I was reminded of the single most important component of my pregnancy uniform when I read my friend Karla's blog post the other day. They are riotously expensive, highly washable, and they will make your fat/skinny/distended/lumpy or otherwise unacceptable bottom look fabulous. I have been singing their virtues for years, and now they're available in the US, too.

They are Lululemon yoga pants, and yes, they are made for yoga but they are also made for Moms-to-be and just-given birth Moms and Moms who work from home. I have no idea what they put in the fabric, but the material stretches around expanding hips, bum, and stomach with minimal effort and with the astounding ability to make your shape cute no matter the amount of rice pudding you have consumed. I wore mine for my ten month gestation period, and for several months afterward, they still fit me - they just snapped back to their pre-pregnancy size (again: magic, do not know how.) In fact, I am wearing a pair right now, and my chicken flabby do-not-exercise-enough thighs look all magically streamlined even though this is my 112th wearing.

They're expensive, they'll run you over 100 bucks a pair. However, if you wear them 1000 times, which you totally will, that's 10 cents a wearing and you can totally justify that.

What was your one cannot-live-without pregnancy item?