Maternity Clothes

adiebear

Hi ladies!

 

This is my first pregnancy, and the thought of buying a whole new wardrobe is overwhelming to me!  I am 10 weeks today, and while I can still fit into most of my clothes still, jeans and pants are increasingly not comfortable to zip/button.  I imagine that I will be able to stay in my non-maternity shirts for a while, but have no clue how to go about buying maternity clothes!

 

In your opinions, what are the early pregnancy must-haves that I could start looking into?  I know every woman is different, but about when did you all transition over to primarily maternity wear?

 

Thanks for the advice! :-) 

Kern91

I hate maternity pants! They don't fit me right even the last time I was pregnant they were funny and my butt looked way bigger then it was or they flared out at the hips and I went to every place to try them on and no luck! So I wear the bella band you can get it at target and then I just bought a couple pair of regular pants that were a couple size bigger then what I normally wore and it worked out. For shirts I would go to normal stores and try and find flowy shirts or tunics and I made it work. It ended up being cheaper then buying all maternity clothes at a maternity store. I made my clothes work as long as possible until I had to do what I said above.

Allycat11

I am very happy that my bloated phase is during the summer.  Right now I can't comfortably button my jeans but it is too hot for them anyway.  I am living in maxi skirts (long flowy dresses are great too), gauchos, and elastic waist khaki shorts from Old Navy.  At the end of the summer I will give in and buy maternity jeans when I am around 20 weeks, but I should be able to get by without them for awhile.  If you are looking to stay in your regular pants for a bit longer, a lot of women swear by the bella band. 

Wild_flower25

I would look for elastic waist pants.  I'm wearing some of my maternity pants from last time, but only the ones with the low waist (not full panel).  I wouldn't go out and spend  a bunch on those though because they won't last the whole time. I shop the clearance at Target, Kohls and Old Navy mostly.  I'm starting to pick up winter items here and there though because I think thats what I'll need the most of. 

NechamaChayim

don't forget you can buy second hand maternity clothes too which would save you money.

MrsRiceARoni

For me one of the best investments I made earlier on was a belly band. I got mine online, but I've heard the ones at Target are great too. Earlier on I used them to allow me to wear my regular pants longer and later in my pregnancy they provided support for my growing belly as well as adding length/coverage that allowed me to wear my normal shirts for longer. As far as buying maternity clothes I thin you really need to try different things and see what works for you. I personally hated pants with pannels, I found they would never stay up and the pannel made my stomach itch like crazy so I went for the below the belly stretch waist bands. I got a lot of my maternity clothes from Old Navy. They have a pretty good selection online and their prices are reasonable. I also liked that they have free shipping on orders over $50, but you do have to consider that if you don't like an item once you recieve it you will have to pay return shipping uness there is something wrong with the item itself.

ajetter

For now I might also suggest buying just a pant size up as opposed to maternity.  Not a ton of pairs or anything, but right after baby when your maternity clothes don't fit but neither do your prepregnancy, having a couple of larger sizes would be nice.

Also I hated the bellaband from Target, but the company makes a tank top out of the same material that I loved.  I personally liked it with maternity pants.  It held them up when they were still a bit too big (pre and post baby) without shifting around like the bellaband did.

nettie27

I bought a belly band at Target and i used it early on and in my later pregnancy days.  i also used it for a while after i had the babies ::walks away in shame::

adiebear

Thanks for the advice, everyone!  I did buy a couple of belly bands at Target today, and so far I like them!  I was ready -- I was sitting in class this afternoon and definitely kept my jeans unbuttoned and unzipped! :-P

 

I will try out different styles of pants over the next few weeks to find what works.  And "Wild_Flower25," you made an excellent point about picking up winter things now -- good to stock up early!

 

Thanks again!

 

linzeek44

*lurking from third tri*

I love love love maternity dresses (or non maternity dresses that have a high waist and flowy enough to fit a baby bump). I started wearing them relatively early on (when pants were annoying) with tights and a cardigan when it was coldish. Now it's a bajillion degrees and I'm much bigger and I can still wear them with sandals. Totally what I consider a good investment. I found ones I love at Target and Old Navy's sites. 

My jeans fit perfectly pre-pregnancy, meaning that early on in first trimester I couldn't button them comfortably. I cheated for a few weeks in February by using the hair elastic trick, and then quit that in March when I got dresses.