Budding fashion mogul Nicole Richie is looking to take her business to another level by designing maternity wear. According to recent reports, she has partnered with fashion line A Pea in the Pod for the new range. Richie already has her own label called House of Harlow 1960. She is currently hard at work designing clothes, shoes and jewelry for her Harlow label.

New Maternity Clothing Line

The new range for A Pea in a Pod was launched on Thursday. Richie was quoted as saying of her collaboration with the company, “Pea in the Pod is such a known company for pregnant women. They carry great lines, and so when they asked me to create a line for them, I was really excited and eager to do it.”

She also offered her view on being fashionable while pregnant saying, “…you really feel like you have to change your whole wardrobe. And that’s the last thing a woman wants to go through. So I really tried to make this line to get women excited about wearing clothes. I think the pregnant body is beautiful, and I think you should show it off.”

Nicole Richie’s Pregnancy

Richie herself is currently in the third trimester of her second pregnancy. She has a 19-month old daughter, Harlow for whom her fashion house is named. She says she was inspired by life with Harlow and her boyfriend Joel Madden when designing the maternity range.

Even her hectic work schedule has not forced her to slow down despite her advanced pregnancy. According to Richie, she is doing all she can to ensure the success of the label. In an interview with People.com she was quoted as saying, “I have my second collection of House of Harlow 1960 coming out in November, and my regular clothing line coming out in Spring 2010 along with my shoe line.”

I hope that Richie will not feel the need to push herself too much despite the demands of her work. Here’s hoping for a healthy birth and that the reminder of her pregnancy is as worry free as possible. Richie has had some legal trouble in the past, but all that is behind her now. She seems to be on the way to being a successful businesswoman and a great mom.

When I was expecting my first child, I worked in a nursing home.  I really didn’t have to worry about my work clothes because it was pretty basic stuff and not too much room for individuality.

I really never showed until I was around 6 months pregnant.  At that time, I began to search for maternity clothes but our budget was so strained, I simply couldn’t afford to buy too many clothes.  A friend of mine decided to pass along the clothes she had sitting in her attic.  I was thrilled for the clothes!

When my pregnancy ended, my friend told me to just keep the clothes.  I was thrilled and stored them in the attic until my next pregnancy.  The one thing I didn’t consider though was the reality of  the timing of my pregnancies and how that would affect my wardrobe.

For example, I conceived my son a few summers ago.  I didn’t wear maternity clothes until fall, and then I could fit into small or medium outfits.  By the time he was born in spring, I had progressed to large maternity outfits mostly because I had a lot of excess fluid I was carrying.  This year, I began my pregnancy in early December and our child will be born in August.  I have NO summer maternity clothes because I was didn’t need them with my last pregnancy!

Sadly, at my “advanced maternal age”, I am the only one of my friends still bearing babies.  Sharing maternity clothes is not an option.  Oh well…looks like I just may have to go out and buy some NEW maternity clothes.  Part of me feels guilty splurging to buy new clothes when I know this is my last pregnancy.  What a waste of money!  Another part of me tells myself that I am worth that splurge.

What do you think? Did you buy new maternity clothes for yourself during your pregnancy? Did you wear second hand clothes?

With my first pregnancy, I literally didn’t wear maternity clothes until I was 6 months pregnant.  With each successive pregnancy(and as my age advanced), I “showed” earlier and earlier.  With my most recent pregnancy, I’d noticed some changes in my waistline even before the test came back positive.

Because of my history, getting out the maternity clothes is not an easy thing to do.  I still remember taking down the crib and packing away the nursery supplies when our son was stillborn 3 years ago.  I couldn’t fit into my “regular” pants and I wore maternity clothes to the funeral home to make the arrangements with my husband to bury our son.

That event changed me radically.  Since then, I guess I am afraid of “what if”.  For example, when our next son was born a year later, my husband and I hadn’t even picked out a name yet!  We also hadn’t set up the nursery.

My family was angry because they felt we’d not prepared for this child and that we were irresponsible.  That wasn’t it at all.  We were just afraid because we knew that in life, there are no guarantees.    I didn’t want to have to pack away more baby things “if” something happened.

This past weekend, I went out and bought pants a size larger than I usually wear to try to hold me over until I absolutely must pull out those maternity clothes.  They are a little loose, but just fine for now.  Every so often, I’ll look at the maternity clothes I have stored under the bed, but I just can’t bear to go through them right now or think about wearing them.  I’m not quite yet 8 weeks along you know.

Monday is my first OB appointment.  Perhaps after I emerge from the first trimester, I’ll be brave enough to pull out those maternity clothes, but for now, my “big” pants are just fine.

Through a dark dark hall, down a dark dark stair, in a dark dark basement, at the back of a dark dark room, is a dark dark door. And behind the dark dark door, is a dark dark cupboard. And in the dark dark cupboard is things that squeak and swing and bounce and play music – all my son’s outgrown baby items.

With an odd name and a great idea, Freepeats is a website for parents to give away unwanted baby and kid items, and maternity clothes, to other parents. The idea is very similar to the popular freecycle.org but is just for babies, kids, and mothers-to-be. The person who wants the item comes to pick it up, so you can get gently used stuff for the price of gas, and get rid of stuff without going to the thrift store or dump.

Freepeats operates in several US cities, (Cleveland, Nashville, Seattle, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, DC, Philly, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Detroit) and if your town isn’t on the list yet, you can sign up to be notified when they do start a site in your area.

