S+TM Checkin (Second Time Mom ... onward)

name1109

I’m a 4TM with three girls ages 7, 4, 2.  We are OVER the moon excited. I thought I’d start this to see people’s questions and thoughts on a growing family. I’m also a “geriatric” mom at 38. 

My question is where did you find cute maternity clothes? I never bought cute ones and for this last baby I really want some fun clothes. 

antsangel1118

Baby number 5 for me! 7yo girl, followed by 3 boys, 5, (would be) almost 3, and almost 15 months. I haven't told the kids yet, or my husband for that matter, but I suspect when DD find out, she will be praying for a sister! 

I've gotten most of my maternity clothes at Boscov's and Ross. I guess Boscov's is regional, but they mostly carry the Motherhood brand. I've gotten a lot at Ross though, for way cheaper than most places.

name1109

@antsangel1118 I had the quick #2/3 babies. We will be 7/4/3 when baby comes. I am impressed you haven’t told your husband. I had a really hard time keeping it from family...they guessed. 

Thanks for the tips for clothes! I’m determined to enjoy this one as if s/he was our first. This one is our last I’m afraid. 

crizz13

I got a lot of maternity clothes from LOFT and I felt like they were stylish enough and the quality was better than Motherhood Maternity. 

Question - are you going to do something fun to announce to your older kids? We will tell ours after we hear the heartbeat/see a good ultrasound...but that won't be until the end of April. 

sjomomma

Hello! STM here! It’s been a long time since I’ve been pregnant (8 years!) so I feel like a FTM again. I can’t remember where I got my maternity clothes last time around, but I know this time I’m going to check out target and old navy! 

My son already knows. He was old enough to be asking questions super early on and so we just went ahead and told him! He’s so excited! 

hedgepig

STM here - It still feels so weird to say that! DS is almost 2.

Maternity clothes - I didn't buy much last pregnancy - but definitely learned my lesson about buying cheap ones. Don't do it! The cheapo clothes I bought were basically non-functional. The best pants I bought were Motherhood, the Jessica Simpson ones, I believe. I got some good stuff from Old Navy, but the sizing was hard to get right. Honestly I mostly wore my regular pants with a belly band even up to the end. The belly band was a great investment for me.

name1109

@crizz13 we are going to do something special for the kids. I’m still thinking. However, since I’m older we will know the gender the first week of April (genetic testing).  The last baby we announced gender to them with pink ice cream. I’m thinking of taking our little people out and getting blue or pink ice cream to announce to them they’re going to have a brother or sister. We will probably wait until the end of April as well. 

name1109

@sjomomma our oldest is 7 and youngest will be 3...have you looked at any new products you think are amazing or different? 

kitkatz1990

This is baby number 3 for us!! This will be our last. My kiddos are 7 and 5 so in a lot of ways I’m starting completely over! I’m determined to enjoy every part of this pregnancy, even all of this nausea/fatigue/bloating lol! 

I got rid of all of my maternity clothes from my last 2 pregnancies. I remember I usually had good luck at Target. I’m planning on living in leggings for the next few months lol 

sjomomma

@name1109 I haven’t been looking at all lol. I mostly wear leggings and comfy shirts to
work, so as long as I can find the maternity equivalent of that I’ll be happy! As for baby gear, I’m completely out of the loop on what’s good anymore. I loved our rock-n-play last time, but now they are recalled! 

name1109

@sjomomma oh! Sheesh maybe I should check recalls!

name1109

@hedgepig thank you! I have traditionally hated pregnancy 😂...so I’m trying to cherish our last. 

ksd20

STM here, DS is 13 months and I borrowed my cousin's maternity clothes with my last pregnancy. I kinda planned on that again but turns out she's due in Oct! My SIL offered me hers so I'll probably go that route. 

I also second the belly band or something similar. 

Favorite baby products: haakaa, earth mama nipple butter, butt spatula (DS had wicked diaper rash battles early on), nose frida, and baby carrier (wrap, sling, SSC). They've become my recommendations to all the recently pregnant ladies in my life

crizz13

For baby gear, I LOVE the guide by Lucie's List. Seriously. Best guide ever. And Jamie Grayson has good insider info on all things baby related. 

windywoman

STM...DS is just about 19 months. I'm also "geriatric" too. I'm 37 but will deliver at 38.  

