What Maternity Clothes You Should Buy

Maternity clothes can be hard to find in Korea. Before you start shopping, look at what you already have. At the beginning of your pregnancy you can probably wear your normal clothes.

Maternity Pants
Some people wear their regular jeans and pants and just use belly bands over them. You can use pant button extenders in the beginning to help add a few inches to the waistband. Yoga pants are good as well if you have those. If you have pants or skirts with elastic you might be able to wear those for a while as well.

Maternity Shirts
You'll probably want a few maternity shirts to wear you can only wear regular clothes for so long before you start to look like you're wearing a tent. Others go out and buy a bunch of tunics. 

Maternity Dresses
Be sure to buy one nice dress for maternity photos. You can always sell it later on.

Bras and Underwear
You might need to start sleeping in a bra. Get one specifically for pregnant or nursing women. You don't want one with underwire. Some women buy it all: down to maternity underwear. You'll need to decide what works for you.

Make a List
What works for someone else, might not work at all for you. Make a list of what you have and what you need before going shopping. Here's a list of suggested items you should buy for your pregnancy. Be sure to check out the articles about

• Where to buy western clothing
• Where to get free stuff
• Where to get nursing bras

Remember that after you give birth you're probably not going to get back into your regular clothes. While you will lose a lot of weight and water weight, most people say 9 months stretching out and 9 months getting back to normal. Even after 9 months you need to keep in mind that your body IS different than it was before. You were pregnant and gave birth and still might be nursing so there are lots of physical and hormonal changes taking place. Your body will never be the same. But that's a good thing. Change is good. You're a mother and you should be proud of the body you have. 

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Tender Embrace Birthing offers childbirth, breastfeeding, and newborn care classes and support.

Common Baby Related Words in Korean

I'm not too proud of the fact that I don't speak Korean. Believe me, I've tried. I took some classes when I came to Korea and despite being in the lowest group at the Migrant Center in Suwon most of my other classmates were much better than I was since they were migrant workers and used Korean at work. As an English teacher, I didn't have much chance to practice. I'm not new to language learning either. I speak Spanish very well and my Chinese is much better than my Korean despite the fact that I lived there for only a year and a half. I feel like in China they applaud your effort more and actually make an effort to try to understand. Here in Korea, I usually get "no!" with arms crossed in front of their chest or have them switch to English.

After a year in Korea, I started my second MA and then I got pregnant and in my spare time just wanted to sleep. After having a baby my priorities changed. As a single mom living in Korea with no family other than a second cousin down south, I've become very good at miming what I want or knowing who to call if I really need help. I realise that speaking Korean would help me, but I've also come to realise that in this day and age of smartphones and translators literally at the our fingers it's not the end of the world if you don't speak Korean. My cellphone contains a dozen numbers, such as Global Centers and Migrant Centers. Here is a complete list of useful phone numbers and websites for foreigners living in Korea.

In addition to calling, you can also use translation apps if you have a smartphone, which most people in Korea have. It's not going to be 100% correct, but it's better than nothing.

You can also prepare a list of common words and expressions and just carry it with you. Mama Seoul has a list of some Korean words and expressions on her blog.


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Tender Embrace Birthing offers childbirth, breastfeeding, and newborn care classes and support.