Gowns for the hospital

[amytruck]

I am waiting for the baby to arrive! I am 50% effaced and 1 cm and the dr wants to induce in 2 weeks if he does not make his appearance before then! So, I am in panic mode getting everything ready. I am looking for lightweight gowns (not nursing) that will work for nursing. Everything looks like an old lady. I plan to wear PJs and tanks at home but I wanted gowns for the hospital. I do not want to wear a hospital gown the whole time. That always makes me feel worse. any suggestions?

[egoldber]

Why do you want a gown in particular? Gowns are very difficult to nurse in in general. I would go with something 2 piece.

[amytruck]

WEll I thought it would be easier for the nurses to check me with a gown on and it would be more comfortable for a c-section because I would not have a waistband on my belly. What do you think?

[egoldber]

Check out the hospital wardrobe thread below. :)

Most people with c-sections recommended yoga pants and T-shirts.

[GeekLady]

yoga pants and tank tops are all well and good, but I'm tempted to buy this (http://www.expressiva.com/baz_product.asp?p_prod_id=L7240&p_cat_id=4&Nursing_Loungewear_Sweet_Dreams_Drop-Cup_Nightgown) for the hospital, just because it's pretty.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Yoga pants and top get my vote too. I didn't have any problem wiggling my bottoms down when needed.

Beth

PS- if you are interested in learning more about labor inductions (dif't methods, ways to up the odds of success or any general q feel free to pm me or post over on the lounge. I'm not a pro but I love the subject and have read just about everything on the subject I can get my hands on. I used to host a labor board on a popular baby website and wrote up a lot of labor induction stuff based on things I had read plus the btdt experiences of my moms there for 2+ years :)).

[almostsane]

Not a BTDT on c-section, but was induced. I chose button up tops (pj's from Target) and elastic waistband pants. They were bright, bold colors to help with the icky hospital room colors. I know, that sounds weird, but I really hate hospitals. The nurses didn't seem to have a problem at all checking me with the pants on. Just make sure to buy really stretchy ones. For this delivery, I just bought capri pjs. The tops are pull-on and the bottoms have roomy waists. Good luck and hth.

[gatorsmom]

I will say that I had 3 c/sections and I did NOT like having anything near my incision. I preferred gowns. Ones that worked for nursing were ones that had buttons down the front. I got some from Victoria's Secret that looked like long poet's shirts. They were very billowy and roomy and had some buttons down the front. Trying to pull up your gown to nurse each time would be a big PITA.

btw, if you are looking for nice pjs and a robe, get something in a bright pattern. If you do bleed a bit on your pjs, the stain won't be as noticeable on fabric with a pattern than on a solid.

gl!

[Davids-Coco]

On the other side of the fence... I was a c-birth mom and wanted pressure on the incision. They actually put a maxi pad over my stitches and under my lounge/yoga pants. It provided moderate pressure and felt good... almost a feeling like my insides weren't going to fall out. I also wore a long tight nursing tank over that.

I also really felt like I needed some sort of pants because I don't wear pads much and those disposable underwear felt like they were falling off! I wouldn't have been able to handle a skirt like that.

I don't know anything about checking after the birth if you have a vaginal. But they didn't check anything lower than my stitches after the c-birth.

[Melbel]

You may want to pack a gown and some yoga pants for the hospital, that way you can figure out which works best for you. If you go the gown route, remember to also have a robe. I happened to come across this gown at Gap Maternity that may be of interest to you:

http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=9936&pid=547135&scid=547135012

It is currently only available in larger sizes online. Note that Gap Silver card holders get 30% off regular priced merchandise until 4/13.

Good luck!

[kate909]

I had a c-section and I preferred wearing a gown to pants. I had one that buttoned down to make it easy to nurse. It probably looked old lady, so I can't help you there, but another thing that was a huge help was the robe I wore - it was a slippery satin fabric and helped me slide in and out of bed easily. I tried to get up and walk around often, and DS was in the NICU, so I was there every 4 hours. No matter how low the bed was, I had an awful time getting in and out the first day until I discovered that leaving my robe on made it so much easier!

[KrisM]

I've had 2 c-births and would prefer a gown for at least the first day. No way could I "wiggle" the pants down for a check. The nurse would have to completely do that for me. But, by 24 hours or so, I was up and moving and then prefered pants because I am a pant girl in general. And two pieces were easier for nursing.

As for pants being on the incision, I didn't have any problems with that, but I'm sure it's a YMMV thing, too. The incision is very low, so having a band at my waist was not a big deal. The worse things were regular underwear and that would hit the incision. Granny pants for sure are needed!

[MommyofAmaya]

Try these, they are all "nursing", but super cute. I couldn't figure out why "nursing" gowns were not an option.

http://www.nursinggowns.com

http://www.expressiva.com/baz_product.asp?p_prod_id=l5234&p_cat_id=4&Nursing_Loungewear_Sleek_Maternity/Nursing_Nightgown

http://tummystyle.com/products/Nursing-Night-Gown~1070.html