I Love Scrubs, But....

I used to be so proud when I finally got to wear my first set of hospital scrubs. It's standard uniform inside the operating room, the delivery room, the nursery and all the other places that required a very clean environment. Changing into scrubs (from street clothes) is a precaution against bringing in microbes that would infect the patients that are particularly susceptible. Now only people who are already given the go signal to enter those areas that were considered off limits to many get to wear scrubs. So just imagine how I felt wearing scrubs and entering those "hallowed" areas.

Our scrubs used to be boring -- just one color, with a generic design. My first pair of scrubs was white, because it was the required color for medical clerks (4th year of medical school). Later on, though, some enterprising individuals made scrubs out of printed fabric. With more designs to choose from, it became sort of like a fashion statement. I remember that I bought quite a few.

I don't know when the trend started, but when cheap nursing scrubs with cartoon characters became available, some mommies snapped them up as uniforms for their kids' nannies. Protest is futile. They will never understand what those scrubs meant to us. It's like uniforms for soldiers. Or even uniforms for students in a certain school. Nobody else gets to wear them except those who earn it by being qualified.

Now I only wear the hospital issued, boring scrubs inside the operating room. Never outside the OR. While I still love the designs (and prices) of the discount nursing scrubs now widely found, I am aware that people no longer associate them with my profession, but instead think of them as uniforms for nannies.

But there's hope, I've found that there are actually more elegant versions of this hospital staple. I just don't know if the hospitals here would accept a design like this, for example...

Hmmmm.....I'd probably get something like that for myself!

Pregnant or Plus Sized?

While I've been quite slim for most of my life, I noticed that my dress size has increased throughout the years. I used to be an XS in my teens, then S in my early twenties, M in my late twenties, and now I'm hovering between M and L! The years and childbearing have certainly taken their toll. Good thing it's not too obvious yet! Now I'm pregnant again. I've found that it's easier (and cheaper) for me to just buy or borrow Plus Size Women’s Clothing instead of buying strictly maternity clothes which I will only use for a few months' time at the most. I don't know why, but things marked "maternity" seems to be more expensive too. My tummy is so big that I have to use the larger maternity sizes anyway. And from my experience from my firstborn, it does take a while for me to look like I did before pregnancy.

Would you believe that the following are plus size clothing?

Looks fab, right? :D Unlike the unstylish clothes that plus size women were forced to wear before, just because there were not enough choices!

We are certainly blessed with a lot more choices for nice clothing, even if we are not blessed with model thin figures.

Pregnancy Thoughts

I actually felt most beautiful when I was pregnant. Maybe because I was very happy then and very excited to become a mother. I was probably reflecting that "glow" that people talked about because people also commented that I looked great during that time. It helped that I still looked slim everywhere else except my tummy, which was a large one leading the way for me wherever I go! It was so big that at 6 months, I looked like moms in their 9th month! So you could imaging how I looked like during my 9th month. But all through this time, I didn't look pregnant when you see me from the back :).

During my first pregnancy, most of the maternity clothes I used were borrowed from my aunt. My mother and mother-in-law also bought me some pieces. I also bought a couple of maternity pants. Most of the maternity wear I used then were practical pieces which I can use everyday when I go to work. I didn't have too many maternity dresses then so when my husband and I were invited to a friend's wedding, I begged off because I literally have nothing to wear and it's quite difficult to find formal clothes for pregnant women. Next time I get pregnant, I'll buy 1 or 2 dressier pieces for such occasions.

Because I had H. mole last year, our plans to have a second baby was postponed. We finally got our clearance from my gynecologist to have a second baby! Now, hoping for baby#2 :D.