Maternity Monday: V-Neck Pencil Dress

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A pregnant woman wearing a V-Neck Pencil Dress Happy Monday, mamas! April’s on vacation so I’m filling in her for her this week. I don’t think we’ve featured the Queen Bee line of workwear before on the blog, but I like that it’s affordable, classic, and a sleek, polished look — and one that is supposed to fit through all stages of pregnancy. Nice! It’s $76, available in US sizes 4-14 in navy and redQueen Bee v neck pencil dress in navy This post contains affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support! Building a maternity wardrobe for work? Check out our page with more suggestions along both classic and trendy/seasonal lines.

Sales of note for 2/7:

(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)

  • Nordstrom – Winter Sale, up to 60% off! 7850 new markdowns for women
  • Ann Taylor – Extra 25% off your $175+ purchase — and $30 of full-price pants and denim
  • Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 15% off
  • Boden – 15% off new season styles
  • Eloquii – 60% off 100s of styles
  • J.Crew – Extra 50% off all sale styles
  • J.Crew Factory – 40% off everything including new arrivals + extra 20% off $125+
  • Rothy’s – Final Few: Up to 40% off last-chance styles
  • Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
  • Talbots – 40% off one item + free shipping on $150+

And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interestworking mom questions asked by the commenters!

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Preschool “Christmas Brunch” Saturday at 10am. We need to bring a dish to share. Minimal prep ideal. DH is going to Costco on Thursday. Limited refrigerator space, plenty of freezer space. We prefer to bring something savory rather than sweet…

Also, we need to bring a White Elephant gift in the $10 range, thoughts? Kids at the school range from 0-6.

30 weeks pregnant with my first. Boobs just keep getting bigger. What nursing bras should I have on hand for when the baby is born? How many? Any idea on how to predict my size? Should I just buy a few in a variety of sizes and return what doesn’t work? HALP this new to-be-mom out!

Has anyone had a baby nurse in the first few weeks with baby? Expecting #2 early spring and considering 1. They are expensive, and I want to nurse while I’m home like i did for #1, but I’m not sure if its worth it for a nursing mom. Though, i was clueless with baby #1 and nursed constantly and she was/is a horrible sleeper, so I’m hoping that having some professional help might be good? Torn though.

Anyone have overnight diapers they love? Pampers baby dry used to work great for my 20 month old, but recently they’ve leaked every night. We tried huggies overnights, which don’t leak, but lead to baby waking up like an hour earlier than usual asking for a new diaper (they must be uncomfortable when very full). I’m hoping there’s a holy grail out there somewhere!!

I’m 17 weeks pregnant and emerging from the I look chubby phase into the I look pregnant phase, but I’m struggling to figure out what to wear to work. My regular pants don’t button, even with a hair tie, but my maternity pants are still too big and sag down a lot. I have a belly band, but because its winter my work pants are heavier and it doesn’t seem like the belly band will hold them up without constant re-adjusting. Do I just wear dresses for the next month? Is there some trick I don’t know about? I tried just about every iteration of clothing I have that fits this weekend and it all seemed off. Is that just how it is for now?

OK, I need some reassurance here … DH had a vasectomy three years ago, so it’s highly unlikely that I’m pregnant, right? Except that I feel pregnant, and I know that we had s3x around the time I ovulated this month. B00bs are killing me, I’m fatigued, I’m having daily headaches. I’m pretty attuned to PMS symptoms, but this started EARLY. Like within days of having s3x, and not letting up. It’s too early to test, but I’m starting to freak out. If pregnant, this would be our third kid, and we are in no way prepared to deal with that reality. It would be a happy surprise, eventually, but omg, would our lives change. Last baby was born in 2014.

What do you do with your old baby clothes? Since my girls grew out of them so quickly they are still mostly in good shape. Donate? Sell in a box on Craigslist? I have friends who will likely have babies, but we have a small house so I don’t want to hold them forever for people that might not want them anyway- I know I was gifted so many clothes I didn’t need hand me downs.

