Maternity clothes

knottie38819646a59c506b

I am pregnant with my first. 7weeks today. Had ultrasound last week everything looks great! I’m wondering how soon is too soon for maternity clothes. Part of me feels like it’s bad luck to buy so soon but all I seem to be able to eat is carbs so I’m so uncomfortable in my regular clothes. Plus I’m trying to eat breakfast lunch and dinner which normally I skip at least one. They fit but sitting all day at work is awful. Thoughts? 

Fruitcove7

Get the maternity clothes.... lol. They are so comfortable. If you are super uncomfortable buying them already, use a rubberband on your jeans or a belly band to extend the life of your pre-pregnancy pants.

AdorkablePixie

I'd say that 7 weeks is WAY too early for maternity clothes. They are comfy though.

If you plan on sticking around, please introduce yourself on our pinned board and join in on our daily conversations!

echo-charlietango

I agree and disagree with @AdorkablePixie

I agree that you should introduce yourself and read our **READ FIRST** thread to understand how we organize things, also we recommend changing your username because @knottie38819646a59c506b is impossible to tag without copy & paste.

I disagree about seven weeks being too early. I needed bigger clothes early because my body said "Pregnant? Cool. Let's increase bust and hip measurements ASAP." I'm not in maternity clothes per se, but I am wearing larger non-mat sizes to accommodate my noticeably larger T&A. I did however recently thrift some maternity tops because I know that I will want them later. I am also a well known optimist, and I don't believe in jinxes.

ChristenMA83

@knottie38819646a59c506bI bought the belly bands at Target to wear with my regular clothes to extend the life a bit.  They aren't as comfy as maternity clothes but definitely easier on the budget.  You can find them other places too, like Amazon.  I'm at almost 10 weeks and so far have gotten by on those and stretchy pants.  I did splurge on some maternity shorts though for our vacation in a couple weeks.

runrinserepeat

I’m with @echo-charlietango. I tried wearing my regular pants this week and noooope. Not happening anymore. Am I actually showing with a baby bump? No. But I’m bloated all to hell and I’m not going to be uncomfortable just because it’s too early for my uterus to be poking out. My stomach is bigger because I’m pregnant now, and I’m going to wear what feels good. 

AdorkablePixie

@echo-charlietango @runrinserepeat I guess I'm lucky in that all my normal clothes still fit me. Everyone is different. I am still in maternity bras though, from when I had DS since I'm still breastfeeding. That is the one thing I needed to size up on almost immediately last time, bras. It's insane how big they get so fast.

AGK2015

Yeah, not gonna lie. I've been wearing some of my old maternity clothes for the whole two year interim between pregnancies number one and two. It's never too early (or too late!) to be comfortable. 

runrinserepeat

@AdorkablePixie I guess I'm like 2.5 weeks ahead of you, so that might make a difference, but I think the thing is that if you're comfortable in your clothes, fine. But if OP isn't, I don't think there's a reason to tell her it's WAY too early. Different strokes. 

But yes. My boobs are out of control. I think I've gone up at least one cup size. It's ridiculous. I need new bras like woah. 

knottie38819646a59c506b

Sorry I am new and didn’t know I had a screen name or to introduce myself I will do that. Thanks for the help and opinions.

asun123

For anyone who is wanting to start trying some maternity clothes, please just ignore @AdorkablePixie 's super rude comment. She is absolutely NOT more lucky than you because she feels comfortable in her non-maternity clothes. 

morgantu

i went and bought some new maternity/nursing bras yesterday and the difference is AMAZING!! I'm only 8w6d but i say go for it! I can wear leggings and comfy clothes to work, but i am definitely running out of options  

knottie38819646a59c506b

Not going to lie people are kinda rude. I’m pregnant and miserable I don’t need people to be rude to me too. Sure tell me to wait that’s fine just don’t be rude about it. I thought this discussion board would be nice to ask questions I can’t ask anyone else because no one really knows I’m pregnant yet. But I think I’m good I’ll find another resource. Thank you to the people who were nice. I’m going to bit the bullet and get one pair so I can be comfortable at my job I’m sitting all day long at feeling miserable because I can barely eat

echo-charlietango

@asun123 Meh, I don't think that @AdorkablePixie intended to be rude, she was just speaking solely from her personal experience.

texas_t

I say wear whatever is comfortable! From my experience, I kinda ended up with phases of maternity clothes.  At 28 weeks, my mom bought my some shirts and I thought, OMG, those are huge, I'll never be that big.   Don't ever say that. 36 weeks rolled around and there I was in the giant curtain of a shirt 

ebk20

I am 8.5 weeks and putting on regular pants is so uncomfortable. I am living in leggings and comfy dresses. 

asun123

echo-charlietango said:

@asun123 Meh, I don't think that @AdorkablePixie intended to be rude, she was just speaking solely from her personal experience.

I read her comment over a few times and was not sure if she was intending to be rude or if she just sometimes has word vomit. But either way, it was uncalled for and I wanted to make sure the people she could have offended knew that they have support and to not let people like that get to them.

