still, I can't help but
notice some difference with maternity clothes besides the abnormal size. I've
never seen so much cutesy bs – teeshirts with kittens, stars, rainbows for
Christ sakes. Just because I'm having a baby doesn't mean I'm becoming ones.
Maternity clothes should not look like baby clothes.
And the silliest of all are the maternity clothes designed to look elegant. I
mean you wouldn't believe the things they sell on internet maternity clothes
sites. I even found one selling maternity evening gowns. Can you even image it?
Sleek, velvet, graceful lines descending to my round, bloated belly. Yes, I feel
like quite the fashionable debutant in this outfit, thanks for asking.
If I designed maternity clothes, they'd be straightforward, simple, and
tasteful. They would be in plain colors, plain cuts, and neither attempt to draw
attention to the pregnancy nor to distract it. There is no two ways about it – I
know my body is going to look kind of odd for the next several months, and
maternity clothes can't make it fashionable. So they should just cover me as
simply as possible and not patronize me with their kittens or flatter me with
their low necks and velvet.
After doing a little math, I discovered that I might very
well be quite pregnant next summer. I am in my mid-thirties and I have one child
who really doesn’t want to be an only child. I figure that my husband and I had
better get moving on having another child before I reach my forties.
I am going to be thirty-seven next year. Since this is closer to forty than it
is to thirty, my husband and I started mapping out plans for the next bundle of
joy. However, right in the midst of this process, I said, “We can’t do it next
year. I’m matron of honor.” Yes. My biggest concern about possibly bringing
another life into this world was finding a maternity bridesmaid dress.
Many men, my husband included, may find this to be absolutely ridiculous.
However, none of them have ever faced the daunting task of finding a gown that
suits the needs of six different women at once. This task is nearly impossible
in the first place. If you add a pregnant woman into the mix, it is downright
impossible.
Of course, I am not going to put off having a baby just because I am in a
wedding. The thought of telling the bride that we need to look for a maternity
bridesmaid dress for me is a little scary. I imagine the expression on her face
when I give her the news. It will be that look you give when you are extremely
shocked and disappointed but you want the person facing you to think that you
are thrilled.
Finding a maternity bridesmaid dress probably isn’t as difficult as I think it
may be. The major problem is that we have already picked out the gowns and I
have already put a hefty deposit on mine. Fortunately, I have time to think and
decide. Maybe thirty-eight isn’t really a bad age to give birth. It’s been done.
There are a few manufacturers who make the elusive maternity bridesmaid dress
and I’m sure that we will find one. We could always hire someone to add a panel
or two or three right into the gown I already bought. I might be able to squeeze
into the bridesmaid gown even if I’m a few months along.
The best option would be to see if the bridal store will let me exchange my gown
for another. There is still plenty of time before the wedding. Perhaps I can
order maternity bridesmaid dress that will work with the other girls’ gowns.
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