Maternity

Once you get pregnant it’s like you’re a ticking time bomb, counting down the moments until you’re going to be in a heinous pair of maternity pants. Oh sure, you can hold on for a while, looping your waistband together with rubber bands, or wearing some type of big cloth belt to keep them up as they bag beneath your swelling protuberance. But sooner or later, you’ll be forced to buy a big, baggy pair of paneled pants. Unless you send your favorite pair to Denim Therapy. This innovative company specializes in denim restoration: patching up holes in the knee, butt, or crotch. But it has a sideline in turning regular jeans into maternity pants, and then back again.

For $60, Denim Therapy inserts comfy, stretchable panels into the seams of your regular jeans. While you swell, they swell with you in the belly area, while giving you the same fit down to the ankles. When you’ve had the baby and deflated back to your normal size, you send them back to Denim Therapy and the panels are removed. There! Wasn’t that an adventure for both of you?

For more information, visit denim-therapy.com.

You tweet, blog and post on Facebook (plus UB!) every detail of your life that you feel like sharing - your shrinking DI, your overbearing MIL, your fascination with Bravo’s Real Housewives franchises. Yet when it comes to strangers touching your pregnant stomach, asking how much weight you’ve gained plus other probing questions, you’re not too keen on being public property. You may be able to stop the madness with a piece of jewelry.

Go Belly Go is a necklace which pre-empts the “When is your due date” question by giving the answer. Well, part of it. The polished zinc pendant reads “Due in February” (pick your month). Oregon jewelry designer Hannah Westwood has been crafting bling since she was eight. She has the pendants custom made in Peru and gets the silver chains from Arizona. Each Go Belly Go (GBG) necklace is creatively packaged in a keepsake tin.Westwood says, “Every [GBG] that goes out is celebrating a belly, and there really isn’t anything more special than that.” You can have the baby’s name and actual birthdate engraved once Junior makes his debut. Until then, maybe this little piece of metal will minimize meddling by the masses.

At the very least, it’ll complement your push present quite nicely.

Available at gobellygo.com.

You’ve cut out brie, sushi and your monthly highlights all in the name of a healthy pregnancy. Oh, the sacrifices. Yet, you still feel the need to clean up your act.New company Nine Naturals introduces Oh Baby! shampoo and conditioner, products specifically designed for pregnant women. NN nixes phthalates and other potentially dangerous chemicals typically found in shampoos. (The jury is still out, but phthalates have been linked to low birth weight, shorter gestational periods and even reproductive birth defects.) Oh Baby! is pared down to just nine ingredients (think peppermint and rosemary oils) from the typical 25. Natural moisturizers revive dry pregnancy and postpartum hair.

Soap’s on.

Available at ninenaturals.com

Baby fever has made you axe any name you’ve ever heard, even if it’s the child of your cousin’s neighbor’s nanny’s nephew.

Beyond Ava & Aiden: The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby will help you navigate the world of baby naming. With humor and a refreshing take on the trends, the book is organized by style, image, sex and tradition. Plus you’ll have a few laughs reading lists like Millennial Names (Maverick, Riley) or Music and Dance (Etta, Gershwin). The authors, experts Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran, will not lead you astray.

Better yet, maybe they can name the kid for you.

Available at amazon.com.

Now that you’re pregnant you know what you should not eat — but what are the best foods for the next 9 months?

Feed the Belly by new mom and nutrition expert Frances Largeman-Roth features nearly 70 easy-to-make recipes smartly categorized by craving (salty, sweet, spicy). This healthy eating guide for pregnant women shares easy-to-follow tips, like what should and should not be on your shopping list, how to choose the healthiest fish and what to eat to boost fertility. Kick off your new and improved diet with the book’s simple seven-day eating plan that will boost your bump and your pre-baby bod.

Available at amazon.com.

Lately it’s all about truth in parenting, but the only place you feel truly honest is on the UB message boards.

Read a relatable dose of reality. Afterbirth: Stories You Won’t Read in a Parenting Magazine is a collection of essays based on Dani Klein Modisett’s popular live show of the same name. Hollywood types, from Sex and the City writer Cindy Chupack to Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, contribute personal takes on parenting. First family vacations, fertility, fear and father-daughter bonding are just a few of the topics tackled in this collection of personal stories.

Available at stmartins.com.

You’re celebrating Mother’s Day for the first time — make that Mother-To-Be Day. And you refuse to spend your special Sunday in sweatpants.

Put the pregnancy-induced moods aside for one afternoon and get all dolled up. Try a fun frock from Fierce Mamas for Moody Mamas by Christian Siriano. The Project Runway winner has done maternity dresses, like this silk charmeuse frock, perfect for mocktails and dinner.

And tell him a jacket is required.

Available at moodymamas.com.

Pickle and ice cream cravings may be the most common thought on snacking while preggo, but it doesn’t end there — or even begin, really.

Food activist Nina Planck’s Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby’s First Foods advocates “real food” with advice that may differ from the books on your shelf. For example, Planck recommends eating more meat during pregnancy versus iron supplements, and good fat (olive oil, whole milk or cheese) for fertility — the book also includes the rundown on nursing and baby’s first foods.

Keep it real.

Available at realbabyfood.info.

You’re now treating your clothes as an investment — meaning, they have to last. So buying duds for each trimester — little bit o’ belly, bit more belly, whole lotta belly — is out of the question.

Try something that grows with you: FIT2BEMOM just launched as a maternity active wear brand for both exercise and extracurriculars (lounging, lunching). Details like side-seam shirring, a roll-down waistband, built-in shelf bra and adjustable straps contour to your shape, resulting in a proper fit throughout the stages of pregnancy. Plus, the line’s moisture-wicking fabric will keep you cool during prenatal Pilates — or during that sweat-inducing trip to Strollerland.

A good deal is the 2BActive Kit, which includes a round-neck tee, long pant and headband in a drawstring bag, for either the active life or the active look.

Available at fit2bmom.com.

What are the best boutiques in Brookline or Berkeley — specifically, one with great sales and appropriate pregnancy jeans?

Shopping site Store Adore simplifies your search, with listings and reviews for recommended shops in cities like NY, LA and SF, as well as exclusive online deals. The pre-screened selection (broken down into categories like good customer service and hard-to-find brands) does the pointing and clicking for you: A quick search for maternity gear yielded sexy mom-to-be bras, baby shower supplies and organic gifts.

J’adore.

Visit storeadore.com.