Jens_Hoes

knottie38819646a59c506b said:

Not going to lie people are kinda rude. I’m pregnant and miserable I don’t need people to be rude to me too. Sure tell me to wait that’s fine just don’t be rude about it. I thought this discussion board would be nice to ask questions I can’t ask anyone else because no one really knows I’m pregnant yet. But I think I’m good I’ll find another resource. Thank you to the people who were nice. I’m going to bit the bullet and get one pair so I can be comfortable at my job I’m sitting all day long at feeling miserable because I can barely eat

@knottie38819646a59c506b I don't think anyone was rude to you about anything. People were actually really nice in answering your question and pointing you to the introduction thread and the *read this first* thread.  
Certainly not rude enough to go to another community....

beccaneu

I haven’t bought any maternity clothes yet because I’m a little superstitious about jinxing it, but I have been way too bloated for my normal jeans.  I went out a bought a few swing dresses that technically aren’t maternity but are very loose and flowy around my stomach and I’ve been pretty much living in them since.  

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with going ahead and buying maternity clothes as soon as you start feeling uncomfortable, so go for it.

rosebud332

Op, I agree to wear whatever feels comfy. If you can, try on a pair before buying (like online). If what you have right now is just bloat you might find that like me, the full on maternity pants just slide down and are still uncomfortable. A side panel or something might work best for now.

For the record I don’t think @AdorkablePixie was trying to be rude either. Honestly it would be more convenient if my regular pants fit comfortably and I wasn’t in this weird in-between stage, but they don’t, so yoga pants it is. We’ll all be growing at different paces but we shall all be enormous in the end. So those of you who still fit in your pants, enjoy it while it lasts. As for me, I’ll be letting it all hang out as much as possible.

Eta: Op (sorry I can’t make the effort to tag the knottie numbers), if you want to please stick around. I really don’t think anyone was trying to be rude, but you asked for opinions and you got em. That’s just how it works. This is a wonderful supportive group and of you go ahead and introduce yourself, create a screen name so we can recognize you, and start participating in the many threads I think you’ll find that’s true and is worth the effort.

PensiveCrayon

Yeah, agreeing with just about everyone here -- pants seem to be the biggest issue the soonest. Right now I pretty much only wear the pair of Rockstar side-panel pants I got. Which I don't even love because they don't stay up now, but I don't feel like a cased sausage when I wear them.

Boobs...I don't feel like they expanded this time, but I'm also still nursing my son part-time. I was extremely happy to make the switch back to non-nursing bras (which I purchased right after my first BFP because of aforementioned expansion) when I started giving up the day feedings, so I'm going to hang on to them as long as I can.

But shirts? I'm still very comfortable in my everyday non-maternity shirts. I do look forward to the day when I really pop so I can start wearing the maternity-geared, side-ruched kind

AdorkablePixie

@asun123 I definitely was not being rude. You must have misread my comment.

@PensiveCrayon I LOVE the side rouched shirts. I actually have a non-maternity one I like to wear. Or maybe it is maternity and I just got it from the wrong section. Hmmm

@rosebud332 What are side panel pants?? I got work pants last time and they were the lower cut maternity pants (not the over the belly) and they would not stay up for anything!

When my jeans start to get uncomfy I use a hair tie, that usually helps. Or one of those belly bands or whatever they're called. I had issues with mine last time though, with how they'd button to my regular pants. It was a problem when I had to pee really bad.

rosebud332

@AdorkablePixie Pic in the spoiler. I never actually got any but some people said they worked really well before using the full panel pants.

runrinserepeat

@rosebud332 I'm wearing the same style now and I love them.

And y'all with the rouched side shirts are killing me. I hated those! I just ordered 4 t-shirts from Target because they DON'T have the rouching. Plain tees for life :P (my problem with the rouched sides is how much they creep up at the seams)

maureenmce

I think this might be a good place to mention that Old Navy has some SUPER cute maternity clothes this year! After another good scan (thank god!) I'm gonna treat myself to a cheap/cute dress this weekend, I think!

These are my faves! (I'm even going to ignore the fact I look terrible in yellow and buy that cute yellow dress, haha.) EDIT - the photos were HUGE so I put them in a spoiler, lol.

Oh, and to OP and any other FTM wondering when to buy, it varies SO much from person to person and pregnancy to pregnancy - I wouldn't be beholden to any hard and fast rules - just buy maternity stuff when you start to feel uncomfortable in your clothes!  

CecilB93

knottie38819646a59c506b said:

Not going to lie people are kinda rude. I’m pregnant and miserable I don’t need people to be rude to me too. Sure tell me to wait that’s fine just don’t be rude about it. I thought this discussion board would be nice to ask questions I can’t ask anyone else because no one really knows I’m pregnant yet. But I think I’m good I’ll find another resource. Thank you to the people who were nice. I’m going to bit the bullet and get one pair so I can be comfortable at my job I’m sitting all day long at feeling miserable because I can barely eat

I definitely don't feel like anyone was rude, people were actually very polite with comments. I think sometimes "straight-forward" gets confused for "rude". Please intro, change your name on The Knot, and join us!

