The rituals that keep me grounded.

Before I was pregnant, my routines were mostly about productivity. Morning walks to clear my head, time blocked in the calendar, an ever-growing list of things to tick off. Efficiency disguised as self-care.

Pregnancy has dismantled all of that very efficiently. What I've found in its place is something slower, more intentional — rituals that aren't about getting anywhere, but about being somewhere. Present. In this body. In this season.

My mornings now start before I look at my phone. I give myself fifteen minutes of quiet — a cup of something warm, a hand on my belly. It sounds almost embarrassingly simple, but it has become the most important fifteen minutes of my day. A small ceremony of acknowledgment: I see you. We're here.

I've also been more deliberate about what I let into my body — and I don't just mean food. What I read, what I watch, who I spend time with. There is a softness that comes with pregnancy that I didn't anticipate. A lowered threshold. Things that used to wash over me now land. So I've gotten careful. I tend toward things that feel nourishing. I've given myself permission to leave a dinner early, to not engage with things that drain me, to be a little more protective of my energy than I've ever been.

It's been one of the more unexpected lessons: that becoming a mother starts before the baby arrives. The tending begins now.

Learning to live inside this body

I have loved fashion my whole life. I have also had, like most women, a complicated relationship with my body. Pregnancy has changed that relationship in ways I didn't expect.

When your body is doing something this significant — when it is literally building another human being — it becomes very hard to be at war with it. There's something humbling about it. Something that quiets the old critical voice. You look in the mirror and instead of cataloguing, you find yourself just... watching. Witnessing.

I won't pretend it's always easy. There are days when I feel beautiful in this new roundness. And there are days when I don't recognise myself, and that is disorienting in a way that's hard to articulate. The trick I've found — and it's ongoing — is not to rush either feeling. Both are allowed. Neither has to be resolved.

What has surprised me most is where I've found my way back to myself on the harder days. Not through clothes, exactly — though the bump fits series I've been sharing brought me so much unexpected joy, and I think that's because it gave me a reason to get dressed with intention rather than just practicality. But more than anything, it's been through the small things. The things that don't need to fit differently or accommodate a growing belly. The things that are just — mine.

My jewellery has become something of a lifeline. I know that sounds dramatic, but there's something genuinely grounding about putting on a piece that has nothing to do with the pregnancy. My rings still fit. My chains still sit the same way against my collarbone. That continuity — something unchanged in a body that is changing so rapidly — has meant more to me than I expected.

A FEW HONEST QUESTIONS

What has been the most surprising thing about being pregnant?

I must say, I wasn’t expecting to be so acutely aware of every single change, I also didn’t realise you can feel them moving so much! The most surprising thing was the shift in how I viewed myself and how the critical voice in my head became much kinder. 

What rituals or practices have helped you feel most like yourself?

After the Nausea passed- Tea and Snacks. I was given a beautiful tea cup and saucer by my sister in law and I have tea and biscuits almost every afternoon. 

What do you wish someone had told you before you got pregnant?

Honestly nothing, I think it’s better to figure it out as you go as everyone’s journey is so different. 

How has your approach to Avant Studio shifted — or has it?

I am finding this incredibly difficult to navigate. I’m not sure it’s shifted but it’s definitely shifting. I know my priorities are about to change and I want them to. It’s just a process of letting go both figuratively and literally handing over responsibility to someone else. 

What does Mother's Day mean to you this year — in this in-between moment before you've met them?

I think it’s a moment to get excited about the future of being a mum. It’s a little hard to imagine before they arrive but it’s allowed me to reflect on the special relationship I have with my own mum and be able to share this journey with her too. 

With love from our home to yours —

Belle x