Getting through pregnancy gracefully

This is my second pregnancy and my second attempt to manage to look nice and tidy and yes.. even elegant throughout. This does not work out every day, but I keep trying.
A pregnancy wardrobe that fits your ideas of elegance and modesty is a good start. While I did cave in and bought a pair of pregnancy jeans this year (I really am not a jeans person) I try to combine them with crisp white blouses for a more elegant look.
Wrap skirts from Tznius actually work for quite a while if you put the waistband above or under your belly. They are so wide and long that you don't sacrifice modesty. In the picture above you can see me wearing one under a white blouse at more than eight months pregnant, standing in the ocean. At that stage of the pregnancy.. every attempt at elegance is a long stretch, but.. it still worked somewhat!
During my last pregnancy there were some lovely empire waist dresses with a hemline just a few fingers below the knee that were in fashion, but this time, it seems to be all about the maxi dress. That's fine by me since I love long dresses and skirts. I have bought one long black one and most often pair it with another tunic top or that white crisp blouse since it has spaghetti straps which makes me feel slightly uncomfortable. The neckline is surprisingly high though, so with just a little vest or shawl it works equally well. Except that as the mother of a todler, you can forget about having a shawl gracefully draped over your shoulders and keeping it there for any significant length of time. So a little shrug or vest will do when I don't choose for a tunic top or blouse.
A shorter A line skirt (about knee length) forms another staple. I would have prefered it to be a few inches longer both for style and modesty purposes but this is still within the realm of what I consider acceptable on myself. It has a small black and white pattern and pairs easily with lots of things.

My big challenges however are not really clothes, but hair and shoes. If you have a size six wide to start with, you easily fall into a double wide before you are halfway through pregnancy, and those shoes are harder to find, especially if you are looking for stable and elegant at the same time. My hair changes a lot during pregnancy: it get's greasy very often and refuses the normal styling routines that I try. Let's see if this pregnancy I can learn how to tame it!