Some women just look gorgeous while pregnant.

 

You know the type: their taut limbs and firm behinds scream, "I DO YOGA DAILY, HAHAHA!!"

 

Their bellies are perfectly soccer-ball round, faces glow. Their hair? Mervelously arranged in a loose, "I don't care but I'm still stunning" way. And you – with sweat clinging to your slightly greasy hair, your butt hanging out of the casings of your pre-maternity underwear, your belly wildly distended and your limbs flapping tribute to the Stars and Stripes, why you are torn between wanting to roll your eyes at that lady or find an incancantation spell that will slip you into her (fragrant) skin.

 

Or maybe it's not you. Maybe it's just me.

*****

I'll tell you this: I don't feel gorgeous while pregnant. I don't feel gorgeous while I'm a nursing Mama either. I feel big and fleshy, like those Venus of Willendorf dolls.

 

Oh sure, objectively speaking, I know all the bits about how I'm basically a sacred earth-mother-goddess now – my body is creating another human being, after all! And then (post-birth), my body will be nurturing and sustaining a tiny baby into near-self subsistence!

 

But frankly, I'm too hormonal to be objective. I just want to look good. I want to feel good. I want to not cry – as I literally do sometimes – when I look in the mirror or look at photos of myself right here, right now.

 

31 weeks pregnant. Massive Mama.

*****

A Mother's Boutique sent me an Annee Matthew Bamboo Drawstring Hoodie to review. I was excited and yet a little nervous about it because on the site, the fit of the hoodie looks like it's for those Slim-Hipped Yoga Moms. And the stripes are horizontal which everyone in the 80's said makes us look bigger. Like I need to look bigger, thank you very much.

 

The actual hoodie though – when I received it, was baby-skin soft. Luxurious. I mean, LUXURIOUS. This bamboo stuff feels like the finest, softest cloth, it just rubs right and somehow the texture of that automatically made me feel *that* much better.

 

Then I slipped it on. Went and looked at myself and.. fell in love. Not with myself silly; with the hoodie!

The fit does flatter – even if I'm a wide-hipped celto-teutonic peasant breed and no slim-hipped taut Yoga-Mom. I look as good I possibly can in this. And more, when I fiddled with the top part, it's clear to see that nursing in this is going to be breeze – it just slips right over to the side and you can pop your boob discreetly out.

IN A HOODIE!! How cool is that?!

The colour is also really handy. Grey/black basically goes with everything and with stripes being trendy, you don't even have to bother really with matching the bottoms. Oh, and clearly "they" were wrong about horizontal stripes making you look bigger. Those 80's… guess you can't trust a decade that also told you big frosted hair was rad.

A Mother's Boutique – and Annee Matthew -  I owe you a personal note of thanks. I really needed something that made me feel good, and made me feel as if I'm looking good. Thank you.

****

As a token of their singular awesomeness, they will also give away one of the same right here, right now:

 To enter, just follow the Rafflecopter (1. Mandatory: visit A Mother's Boutique and leave a comment here on which item you like best. Extra entry: "like" A Mother's Boutique on facebook).

Winner selected randomly on Sept. 7th, Winner announced on Sept. 8th. A new winner will be selected if original winner does not respond in 3 days.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

If you'd rather go straight to the source and not chance a giveaway, you can buy yours – or similar hoodies or awesome shirts and other items on their sites:

Annee Matthew: http://www.anneematthew.net/bamboohoodie.html

A Mother's Boutique: http://www.mothersboutique.com/bamboohoodie.html – A Mother's Boutique is where you can find the ENTIRE  Annee Matthew collection of maternity and  nursing wear: http://www.mothersboutique.com/anneematthew.html (check out my fave: the "Milk Factory" tee!! )