I was given a ton of maternity clothes from family and friends last time around so I think I should be ok.  I showed really early...I was in them by like 3 months! I did buy a few things a Target like pants and leggings. 

krystrist2014

Right there with you @sjomomma and @kitkatz1990! STM here and DD is 5. I tossed all my maternity clothes because I knew by the time we had another I wouldn’t like any of them anymore haha. Fashion does change a decent amount in 5 years! Plus I feel like maternity designers are getting better every year in making cuter stuff. Haha. 

kelk5

3rd time mom here. We were on the fence about having a third because DH is almost 40 and he didn't want to have children after 40. This baby is due 1.5 months before he turns 40, so just made it! I'm 35 so I was okay with having a 3rd but I know that I won't be going back to work with having a third. I'm a little on the fence about how I feel about that, I was thinking of going back part time after DS turned 1.  We both agreed to give having a 3rd baby a chance by going a few months without preventing and let biology decide for us.  So here we are and both are excited nervous. We just traveled overseas to Europe for two weeks and it was fun but exhausting with the two kids. We found out I was pregnant while over there. We are now self-quarantining for two weeks. 🤞 No coronavirus.

I still have my maternity clothes from my other two pregnancies. Most are motherhood maternity and some from Target. Most were practical business casual for work so I'll probably find a few cute casual pieces. I'm also a fan of the bella band. Between pregnancies I had bought a few items in a bigger size so I'll use those on the way back up. But I do want to order a few more nursing tops, I love the ones that lift up. 

1MommyRunner

I’m a 3rd timer here! I will be 32 next month so I wouldn’t qualify as a spring chicken or anything. 😂 I always said I wanted to be done by the time I was 30, but The Lord thought that was silly of me.🙃  My DH and I decided to try for a 3rd in November last year. Our son (8 years old) only took 3 months to conceive but our daughter (3 years old) took 528 days and we were about to start medical intervention when I found out she was on the way! 💜 So we weren’t sure how things would go with this one, but we are thrilled and a bit shocked at how fast this little one came on the scene! 🥰 So, so excited!!!

We have a local garage sale site, so I totally get a lot of things from ladies on there. Most are basically brand new! When I do buy new, I love old navy maternity wear. Affordable and cute! 💜

HeartOverMind

4th time mom here! This baby was unplanned, but we were NTNP, so not a huge shock. We have two girls and one boy. Hoping to have another boy.

I took all of my younger sister's maternity clothes when she offered over the summer, because I knew we were thinking about a fourth. I'm hoping I won't have to buy any, because I feel so guilty buying maternity clothes.

I don't think we'll do anything special to tell our older kids. I think my oldest (6) will be the most excited, because she's been asking for another baby for a while. My 3.5 y/o will probably not care too much, and my almost 2 y/o definitely won't care. lol. We will tell the kids when we are ready to share the news with family, maybe a few more weeks. 

antsangel1118

@name1109 haha yea, usually I tell him pretty much immediately. But I found out the day before he left to go out of state for work (he's a truck driver and went to fill in for someone), so that has made it easier not to tell him yet. lol I am planning how I want to tell him when he gets back. Every other time I have done a "visual" announcement, but as soon as I say I have something for him he assumes I am pregnant. lol So this time I think I might just ask him if he remembers a name we really liked before if we would have had another girl, and after he answers just be like, "well, if this one is a girl I still want to use that name."

name1109

@krystrist2014...right!!! I hated what I found in the past. I don’t want to voluntarily look frumpy? I’m usually feeling like death...I don’t want to look it too. Harsh. I just want to feel nice in some clothes. 

name1109

@antsangel1118 that’s so incredibly sweet. I understand the distance/travel. My DH was gone for 6 months out of the year for the past several years. It’s hard. Makes your communication really good (or for us it helped).

name1109

@HeartOverMind I’ve felt SUPER guilty about maternity clothes. $50 for jeans that look AWFUL??? I think things are better. I haven’t started looking I’m happy for the ideas though. 

Congrats on four🥰🥰🥰🥰.  We’re so darn pumped. 

windywoman

I’m with you @name1109 and @HeartOverMind paying for maternity clothes made me feel guilty. Which is silly because we need clothes and we can possibly use them more than once. I bought a bunch of jeans and black pants at Walmart that weren’t too bad. They were skinny type. 

