How far along were you when your "regular" clothes didn't fit anymore?

[todzwife]

I had mentioned this in another post of mine, but DH and I just found out we are expecting. Yeah! ( I am guessing EDD to be around the 17th of October.) I have a few articles of maternity clothes, and of course I am no where NEAR fitting in them, but I was wondering when some of you starting showing. My pants are already getting tight (I think it's more water than anything) and I also would really appreciate any suggestions on what to wear in the "transitional" phase. (you know, when none of your clothes fit and the maternity clothes still drown you) Thanks a bunch. :)
Shandelle ;)

[etwahl]

I was able to wear my regular clothes for at least the first trimester. After that, I was even able to get away with a lot of my regular clothes, just by keeping the top button undone (depends on the style) and wearing a long shirt.

My suggestion would be to NOT buy anything until you really are needing it. You never know how you're going to carry or how you're going to like wearing your clothes. All my previously pregnant mommy friends seemed to LOVE wearing the really high belly pants, whereas I HATED them! I really couldn't stand them and still can't. I prefer the under the belly pants...and you can actually start wearing those earlier on, but be forewarned, they will get tighter as you go along, and in the last trimester, they may not fit.

For the transitional phase, if you can get away with it, try wearing stretchier pants. You don't even have to have maternity stuff. Check Target's workout wear section and just buy in a bigger section than you'd normally wear.

Don't know if that helps, but hopefully. Oh yeah, I also got great deals on the sale section of Gap Maternity online. I mostly have worn very basic clothes throughout the pregnancy, and I've pretty much worn them out (tshirts, yoga pants, tank style, etc.)

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

[danielleh]

Hi,

Congratulations! I started to wear maternity pants at 12 weeks. They were pretty big for a while, but comfy. I didn't need maternity tops until the weather got warm. During the winter I was able to wear my longer regular sweaters over the maternity pants. I would second the recommendation to only buy things as you need them; I went through a few sizes of maternity clothes during my pregnancy.

HTH,
Danielle
mom to Jimmy born 8/29/02

[August Mom]

I didn't start wearing maternity clothes until I was 4.5-5 months along. For that "transitional" phase, I wore pants or skirts with elastic at the waist and left the bottom button on my blazers unbuttoned. Even bottoms with elastic insets (rather than elastic all the way around) worked. I wore regular blouses and sweaters during most of my pregnancy.

[Rachels]

Six weeks! Maternity stuff didn't fit until my second trimester, but my jeans and work clothes were a thing of the past immediately. I made do with elastic-waist pants and elastic-waist long skirts and long sweaters or blouses. The long, blousy look is very "in" for Harvard psychologists, so I blended right in with my colleagues except for my pooch. :)

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[jojo2324]

I didn't start to show until my 5th or 6th month, but you can believe I was all about getting the maternity clothes. Any excuse to shop is good for me and hell for DH. :D

My secret weapon in the beginning was a rubber band! It was so great. Just loop it around the button (not a snap button) and pull through the hole and then loop around the button again. Instant inches!! It was great for jeans.

I essentially wore socially acceptable pajama bottoms most of the time until maternity clothes did start to fit. And just a word to the wise: That pillow that they provide in some of the maternity stores to double as a belly is really not an accurate depiction of the shape you will take!

Good luck and congrats again!! :D

[Dcclerk]

Congratulations! I am 6 months now and have been mostly in maternity clothes for a month. I still have a lot of pants that I can wear with the aforementioned rubber band trick, but they aren't as comfy anymore. I'm not doing maternity shirts yet, but they are definitely on the horizon.

I, like Joanne, have horrified my husband by maternity shopping since the get-go. Most of the stuff is still unworn in my closet. I may bite my words in late May, but it was incredibly silly of me to think that I would get to the size that my mother (in my 10 year old eyes) got with her 4th kid. In other words, I shouldn't have bought such big sizes so early on.

I guess I am still in the transition mode. (Last week was when the first person at work, that I hadn't already told, asked me if I was pregnant.) I have a couple of maternity pants that I really like. They are the kind that do not have a panel, but just stretch a lot. They all are the kind that I could wear before I was pregnant, too. Babystyle seems to be my favorite. Their stuff can really stretch while not looking too maternity-esque. Belly Basics also has some stuff that looks like regular clothes (but watch out for those side panels b/c you have to have a really long shirt to cover them). J Crew had a slider style of chinos that I have, that have been fabulous in the transition, since the sides just keep on sliding. (I haven't seen that style in the stores lately, though.) Those matte jersey pants/skirts/dresses are all great for transitioning, too. I also love those J. Lo style velour workout outfits. The pants are low enough that they just go under your belly as it gets bigger, and they are so comfy. (Sadly, their wearing is restricted to the weekend.)