Fwiw, I never stopped wearing maternity pants to work after my son was born over 2 years ago. I got a regular pair of jeans, but I've already bought a new pair of maternity jeans and shorts. Everyone is different, and if you're not comfortable I say go for it! Honestly, I wish I could wear maternity pants all the time, pregnant or not lol. They're so much more comfortable in general!

katy0990

OP this community is very supportive and kind. Please introduce yourself and stick around!
As others have said, it is all about what you are comfortable with. With my first, I started using a belly band at about 9 weeks. I will caution you, the maternity clothes are super cute and exciting at first, but eventually you will probably get sick of the same rotation of clothes!

trucksntutus

I love maternity clothes! Not only are they super comfy but some are real cute! I wear dresses a lot so SOME of my regular dresses I can wear all the way through, but I have several maternity dresses that I loved so much that I continued to wear them after my pregnancy with a belt around them so they wouldn't look so much like an awkward tent. lol! 

kristah2

I LOVE side panel pants for early pregnancy! 

Couple things from my experience. 

I ended up wearing leggings, and my “fat pants” for while last pregnancy. It was a good alternative to maternity pants. 
It’s hard because they are expensive and while a full panel is the best option to get you through majority of your pregnancy (so if you’re making an investment they are the best option) this early in pregnancy is mostly bloat (since baby is still under your pubic bone) you will probably find the full panel won’t really stay up. 
I started wearing mine 15 weeks last time. I had to fold down the panel to make them somewhat stay. And I still pulled them up ALL DAY LONG. 
If you have the money and want to invest a side panel pant is a great option for early on. Even if you only invest in one pair for those ultra bloaty days. 

I definitely understand the desire to switch to maternity clothes now. 
And if you don’t wear leggings or dresses etc and none of your pants are buttoning up then start your shopping. 
Orherwise my advice would be to invest in one side panel and try to make do because before you know it you’ll be massive and needing ALL the full panel pants! 

PensiveCrayon

Does anyone have a good side-panel brand they love that stays up? I really don’t like these ON ones. (Also I didn’t love my ON maternity shirts. They were super cute but the belly didn’t cover near enough at the end. My Gap shirts were much better.)

runrinserepeat

I actually wore some side panel pants all the way through with my last, and they were my favorites. I had a bunch of pairs of full panel and even at the end they were always saggy? We're gonna need a thread later on so we can get recommendations on brand and style. 

kristah2

I have a pair of side panel pixie pants from old navy and they are one of my favourites!! 
Full panel favs are Jessica Simpson skinny jeans! 

tumbleweed-1

I bought a pair of side panel shorts this weekend. I wanted to buy non maternity shorts, but the button was uncomfortably tight. I didn’t want to move up a whole size because the rest might look baggy & weird. So I figured if I was spending the $, might as well get something that grows with me. They are staying on fine. I’m not showing yet at all, but I had a bit of a belly to begin with.

runrinserepeat

PensiveCrayon said:

Does anyone have a good side-panel brand they love that stays up? I really don’t like these ON ones. (Also I didn’t love my ON maternity shirts. They were super cute but the belly didn’t cover near enough at the end. My Gap shirts were much better.)

I have gap side panel skinny jeans, and they stay up now. I have a pair of side panel pants from ON and they’re not the same quality, I suspect they’ll fall down a lot more. 

texas_t

@PensiveCrayon H&M concious shirts were my fave!!

AdorkablePixie

@rosebud332 Thank you! Those look cute. I've gotta figure out where to find them.

@rinserunrepeat I agree! I think we need a thread with good brands/places to buy maternity clothes. I don't have many options here. Our target has almost no selection, same with Kohls. When I was pregnant before the Old Navy I went to had almost nothing. I got a majority of my stuff from an online resale site, Burlington, and Motherhood but I don't like to pay full price so pretty much the only thing I got from Motherhood were bras!

ChristenMA83

I've been wondering what stores other than Motherhood, Target and Kohls have in store collections.  I checked 3 old navy's, then saw on their website their maternity collection is exclusively online.  I hate buying stuff online if I don't know for sure what size I need in the brand.

kadeephd

I've been considering how little I can get by with buying.  I'll get a pair of pants or two and a few tops, but then cardigans will work while pregnant.  I've been reading about non-maternity clothes that you can wear throughout your pregnancy too -- like maxi skirts under your belly or dresses with stretch.  Not a great option for December maybe, but should get me through September without a problem.

echo-charlietango

I’ve been stalking online shops because I really dislike clothes shopping IRL. I’ve been enjoying ThredUP (already made a few purchases), and I’ve been stalking the maternity sections of Old Navy, Gap, H&M, and Amazon. 
Since my current growth has been all T&A I’m able to survive in larger sized regular shorts. I’m definitely going to try on some side panels from Gap soon though!

ChristenMA83

I just bought 7 pieces on ThredUp.com for an average of $11 each (Motherhood, Old Navy, Gap).  Hopefully the condition will be good when I get them.

runrinserepeat

I have so many gap rewards that’ll expire anyway, so I’m just going to keep stalking the sales there. I really want to try h&m maternity too, but that will have to be online ordering.