My biggest issue last time around was shoes honestly. My feet got swollen and I could only wear flip flops from about 5 months on. 

potofgolden

STM here, kinda. I m/c our first at 11weeks due Feb 16 and then our Rainbow DD was born Feb 19. I finally decided I should stop wearing my maternity pants when she turned one a few weeks ago, and now I found out I’m pregnant again. They are so comfortable. I kept my favorite ones from Target and Motherhood. The Motherhood store close by is going out of business. I hope I’m not to late to get in on the action.

All my other maternity wardrobe was giving away. My sister is due in June, SIL July, and Niece in October!  I’ve also offered all my baby girls hand me downs to which ever has girls. (1 so far). Crap, can I be 💩 and be an Indian giver? 
@sjomomma I know I am super bummed about the rockN play. DD lived in until all the reports started coming out that it was unsafe. I am pretty sure I still have it, because I didn’t know where to return in.

elizabethrose22

Baby #3 here! My daughter will be 3.5, my son will be 23 mos when baby comes. And then we’re done. Lol all of my maternity clothes were hand me downs too—I got some cute ones at target with my last pregnancy!

boggabunnymama

2nd time mom here! Completely unexpected my daughter is 13 months O.O 
In terms of maternity clothes, all I have are 4 pairs of pants and no shirts >.< I was sick the whole time with my last one and didn't gain weight and made due with my flowy tops. I feel like I am going to have to get more this time because I will be bigger in the summer. I guess I am a young one I am 26!

crystalmir91385

3TM, 4th pregnancy. My daughters will be 6 and almost 4 when #3 comes.

I just bought some cute clothes at motherhood maternity. They're goob so I got 2 pants, 2 shirts, and 4 camis for like $85. I gave away my old ones, but wore mostly yoga pants or maxis anyway. I'm not a huge fan of maternity pants.

I will wait until it's getting obvious before I tell my girls. We lost our last pregnancy, and I was soooooo glad we hadn't told them yet. My oldest is quite emotional and it would have broke her little heart.

name1109

crystalmir91385 said:

3TM, 4th pregnancy. My daughters will be 6 and almost 4 when #3 comes.

I just bought some cute clothes at motherhood maternity. They're goob so I got 2 pants, 2 shirts, and 4 camis for like $85. I gave away my old ones, but wore mostly yoga pants or maxis anyway. I'm not a huge fan of maternity pants.

I will wait until it's getting obvious before I tell my girls. We lost our last pregnancy, and I was soooooo glad we hadn't told them yet. My oldest is quite emotional and it would have broke her little heart.

I’m so sorry for your loss I have lost two and am hoping so hard this one sticks. We haven’t told our crew yet either. 

I’m going to have to give motherhood a second chance. 

hoosiermamajayden

@boggabunnymama I’m right there with you! Just turned 27 last month.

Aaaand I’m on number 4! So on my way to that goal of 5 and no pregnancies after 30. 😅🤣

I have my maternity clothes out in the garage somewhere. The Jessica Simpson brand by Motherhood have been the best jeans. Unfortunately the belly band back isn’t a great option for me because my legs get fat. 🤦‍♀️ But I’ve been able to get by with a lot of stretchy leggings, camis, and flowy shirts. Boutique shirts are much more appealing when they’re the same price as maternity AND you can wear them after the baby comes, lol. 

kitkatz1990

@hoosiermamajayden lol!! I also wanted to be done by 30, but I will turn 30 in July so close enough. I had my first one at 21! I graduated college in May and then had him in July lol. 

lurvleybunchococonuts

Hi! 2nd time mom here. My DD is 16mo (Nov 18). I definitely need to get some jeans and I just about lived in dresses or MHs sweatpants from 2nd tri onward last time 🤣🤦🏻 

Anyone else worried about how your current little(s) will react to no longerbeing the "baby"? I have a 9yo SD that my little gets soooo jealous of when SD spends time  me or dad and baby isn't part of it. I'm so worried she's gonna freak 😬

name1109

lurvleybunchococonuts said:

Hi! 2nd time mom here. My DD is 16mo (Nov 18). I definitely need to get some jeans and I just about lived in dresses or MHs sweatpants from 2nd tri onward last time 🤣🤦🏻 

Anyone else worried about how your current little(s) will react to no longerbeing the "baby"? I have a 9yo SD that my little gets soooo jealous of when SD spends time  me or dad and baby isn't part of it. I'm so worried she's gonna freak 😬

