Maternity Work-out clothes??

[JenaW]

You'd think seeing as how this is my 5th pregnancy (9th if you count all my losses), I would know about all things maternity. but honestly, I have never worked out more than mall-working before. I am about 15 weeks along and still trying to manage the gym at least 5 days a week - usually swimming, biking, some treadmill (although I had to stop running because I could not keep my heart rate under 140) and some weights. I have been wearing yoga-style pants in a size larger and that has worked so far, but they are getting a bit tight in the waist now. I need some top suggestions too. My maternity tees are too baggy to work out in, but I am not sure I am brave enough to wear something tight. I don't want to spend a ton of money (target prices would be nice), but since I am using the stuff fairly often it has to hold up to some abuse, so I AM willing to go a bit higher for quality. Also, if anyone has any bathing suit recs, I would appreciate it. I just bought a speedo in a size larger but it is snug in my belly and HUGE on top. Someone I swim with suggested a two piece with a sports-bra style top but I am afraid to bare my belly since it is covered in bruises from my twice daily heparin shots (and starting to get worse now that I just upped the dose).

Anyone???

TIA!

Jera

[ahrimie]

i guess it depends on where you're gaining most of your weight or how you're carrying too. i'm carrying really low so i wear my pre-pregnancy yoga pants (from old navy!) and it had TONS of stretch too. check out old navy and gap's maternity line and if there's a store nearby you, they usually have really good sales. recently, i bought tons of clothes for ridiculously low prices like $1.97, $3.97, etc.

for workout tops, i just wore t-shirts from my bro and husband. i'd also check out mimi maternity for their sales.. i found a few bathing suits for a decent price there recently. and definitely check out target... just the other week, i saw a decent maternity bathing suit (from liz lange i think). both of those were two pieces but had good coverage of the belly too.

good luck with your pregnancy!

[MontrealMum]

During my pregnancy I XC skiied, cycled, and swam laps. I was able to wear my own clothes through about the 5th month, and then things just got too tight. Since I am tall, and have an athletic build, I didn't have much more room to size up in women's clothes, so I bought a pair of men's leggings for skiing, some men's cycling shorts, and borrowed some of my husband's jackets/vests/tops (though that can be difficult because they are sometimes too big in the wrong places). I found that Craft long underwear is super stretchy and was able to wear my normal size! I also bought several (slightly) larger sports bras and some cheaper fleece from LLBean. Oh, I bought one pair of cycling shorts with the awful weightlifter-type straps thinking I'd just cut out that front panel if it got too tight - but it didn't.

I had a terrible time finding a maternity suit - they all had skirts! - and finally got a tankini at Old Navy. Having never worn a tankini before, I didn't realize that when I got in the pool, if it wasn't skintight, it would float up and I would flash everyone :ROTFLMAO: After that fun experience I bought 2 sports swimsuits 2 sizes larger. I didn't have trouble with them fitting in the chest area because at that point I'd gone up a bit in size, and sports suits are usually quite high in the front. If you don't find that comfy I'd go with a bikini and just give people that stare a nasty look - it's their fault if they are so rude! I also got lots of tees, leggings, and that sort of thing in larger sizes from American Apparal.

Good luck, and congrats on being committed to exercising throughout your pregnancy - it's hard some days :)

[JenaW]

thanks for the replies so far.

MontrealMom did you bike outdoors throughout your pregnancy? I was triathlon training prior to getting pregnant this time (and actually did a sprint tri around 6 weeks) so I had worked up to about 100 miles/week on the trainer. My OB does NOT want me on a bike this summer because he thinks I will fall off. I do have a hx of miscarriages (four, to be exact, but we know the reason and it should be unlikely that I have any more) and a preterm delivery (at 25 weeks, after my water broke at 22) so I understand his hesitancy on some level, but I have never been this physically fit and I feel like it will be healthier for both baby and I if I can stay active. I have already given up "running" (more like trudging) which I admit I am not too upset about because I HATE it, although I know I need to learn to love it if I want to do the IronGirl tri, and maybe work up to an Oly or half-ironman. I am still swimming - usually around 1500-2000+ yards/swim and biking a bit, but I find my butt is getting sore on the stationary bikes. (I refuse to wear my padded bike shorts at the gym, and my personal bike seat is MUCH better than the stationary ones). The weather is getting nicer here and I would love to pack the kids in the trailer and go for a longer ride (30-50 miles, maybe??) Good point about men's sizes in the cycling shorts, as I too do not have much room to size-up in Women's. DH has several pair I can "borrow"! Sorry for blathering. I guess I am just looking for someone who has BTDT on the bike throughout their pregnancy.

As for the suit, I am not sure why my breasts are not increasing. Maybe because this is baby #5, and I am still nursing #4?? Maybe because I am about 25 pounds less than I have been before at this point in my pregs? I just bought a new speedo and it gapes open at the top. Because it IS higher necked, I don't think I will expose much, although I am worried I will fall out the sides. I tried a tankini...NOT pretty. I was so desperate to swim that day that I even tried to tuck it into the bottoms so it wouldn't keep flying up, but I ended up giving up after about 10 laps. I am not sure why I am worried about the stares/comments. I already endure the "OMG you are having more??" comments and even have several witty, snarky, and obnoxious (depending on my mood) comebacks for them.

Thanks again

Jera

[MontrealMum]

I have never aspired to do an Iron-anything - though who knows what the future might hold :) Pre-pregnancy I averaged about 190 km/wk cycling, over 5 days. Since I got pregnant in Oct. I was only able to bike outdoors for about a month (before I even knew LOL). I would have continued since I am healthy and was not expected to have any pregnancy complcations, and it was part of my regular routine, but our weather here does not permit cycling outdoors past Nov. (unless you're nuts!). My cycling was indoors on my trainer watching Oprah - you've got to do something like that if you're indoors, it's soooo mindnumbing. I usually lasted 30 min., but sometimes did an hour if the show was good :) Now, I stopped biking when my knees were hitting my baby-tummy, though at this point I can't remember when that was !