The thing is, you just don't know how you'll carry until you get there. I'm still not very big in the belly, but you could swear I am carrying the kid in my ass. x( Who would have guessed? All that to say... don't do what I did which was buy so much early on that it is really hard to convince DH that I NEED more maternity clothes, even though the ones that I have aren't really what I should have bought. (And, those maternity stores have the worst return policies in the whole world!)

Sorry for the novel. Congrats again:)!

[todzwife]

Wow! Thank you! That does help. Now to convince DH that I need to go buy some bigger pants. :)
Shandelle :)

[bnme]

Just want to add if you buy some bigger non-maternity stuff you can also use in the transitional phase after baby. The maternity pants with the wide under-belly elastic is great in either of those situations. Motherhood has alot of them, and if you buy from Macys you have 30 days to return.

Good luck!!

[Rachels]

Any time me DH growled about maternity clothes, I asked him if he'd like to take on the job of giving birth. Growing a human being in your body changes its shape, and you need clothes that accommodate that. Remind him what you're doing!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[loewymartin]

I couldn't wait to buy maternity clothes (again, who hates to go shopping for new clothes?!) I found a pair of jeans that were terrific - they had a long piece of elastic with button holes all along the elastic. I could just stretch the elastic, button it off so it was tighter in the beginning, and then went to the last button towards the end! I hope you understand what I mean... http://maternity4less.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=mat4less&Product_Code=B2+1005 is the website (Maternity for Less). I live in Albany, NY so I just went to the store.

I also would borrow some of Ken's sweaters - he's 6' and I'm 5'3" so his sweaters were longer and covered the belly panels.

I did the rubber band trick for almost the first trimester. Then things started to get really tight, and I just slowly moved into bigger things.

Michelle - Mom to Alia Jailin born 5/16/02

[spu]

congratulations!
October 17 is my b.day too!

I was pregnant with twins, so by 4 months, everyone knew, even though I hadn't told anyone! LOL! I popped in the belly area pretty much from the beginning. By 2 mos. none of my belts fit and I was into bigger jeans already. Months 3 and 4 were transitional for me and each week, my pants would get tighter and tighter, or I'd go buy bigger sizes.

I first bought pants that were bigger and wore sweaters, blazers, or anything else over my pants. I usually wear fitted clothes, so that was a huge giveaway to the folks at work. Somehow, I thought I could hide it. ha!

I started wearing maternity clothes by 4-4.5 months. Gap and Old Navy online have really nice fabrics for every day clothes. Plus, you can wear the pants / shorts when you come home from the hospital. By 10 weeks after the babies were born, I was back into my regular clothes, though I admit I still wear some of the nice stretchy t's from time to time because they're so soft.

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else

[newbelly2002]

I had the same thing and loved them.

I also got a kick out of the fact that over here (Germany) I have seen jeans for babies that are the same thing--the elastic waistline that grows as the baby grows. It gives me such fond memories every time I have to switch the button for my son!

Paula
Mom to Dante 8/1/02

[mamahill]

I was almost 5 months along. I remember exactly because it was Thanksgiving when I was still wearing a pair of jeans (unbuttoned at the top with the rubber band like Joanne said) and I decided I was uncomfortable enough to get out a pair of maternity pants (stretch cords from Old Navy - LOVED them). Then I had to laugh when on "Friends" that night, Joey was wearing "Thanksgiving Pants" (Phoebe's old maternity pants, for those of you who are NOT fans of the show...).

I practically lived in a couple pairs of sweatpants from Old Navy that were low-rise. I agree with Tammy - the over the belly thing gets a little annoying, especially as gets tighter and tighter. I never had any regular pants that went under the belly, but I'll definitely get some for pregnancy #2!

Also agree with the recommendations for Gap Maternity. The stuff there is really comfortable. And I've read here and there that some Gap and Old Navy stores are going to begin carrying maternity clothes in-store, not just online anymore.

Congratulations!

