During your pregnancy, you are going to stretch muscles and areas that you never knew existed as the baby grows, wiggles and adapts to life in the womb. Backache, pelvic pain and other issues may crop up as your body adjusts to the growing fetus. While a girdle can provide much needed support and pain relief, a regular girdle is not recommended, according to the Girdle Encyclopedia, but, a maternity girdle can be safely and effectively used.

Like it or not, you will gain weight when you are pregnant. It doesn't matter how small or big you are when you start this nine-month journey, you will be larger at the end. If you wear comfortably fitting clothes, you might find these rather snug in a few months. If you wear tight clothes, they will soon be impossible to wear. Don't fret; plenty of maternity clothes can replace your wardrobe to keep you comfortable and fashionable.

No matter how fashionable you were before pregnancy, that new baby belly and bloating body present a new set of problems. The wrong clothes will leave you in the slumps. On the other hand, dressing your best will help you feel flirty and feminine, even on the puffiest of days.

Maternity clothes are a pain in the ass - to buy, to wear, the whole deal. Right? Not only is it overpriced, you end up only wearing it for a few months and then you never want to see the clothes again. In fact, at the end of my last pregnancy, I tossed the dresses because they were so worn out, and I was completely sick of seeing them. Well, now, you can rent your maternity wear -- from cocktail dresses to casual wear, and including high priced designer items. Would you do it? Here's how it works...

A generation or so ago, it was all the rage to wear maternity tops or dresses that buttoned up to your neck with a huge bow up top. The idea, apparently, must have been to distract the eye away from the belly and up to the enormous and ugly bow. Modern moms do not have to endure such a fashion disaster anymore, because a wide range of cute pregnancy clothes are easy to find once you know what you are looking for. During your first trimester, you can probably get away with simply unbuttoning your jeans, but when you get further along, you will want to get some maternity clothes. Wearing tight clothing while you are pregnant could cause dizziness or the feeling that you are going to faint, according to the American Pregnancy Association.

Just weeks after your pregnancy, you may start showing. Even if everyone around you can't tell, you might start feeling bloated and constricted. If you aren't ready to start announcing the reason for the added weight, dress strategically to conceal that little baby bump. Use both the maternity and the non-maternity sections of the store to keep your secret.

Just because you're pregnant, it doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your personal style. You can find many ways to dress comfortably, while staying fashion-forward throughout your pregnancy. Take pieces from your closet, borrow clothes from friends who have recently given birth, shop your spouse's closet or hit a trendy maternity boutique in your area to create a style of your own.

Stylish maternity fashion is a phenomenon that continues to grow, offering lots more ways to look chic while pregnant. With big-time specialty designers such as Modern Mom's style expert Liz Lange, Pea in the Pod and Chiarakruza, and stores such as Gap and H&M targeting the pregnant woman, celebrity moms, ...