I did, however, XC ski while pregnant, throughout the whole season (Dec.-April). April was the beginning of my 6th month, and although I might have tried biking weather-wise, I was just too big at that point, and also, there begin to be concerns with falls etc. that far along. Mostly I stopped because I was too big. I had lots of fun with nausea and Braxton-Hicks while skiing, but no big concerns. I did avoid some of the harder trails, and didn't do too many hills, but I am an experienced skier so wasn't too worried.

When the ski season stopped I went back to swimming laps. Not something I'm super good at, but I have done it as a winter sport in the past and it was really good for my muscles and back. The swimsuit thing was an enormous PITA and like you I was never totally satisfied, but was so fed up, and desparate to move that I just made do!

Sorry I have to wrap this up because DS is howling. I do have a good friend that is super-athletic who had a different timing to her pregnancy and was able to cycle outdoors (quite far too) through her 5th or 6th month. Then she gave up due to the tummy/knee thing too.

I firmly believe that you will have a better outcome and recovery if you go into it in better shape :) Oh, DH really wants all his stuff back now, but I'm not done with some of it!! Poor guy :( My take on exercising, people's opinions and staring...if you're pregnant and exercising fairly well, noone should have anything to say to you. If you're pregnant and passing people (doing whatever) ... 'nuf said ;( since I was quite physically active prior to pregnancy, my doc never said much about what I wanted to do or not do which was really nice.

Good luck to you with everything :) Nice to meet someone else with similiar intests.

[SnuggleBuggles]

The bathing suit I wore for swimming was just an Old Navy maternity tankini. I needed the tankini for all the bathroom runs, especially in the 3rd trimester!

Unfortunately most all the clothes I wore were from my 1st pg and they were just cotton athletic shorts from Target. I am a fan of ribbed tanks for my cardio so I just got those in the Old Navy maternity section this time around.

Does your OB want you to follow the 140 bpm b/c of your history or does he just follow the old recommendations? Sounds like you are high risk so that makes sense. I was given the ok to keep up w/ my normal routine for my runs, which had my hb over 140. Of course, after a while the rest of my body couldn't keep up with it. By the end I could only do water aerobics with the old women at the gym. :)

Great job on your workouts! I wish I had any more advice than Old Navy and Target!

Beth

[pb&j]

For working out during pg, I wore yoga pants down low and a couple of AWESOME Liz Lange for Nike tops. Unfortunately, they're not being made any more, but you might be able to find them on eBay. They totally rocked - they were made out of the regular Nike DriFit material that is silky and stretchy. Old Navy carries maternity yoga pants. For tops, you might try going up a couple sizes in C9 by Champion at Target. Decent quality, great prices.

For swimwear (and I swam all through both pg's, 2-3 times/wk) I had a couple of Lands End maternity tanks. Of course, wouldn't you know it, Lands End is now out of the maternity business as well, and only carries a few maternity tankinis, which just don't work for laps. WalMart.com has a plain, unskirted one-piece that might work. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8217653 And the price is right!

GL! Swimming kept me sane during pg. Being in the water was the only time I didn't feel pregnant. And it was awesome to totally blow past someone in the pool and then hoist myself out and see the look on their face when they realized how enormously pregnant I was. Also, swimming really helped with the swelling in the ankles I got toward the end.

[MontrealMum]

I just wanted to add that in addition to Old Navy and Target for cheaper, temporary clothes, you might try Land's End and LLBean. They have (more) larger sizes and misses sizing, so going up a size or three is a little easier than at your regular stores. Also, they aren't as pricey as the stuff you'd splurge on for the rest of your workout life, and they have closeouts/overstocks. Not too fashionable, but something else to check out.

[pl804]

For high quality work out clothing (but unfortunately also very high prices) try lucy.com. They carry a line called "BornFit" that is designed for maternity. I have a T shirt (the Lindsay shirt) that I LOVE. It fits well, is super comfortable, wicks sweat. I also bought the "challenger" shorts which were also really comfortable and very high quality, but ended up returning them because they were so expensive and because the Old Navy yoga shorts do the job. (If I had continued running during pregnancy, which I didn't, I would have kept the Challenger shorts because they support the belly better).

Yeah, the tankini riding up in the water is annoying. You can doctor the tankini by sewing shirring into the side to prevent it from riding up, but probably not worth your time!

[birdie75]

I swam 3 days a week and coached swimming once a week up until 2 days before my daughter was born in Janurary. I found nothing suitable for lap swimming in the maternity section so I just wore my usual speedo / tyr lap suits. Those suits (in lycra) stretch out pretty quickly so as I grew they stretched out. That said by the end they were VERY threadbare and I had to resort to wearing 2 suits like I used to for drag in HS. I tossed the 4 I had been rotatating after I had my daughter.

The best prices I found is swimoutlet.com Just buy a grab bag swimsuit since they are all cut the same. They pick the pattern for you and they are only $25-$30. You may want to get a size up from what you normally wear in a race suit. If you aren't familiar with sizing you generally wear you bra band size in a race suit, so for example I wear a 40D normally so I wear a size 40 suit, for reference I am normally around a size 16.

As far as pants I just wore my regular workout pants but found the ones with a drawstring more forgiving later in pregnancy then the elastic waist ones. I usually just wore a long tank (like the ones in the Juniors deptartment) on top. I think most of my pants were from Target originally in a size XXL.