[sntm]

I started with transitional clothes (mostly low-rider jeans since I'm in scrubs the rest of the time) at about 4 or 4 1/2 months, and into maternity stuff within a month. I bought a lot of stuff ahead of time and have worn just about everything, except the warm weather stuff. Pants are definitely the trickiest. I have two Pea in the Pod pairs, and one has an inner drawstring that drives me crazy -- too tight when I sit down and loosens and slips down when I stand up. I definitely like the underbelly style and can rave about the Japanese Weekend jeans I have.

Also, don't believe the sizes they give you. I bought some Gap stuff in my prepregnancy size and the pants and skirt fell off of me. I couldn't imagine it fitting even at 9 months. I bought a babystyle dress in the larger of the two sizes I was between and it is pretty big, thought wearable.

So congratulations! Keep us updated! and as a p.s., defintely check ebay, particularly for NWT stuff (you can always resell it)!

shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03

[mcmorfit]

Congratulations!

I started to show to the public around 5 - 6 mths. However, the waist line grew way before that. Like mentioned before, I bought some pieces that were a size larger and had lots of elastic. I work with kids in a museum setting, so I wanted clothes that could move with me.

I did make the mistake of buying some clothes around the 3rd month for later on - well,that later on came and went with my new figure, hence I didn't fit into them. So try to wait until you need to buy clothes.

Now I'm going through the opposite extreme - what am I going to wear AFTER the baby.

Enjoy your pregnancy!

Ellen
EDD: 02/23/03

[Andrea S]

I also loved Gap maternity. I had a couple pairs of capri pants and shorts with the panels on the sides that I wore all the time.


Andrea

[MartiesMom2B]

I started to wear maternity clothes around 5 months on a regular basis. I had to get some maternity pieces to start off with though. I had to get a maternity bra around 4 months because I noticed that my bras were cutting of my circulation, especially the front closure.

I found a lot of transitional pieces at Express. The have ponte pants that are basically stretchy pants. They look professional enough to wear but they have an elastic waist band. Elastic waists are a must have for that phase. Also if you have long shirts to wear, that's good because you can just unbutton the top botton of your pants.

I also have to let you know that I found a lot of great stuff at J.C. Penneys, especially the jeans. Most maternity places are split into S,M,L, but J.C. Penneys sells their jeans in your prepregnancy size.

Enjoy your pregnancy!

Sonia
EDD 4/14/03

[LD92599]

I actually only have one pair of official maternity pants (knit leggings) which are fron Kohls...definitely would recommend Kohls (& Sears) because their return policies. I also have 2 maternity dresses and the rest of my pieces (pants specifically) are from Kohls and Lands End (knit pants). For shirts I bought a bunch of maternirty "twin sets" online at Gap & Old Navy.com on clearance. I figured this way if baby #2 comes at a different season, then at least i have tanks and stuff. Black, Navy and Beige have been staples. I also bought a mens sweater on clearance in Kohls to "pull" everything together and as a way to tie more colors into my outfits.

Motherhood has the worst return policy...though i was able to return a few (final sale mind you) pieces after Christmas during their no-questions-asked time frame!

Laura
5 Days!
Due: Feb 26th, 2003

[JulieL]

I was 20 weeks when I started to where maternity clothes, mainly the pants. I wore large size shirts for a long time. Only downside with large shirts is that they often didn't cover my tummy enough to hide the stretchy belly part of the pants. I'm not sure what it's called. But Target has great reasonable prego clothes. I am sure you have been there. At Target prices one can hardly feel bad about getting a new outfit just for something different. But really each woman is different. It probably mainly has to do with what rate you are gaining. Go for comforable shoes while you are at it. Hush puppies has great comfy shoes.

[jubilee]

I was about 8-9 weeks along when pants and shorts started feeling too tight, it was basically because the nausea of a tight waistband was too much, because they technically could have still fit. Then once you buy the maternity pants, you realize you must buy the maternity shirts because regular shirts don't tend to cover the ugly maternity panel on the pants! :) One big recommendation I have is to be brutally honest with yourself as to what size you wear. Pre-pregnancy I was a 10 or 12. So, I bought all my maternity stuff in size medium, since it looked so hugh already. Now, at 33 weeks along I can't wear several things because I shold have bought a large, since size 12 is really a large. Save yourself money and embarrassment by buying your true size and if you are between sizes, I'd recommend buying the larger size. Yes, you'll swim in it now, but it's better to hear someone say it's too big on you than to hear them say it's too small!!