with baby due in april, we’re pretty much in the home stretch over here. i’m in the dreaded third trimester, which means it will feel like an eternity, but the reality is that i have less than three months to get ready! the nursery is moving along well, but i also need to make sure i pack my hospital bag for the big day. as with a lot of births, my last experience did not go as expected. one thing that was surprisingly hard was to be stuck in a hospital bed wearing two threadbare hospital gowns as doctors, nurses, lactation consultants, and family members came in an out of the room at all hours of the day and night. nurses would pull open my shirt and poke my boobs to see if i was engorged, the doctor would lift up my gown to check on my healing cesarean scar, a very sweet woman came in with a warm squirt bottle and accompanied me to the bathroom to make sure that i peed…. it’s a tough experience to be in a hospital, so it’s really nice to be able to feel as normal as possible while it’s all happening.

perhaps because so much of my expression of self comes from the clothes i choose to wear, i feel best wearing something of my own. i begged them to let me wear my own nightgown, but they told me i couldn’t because they wouldn’t be able to juggle the iv or rush me to the icu if something were to go wrong. i totally get it. but this time, i’m so happy to know about james fox co. hospital gowns! they currently have a beautiful purple ikat or this minimalist crema gown in hand woven cotton. and one nice perk? a portion of the proceeds go towards providing maama kits to help women in uganda to deliver their babies safely.

t