I’m in the process of clearing out the dark dark cupboard, and while I was pulling out my son’s old swing and bouncer I remembered a mom friend telling me about Freepeats. So I thought I’d pass the world along to Babies Online readers, and now I’m off to list the stuff on my local Freepeats.

Have you reached the point in your pregnancy yet when you need to go out and buy some actual maternity clothes? There is only so long you can walk around with your regular pants unbuttoned, after all, so there usually comes a point for most women when it’s time to head to the store and get some real maternity clothes.

While some women look forward to the experience (I did!) there are some women who avoid it until they just can’t wait any more. Granted, some maternity clothes are really horribly ugly, but you’ll probably be surprised to find that there are some really cute things out there.

Here are the things that made the experience of shopping for maternity clothes a lot of fun for me:

1. The baby bump! If you shop in a store that is specifically designed for pregnant women you’ll probably be offered a fake belly to strap onto your belly so you can see how the clothes will fit in a few months. I got a real kick out of the preview.

2. The comfort! I had been shoving my belly into my larger clothes, but it was downright uncomfortable when I was sitting because my pregnant belly pushed up against the waistband. Getting some clothes that actually fit was a real treat.

3. The experience! I took my husband along with me and we did let some sniffles out when I was trying on the maternity clothes. It was just a beautiful moment…the pregnancy was becoming a lot more tangible in our minds very quickly, and buying some clothes for my big belly was making it all a lot more real for us.

Don’t dread the experience; embrace it! You’ll be back in your pre-pregnancy clothes soon enough (or, at least in my case, in a couple years) so just enjoy the clothes that accentuate your status as a pregnant woman while you can.

I don’t know if it’s because of all the pregnant celebrities popping up nowadays, but the pregnant women I see waddling around the mall sure seem to be well-dressed. I mean, they seem decked out in fashions that rival anything I wear, and I’m not even pregnant.

Ask my mom what pregnancy fashions were like when she was in her early twenties, and she’ll shudder as she describes dresses that rivaled circus tents. She’ll tell you that pregnancy was just not a fashionable time, and so women just kind of gave up their fashion sense for nine months.

I found out I was pregnant with my first baby almost five years ago. When my belly started popping out I took a trip to the mall and checked out all the maternity clothes offerings. I wound up at a department store that was having a massive clearance and stocked up on everything I might need. I think I spent about $200, and with the exception of a formal dress I had to buy for a banquet, that was all the money I spent on my clothes. I wasn’t the most fashionable pregnant lady around, but at least I had some clothes that fit and didn’t look a thing like circus tents.

I thought I was in the majority with being under the impression that pregnancy was a time to save money for the baby and to not really care too much about my fashion sense. I didn’t look sloppy, but by no means was I sporting designer labels. I’ve noticed, though, that more and more there are pregnant women who not only dress in designer clothes, but they also don’t have the whole haggard I-feel-like-I’m-going-to-explode look. Excuse me, but in the last few years did pregnancy suddenly become effortless and nobody told me?

I applaud any woman who can walk around pregnant out to here yet still look chic and fashionable. As for me, I was the one walking around in capris and t-shirts from a clearance rack. Hey, it worked for me.

I was meeting a business associate/friend for dinner last night. It took me more than an hour to find something to wear. Looking at a pile of my favorite skirts and dress pants on the floor, knowing it would be at least a year before I could wear them again, I wanted to cry.

As a work-at-home freelance writer, my wardrobe has consisted of sweatpants and t-shirts for the past month. Prior to getting pregnant, I usually made an effort to get dressed for work. I’d shower in the morning, do my hair and some light make-up, and put on jeans and a t-shirt; the same thing I’ve worn to work for every office job I’ve held since college.

I still shower every morning, but it’s far too time-consuming to find pants that fit my rapidly-expanding waist. My legs and thighs are still the same size as always, so buying larger clothes is tricky right now. Besides, I don’t know how long I’ll stay this size.

This morning, I braced myself to get on the scale for the first time since January 30, when I found out I was pregnant. ‘I will not cry if it says 140,’ I repeated like a mantra.

I’m 5′3′ and very petite. My ideal weight is between 115 and 125. Pre-pregnancy, I was hovering around 132, depending on the time of month. (Sometimes I hit 129, some mornings I was at a high of 134.)

Imagine my surprise when the scale said 131.6. ‘How could this be?’ I asked my friend and fellow blogger, Julie Fletcher, mother of 4. “None of my clothes fit!” ‘Your womb is expanding,’ she explained. ‘Your waist and hips are growing, but you haven’t gained any weight yet. It’s perfectly normal.’

So what to do when you don’t yet fit into maternity clothes, but your pre-pregnancy low-rise jeans and baby doll tees just aren’t cutting it (or buttoning, for that matter)?

The rubber band trick: Wrap a rubber band around the button of your jeans, thread it through the button hole, and wrap it around the button again. Add a long, baggy shirt, and you can get another month of wear out of your favorite pre-pregnancy denim.

Be thankful sweat suits are in! I’ve never liked the trend, but women and teens wear sweat suits with hooded, zip-up jackets everywhere. Some women can make these suits look good! What’s their secret? A nice, well-made t-shirt, some casual jewelry and clean, matching sneakers dress up a sweat suit, making it perfectly appropriate for the movies, the mall, even dinner. When you wear one of these comfortable ensembles, the secret is in the details; your hair, your make-up, and your accessories will complete the package.

Look for pants with stretch waistbands. You can even find dress pants today made from stretchy material. Add a long, loose shirt, nice shoes and some jewelry and you have an outfit that will take you from the office to dinner appointments with no fuss.