Sportsbra for waterbirth/Clothes for before&after labor?

Re: Sportsbra for waterbirth/Clothes for before&after labor?

• funkymonkeyohyeahhh member

  April 2012

  I am so not in to the hospital gowns. I was in L&D for a few hours a few weeks ago and I hated having the gown on. I can't imagine wearing it for an extended period of time. I am really small framed and it kept falling off all over the place and I was so annoyed with the ties and open back, etc.

  I'm planning a hospital water birth and will wear a jersey fold over skirt ($12 from Old Navy) with a sports bra during labor. When in the tub, the skirt will come off. I can just slip it on and off easily if I want to, but I have a feeling I won't be thinking much about modesty (even though I normally am pretty modest). I want to keep the sports bra on in the tub because my doula will also be taking photographs and I'd like to have some that are modest enough to share (my lower part will be under water obviously so you won't be able to make it out in photos).

  I have loose fitting lounge pants and a nursing tank to put on after birth. I have yoga pants but didn't pack them because I didn't think I'd want anything tight on my butt with the massive pads I'll be rocking. I also packed a zip up hoodie to throw on when our parents come by to meet LO.
  

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• JNoelleE member

  April 2012

  Thank you for your info! I will check out that skirt at old navy for sure.
  

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• JNoelleE member

  April 2012

  BreanneL24:

  I had a water birth and wore a tank top for it and nothing on bottom. I knew I didn't want to wear a bra because that would have felt too restricting but I liked wearing the tank and kept it on the whole time. I have a small chest anyways so it didn't really matter. I ended up givin birth on all fours out of the tub and I didn't care one but that my butt was out in the open. The only concern that I had was when I felt pressure in my butt and my midwife was applying counter pressure behind me...I was sure I was going to poop all over her! (I didnt lol). I consider myself very modest so I just had to choose to not care that my MW was all up in my lady parts. Then I had problems breast feeding so a ton of LCs and LLL ladies saw my boobs. Oh well, it is their job to help so I figured they were used to it.

  So after birth I had a pair of yoga pants and sweat short things that I bought at Walmart. They have been awesome to have and I would highly recommend having comfy clothes for the first few weeks. I wore sweat pants or yoga pants and a nursing tank every day. 

  I'm nervous about giving birth on all fours mainly because my mom and dh's mom will be in the room. I could give a crap less about my husband or the midwives seeing anything... who knows maybe I'll tell them to get out if it bothers me, or maybe I wont end up caring!
  

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• DawnLilly member

  April 2012

  Danskin makes a GREAT front closure sports bra. They are designed to be sporty enough to just wear as a work out top and the front enclosure is great if all of a sudden you decide you don't want anything on or touching you. They are also really good for nursing after. I for some reason really dislike nursing bras. I dont like the way it fits or looks. I'm a FTM but I have had two close friends recommend them to me and I'm already lactating and the pads fit in them and stay in place really well.

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• sourapplemartini member

  April 2012

  After giving birth I wore black PJ pants and a button down top/nursing tank. 

  Mrs. 5/03*DD 2/07*DS1 5/09*DS2 7/12

  BFP Chart
  

  
  

  
  

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• julyjennifer member

  April 2012

  I just wore a stretchy bra for the birth with both my kids.
  

  You might want to bring a bathrobe to be able to toss on in the hospital.  I did that with my DD and it was nice.  They had to take DD down to the nursery for some kind of check in the night and so I just tossed on the bathrobe over whatever else I had on and went with her.  That works for visitors too. 
  

  For afterwards, I also packed a maternity shirt and maternity jeans that fit around 5-6 months pg, which were the right size for my body a few days post-birth.
  

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• FinallyMrsBMW member

  April 2012

  I planned on having a hospital water birth as well and got out of the tub at the last minute.  I ended up packing two tops that I ended up using because I got out of the tub at one point during labor to have my doctor break my water.  I wore a sports bra and then a swimsuit top with nothing on the bottom.  When I was out of the tub and walking the halls or on the birth ball I was just in a hospital gown.  I wore the gowns the rest of my hospital stay too with a nursing tank underneath.  I didn't mind it.
  