Inspired by some of the comments above and my own life: What do you mamas do to foster independence in your kiddos? With recent events, I’ve realized that I just cannot do everything for them, and also, that it is not good for them to have someone do everything for them. My kiddos are young elementary school (K and 2), and I’m trying to have them do as much on their own as they can. For example, instead of getting up in the middle of dinner to get DD a new fork because she dropped the old one and refuses to use it, I tell her that she is welcome to get a new fork and put the dirty one in the dishwasher. I think this is more of a mental shift for me than a “task list” for my kids. I like the idea of chores, but I thinking of more day-to-day things. Any ideas?

so many people having rough days/weeks/times. I am sending you all hugs and please know that you aren’t alone! I posted last week about my husband having a psoriatic arthritis flare up right before my business trip and how worried I was to leave him and kiddo. thank you all for your advice and kind words! It ended up being ok! Husband got a cortizone shot to help with the flare up and managed just fine. Kiddo and I both had a long-lasting stomach virus so this week/end was ROUGH even though everyone was home. We made it out though and everyone is feeling better and I just feel so grateful for this respite from illness for a little bit.

We have our first parent-teacher conference this week. For context, we have had a bit of a rocky year with this teacher. She tends to give us a lot of detail about what our son (five and in kindergarten) does wrong–can’t sit still, can’t control body, etc. Sometimes it is just once a day or week that he has trouble and yet we get a paragraph on how he behaved. We get almost nothing about what he is doing well and learning beyond getting his work sent home on Fridays.

Any advice for making the most of the time? What questions should we ask? I have zero idea what to expect.

My almost-5-yo asked for a “big girl paci” for her birthday. As far as I know, she hasn’t had a paci since she was… 18 months? Maybe? It sounds to me like she desires some self-soothing device – obviously I’m not getting her a paci, but does anyone have experience with this or suggestions? FWIW, she is my youngest and in daycare.

Do any other pumping moms live in fear of forgetting to put your shirt back on before you walk out of your office? Or is it just me? I’m so tired, I feel like it’s only a matter of time.

For those that pump at work, how long does it take you? And can you manage to work while you’re doing it, or how do you use the time?

Right now every session is taking 30 minutes and I haven’t figured out a way to go faster or make the time very productive. I want to stick with this (I know it’s fine not to, but this is what I want.) Any tips?

Venting as well. Just so so so tired. 15 weeks pregnant with an 18 month old that is up screaming 1-3x nightly. My husband and I take turns going in to give her a hug and tell her its time for bed and repeat every 20-30 minutes until she’s asleep. Her sleep goes in SUCH wide swings. She’ll sleep through the night without a peep for a week then she’s up for an hour or two in the MOTN for a few days. There is no pattern, it’s just so awful. I never know what the night holds. She falls asleep within 5 minutes at 7 pm and when she sleeps through the night, she’s up at 6 am or it’s closer to 7 am. Her naps are only about an hour to hour and 15 minutes.

I feel despair that I have a kid that will not consistently sleep through the night, dealing with toddler tantrums during the day, worried that I can’t possibly have a healthy pregnancy having interrupted sleep, and how will I possible handle this and a newborn as well. Ugh, just not finding a lot of joy in anything right now.

Heading back to work next Monday after a 12 week maternity leave. It’s been 7+ years since I had an infant, so I’ve forgotten a lot! 1) Do I need a special bag for my pump/parts/milk? I see fancy ones on Amazon, but are they worth it? I drive to and from work and have a short commute, so the milk would be fine without being in a cooler from work to daycare pickup to home. I’m tempted to get a cheap tote bag since I will only be using it for less than a year at most, unless you convince me that a special pump bag would be better. 2) Bras. I have 2 decent nursing bras and a few nursing tanks. Do I wear my nursing bras to work since it will be easier to pump? Do I get some decent wireless bras and work around while pumping? Do I need a hands-free pumping bra? How do those work exactly? I’m probably a 36DDD (at least) right now, so I need something supportive. Any other tips for heading back to work? Thanks!