@lurvleybunchococonuts I was worried about that with my oldest when we went from one to two kids. A friend told me at the time it’s not about my first baby. At the time I thought that was super harsh but it’s kind of true. We did give #1 a present when we had baby #2. She was also closer to 3 so that helped.  I would probably start carrying a baby doll to start the process that sometimes mommy has to do other things too but still loves first baby.  I would also feed new baby while reading a book for baby #2. Anything to make the first feel special but understand that mom has to also be with the other baby. I would also be prepared for your first child to act out and be on guard as you never know how he may act. I would never leave baby with the oldest. I will probably do most of this for my now third kid. We started talking about sharing mommy. Making it a game and rewarding kindness in the older child. 

lurvleybunchococonuts

@name1109 that makes sense, you're right kinda harsh lmao but true. Thank you!  Those are really good ideas and suggestions. She loves to read books so that's a great idea. And she loves to help so I'm sure she's going to be a wonderful big sister.
Some of it is likely me needing to wrap my head around her not being "the baby" anymore 🤦🏻 obviously she is and always will be my baby just like this one is/will be, just not the only baby/the youngest any longer.
And I'm sure some of it also has to do with I don't feel "connected" to #2 yet. 

name1109

@lurvleybunchococonuts the connection part is so hard. I struggled with it for #2. My first is sensitive, responsible, smart as h3ll, somewhat reserved and sweet. My second...she’s my entrepreneur and achiever. She is going to make such an awesome adult.  I love them both but struggled connecting with the very much wanted #2.  My oldest was thrilled but there were definite times of hardship. 

scatteringashes

This'll be our third kid — I feel like I'm way more chill this time, but time will tell. There were eight years between my first and second pregnancy, so having a toddler and a baby is gonna be a wholly new experience for us. We'd had no plans to have another one and had been operating fully on the assumption that we weren't going to have more and had gotten rid of most or all our baby gear. So my sudden about-face onto, "Wait, I think I really do actually want another one" has been funny in that regard. 

I had the worst time finding maternity clothes, and mostly trawled through thrift shops and secondhand stores when I was looking, because I'm short and fat and for whatever reason, that season Target had decided they weren't gonna do maternity clothes, lol. 

windywoman

I’m worried about how DS is going to react to #2. He is very attached to me and doesn’t even let DH touch me! He yells No and Mine and pulls DH off of me. Hopefully he’ll grow out of that by the time the new baby gets here. 

@scatteringashes comment reminded me that I got a few things last time around at the Goodwill. They had a bunch of stuff that was barely worn.

hedgepig

STM+ How were your symptoms different for different pregnancies? With my last pregnancy the food aversions were really strong for a few weeks, but this time they've been way mild. And previously I had very little nausea, and this time it's much more common, but certainly not bad like some of you have it.

BabyL52716

I was a lot more tired (so far) with my first. My food aversion for coffee is the same this time as last. Other than coffee none yet. I'm having more morning nausea than last time. Last time my nausea was all in the evening. 

crizz13

@hedgepig So far this pregnancy has been not the best (my first pregnancy) and not the worst (my second pregnancy) as far as symptoms in the first trimester, so I'll take it! Also my early symptoms are pretty much all over the place. My first was headaches and exhaustion and the occasional food aversion. My second pregnancy was vomiting every day. This one I get queasy right when I get up and at night, but other than that I'm pretty good so far. 

ecolton01

Hi Everyone! 

This will be our 4th! So crazy to say that . 

My daughter is 3.5 and I have identical boys who are 2. They are 17 months apart and the twins were a complete shock! I will be 31 next month . I literally have been giving away everything over the past 2 years because we legit thought we were done. 

So all my maternity clothes are gone, I have away 4 virtually new infant car seats with bases , both cribs , more clothes then one kid would ever need , all our bouncers , high chairs etc etc etc ... and the crappy part is I had 2 of everything if it’s twins again I am going to be so sad!! But that’s how life works lol .. 
previously I had motherhood maternity , this time I think I’m just going to get some stretchy shirts and yoga pants . F it! 

I don’t think my husband has quite accepted it until this morning when I ran to the toilet to puked... I came out of the bathroom and he says “so we are having a baby” lol
Both pregnancies I have been sick for 9 months , I puke almost every day it sucks . I have being pregnant