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• ateal2490 member

  April 2012

  I just had a NB and although I thought I would feel weird being naked around all those people, it wasn't the case at all. I ended up just keeping on my bra because my boobs are huge and I didn't want them distracting me (I can see it now..."you're 7 cm! "Oh, that's cool. WTF is up with these boobies!!?!/

  As far as bottoms go, (this may sound weird) the tub actually efficienty replaced pants for a few hours. Its way easier to sit in a tub 1/2 naked (modesty wise) because the water sort of blurs it out.

   

  PP wear? Something loose, light (in case you get hot, while you probably will) and easy to move out of the way when you have to get checked PP.  

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• chigator

  April 2012

  someone suggested one of those tube-top dress / bathing suit cover-ups to me. I'll be bringing that and probably a robe in case it's chilly.
  

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• Sawyerplus1 member

  April 2012

  With DS, a water birth at a birth center, I had my own nightgown (with nursing accessibility) and light, knee-length housecoat that I wore while laboring. And then in the tub I wore nothing. I truly couldn't have cared less who saw my naked self in the tub at that point, and I don't like the feeling of wet fabric against my skin. After delivery I wore my nightgown and housecoat again. 

  With DD, at a hospital, I labored in a hospital gown. I didn't mind at all, but I also wasn't walking the halls. After delivery I wore that nightgown and housecoat again.

  I'm pretty sure in both cases I hung out in my nightgown until I was dressing to go home, at which point I wore yoga pants and loose tops.  

  

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• hilwithonelary member

  April 2012

  I didn't use the water, but I'll tell you my experience.  During labor, I started off with a giant t-shirt, a sports bra, and a cotton skirt from Old Navy.  Eventually, I got hot.  First the t-shirt went, then the skirt, then the bra.  While I ended up naked, I'm still glad I had my own stuff to labor in to start.  I hate walking around in hospital gowns.  My nurse seemed a little put off that I didn't put on the gown at first.  I let her know that I wasn't attached to my clothes and if there was some emergency, I had no problem with them cutting them off if they had to.  That seemed to ease her mind a little.  They ended up not getting messed up at all. 

  After labor, I did wear the hospital gown for the first day just because of all the bleeding.  I had to stay two days because I was GBS+.  On the second day, I wore some black maternity lounge pants and a nursing tank top. 

  Hilary
  
  
  
  

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• Tash13 member

  April 2012

  I had a dry birth last time but got in and out of the tub during labor.  I wish I had a tank with me to wear something loose and comfy but i didn't even think about it beforehand.  I ended up using a hand towel to drape over my chest so I wouldn't get cold.  This time I'm having a home waterbirth and planning on wearing a comfy sports bra type top (i'll also have tank tops and my tankini top on hand if those seem like a better option at the time).  I just wouldn't bring anything too restricting.  I also had my cozy robe and loved it.  So glad I had something I could take on and off since the hormones made me have hot flashes.

  Postpartum, I loved having nightgowns and my husbands sweats or scrubs.  I didn't want anything too tight because the giant pad felt like it was bulging.  I ended up the most comfortable in a nursing nightgown that an aunt had purchased for me but would switch to pants if people were coming by to see the baby.

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• flyer23 member

  April 2012

  I had a hospital birth with DD. I wore the hospital gowns during/after labor and they were fine. I brought yoga pants and a maternity shirt to wear home. Regular maternity pants probably would've been fine, too.

  I had a waterbirth at home with DS, so obviously, no hospital gown option. I wore a nursing tank and sweatpants for most of labor -- I have bad stretchmarks on my belly, so I wouldn't have been comfortable in just a sports bra. The sweatpants came off when my water broke (as I was starting to push) and I went into the tub in just the nursing tank. That worked well.

  After the birth, I had other nursing tanks to put on, and I pretty much lived in those + sweatpants/PJ pants for the first few days. I have about a zillion of those Target nursing tanks, and I wear them all.the.time around the house, whether I'm nursing or not. Love 'em.

  Mommy to DD1 (June 2007), DS (January 2010), DD2 (July 2012), and The Next One (EDD 3/31/2015)

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