63 Comments Add your own

• 1. Pork with Bones  |  September 16th, 2008 at 7:33 pm

  I started reading you recently on Suebob’s recommendation. Hello!

  You might want to check out Target for maternity clothes. Their selection comprised about 75% of my maternity wardrobe a few years ago, and unlike some companies, you can also find their maternity clothes online. (In case you don’t have one nearby.)

  Good luck to you. Happy Wednesday!

• 2. Melissa  |  September 16th, 2008 at 7:33 pm

  The demi panel is good until your belly starts getting really round, then it starts sliding down. ALL THE TIME. It was maddening. By the end of both pregnancies I was dying for a pair of pants with a waistband that stayed where it was supposed to.

  And my tops did get quite a bit shorter towards the end. When I bought maternity clothes early in my first pregnancy, it was hard to imagine ever filling them out, but they were tight by the end. (But I had 9-pound babies–your belly might be smaller.)

• 3. Jen  |  September 16th, 2008 at 7:56 pm

  I got a Bella Band around 13 weeks, when I could still wear most of my pre-preg pants and shorts. When those pants and shorts became too tight, I tried using the Bella Band with the flies unbuttoned, and you’re right about the zippers and buttons poking in weird places. I actually mistook the the metal clasp of an unbuttoned pair of pants under the Bella Band as premature baby kicking, Heh. Am an idiot, I know. I promptly discarded the Bella Band for a couple weeks at that point.

  BUT! Because most maternity pants are still too big for me at almost 25 weeks, I have rediscovered the Bella Band as a wonderful piece of material. I use it like a belt on those too-big pants, and it works perfect! I recommend you give it another try in a few weeks. I also wore it under a dress at a recent wedding, and it just made me feel a little less … pregnant? I mean, I know I’m supposed to look pregnant and all, but I suppose I’m sort of in denial about my expanding belly, and the Bella Band helped hold it all in so I was less self conscious around my husband’s ex-girlfriend who was at said wedding.

  Not a Bella Band spokesperson, I swear!

• 4. Kate  |  September 16th, 2008 at 8:06 pm

  Seriously, I have some maternity clothes I could paw thru and send you. I don’t think I’ll be needing them again. Sounds we’re about the same size.

  I hear ya on the frustrations though. I loathed spending money on maternity clothes. Because now? Those clothes are in a box in my garage.

• 5. H  |  September 16th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

  Since I had my children 20 and 17 years ago, most of this is completely confusing to me because I don’t know what you’re talking about. It is kind of funny — who’d think maternity clothes would make such leaps and bounds. I mean, I’m glad they have – it sounds like you have choices. I had my kids in July and August so I spent my largest months in stretchy shorts because it was a bajillion degrees and humid. Tops back then were just giant A-framed t-shirts. If you were lucky, you could find one without a ducky applique. My work clothes, dear god, were awful — lots of dresses with big collars. Yeesh.

• 6. Susan  |  September 16th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

  No, your belly will not need its own support system- it should stay nice and firm all by itself! (what in the heck is a belly sock?) Maybe an offbeat recommendation- but places like JCPenney and Sears have fairly large selections of maternity clothes, maybe due to their massive presence in the US. Their clothes may not be the most stylish, but they are affordable and relatively well made, I’m sure most would be available online, too.

• 7. Sundry  |  September 16th, 2008 at 8:21 pm

  I have SO MUCH TO SAY on the topic of maternity wear, but I’ll restrain myself to this: I recommend investing in a good pair of Lululemon yoga pants. They will stretch, you can eventually roll them *under* your belly, they will make your ass look great. Plus, they will fit afterwards! Not exactly formal attire, but hey.

• 8. Carla Hinkle  |  September 16th, 2008 at 8:25 pm

  Yes, you can get through the 1st and most of the 2nd trimester without much in the way of maternity clothes. Even with my 2nd, I wore lots of empire-wasted shirts and skirts with stretchy waistbands.

  HOWEVER. In my experience, eventually your belly will take on a life of its own. (Heh heh.) Anything that sits on the middle of the belly will slide right off. Anything that is supposed to sit UNDER the belly will slide right off, too. Hence the saggy-crotched pants (one hopes they don’t slide *all* the way off).

  Anyway, by the last 6-8 weeks with both kids I was in full-on, full-panel, over-the-belly pregnancy pants. And enormous, tent-like tops. Hideous doesn’t even begin to cover it. And I am a small person (5′3″, 120 lbs normally) and had pretty average-sized babies (7 lbs, 5 oz and 8 lbs, 8 oz). BUT! It was a (relatively) short phase at the end, so I just went with comfort.

  I basically lived in Old navy maternity. Pretty inexpensive, but pretty cute. Not as cheap as Motherhood et al.

• 9. whoorl  |  September 16th, 2008 at 8:39 pm

  God, I hated Bella Bands.

  (Also, I have a suggestion for jeans, but I’m going to email you with my 568 reasons why they are the best maternity jeans out there.)

• 10. Stacy  |  September 16th, 2008 at 8:54 pm

  Oh yeah … maternity clothes suck so badly I’m not able to capture it in words.

  Two things:

  1. EBAY. Some of it is hideous, some is old, there are some great rare finds, but who cares when it is $2.50 for three shirts? Then, cut them up, layer ‘em … whatever works. Black pants and a few long sleeve tees will get you far.

  2. Don’t know where you are in VT, also only been there once. There is an all-things baby store in Brattleboro (I think it’s called Sprout) and they have more cloth diapers than you can imagine.

• 11. sarah  |  September 16th, 2008 at 9:10 pm

  What’s hard about dressing a pregnant body is that just when you figure out what to wear, your body changes again and you have to figure it out again. And then, if you’re me and most women, you gain a bunch of weight and aren’t actually your prepregnancy size. Yep.

  The best thing I did was buy a couple long Old navy tank tops and wear them under everything. I guess I carried low, actually, but most of the maternity tops I wore were too short and showed the gross maternity panel on whatever bottoms I wore. Long t-shirts under everything. Yes.

  And there will be a point maybe the last 6 weeks when you love the over the belly panel. The low or mid panel just cuts in after a while and somehow the over the top one feels comforting and doesn’t slip down as easily. You don’t believe me, I know. But you’ll see.

  Last: I got to a point, again near the end when I only wanted to wear nylon nightgowns. Hot! Because I didn’t want anything touching me if it didn’t have to. Yes, that’s a direct contradiction to my above statement. You’ll see. Oh, I’m actually wearing one of those nylon nightgowns now. It’s leopard print and almost as hot as when I waddled.

• 12. Violet  |  September 17th, 2008 at 3:25 am

  The lucky thing for you is that winter is approaching, and it will help that you’ll be able to find sweaters anywhere that will be long and loose enough to cover. I found great maternity stuff for cheap at Kohls, but I know you probably don’t have one there. And at the end of this pregancy (I had him in June, so it was hot), I lived in the over-the-belly maternity stretch pants and oversized scoop-neck teeshirts from the the plus-size department in Target. But earlier on there are a LOT of options with just a lot of stretch in the waistbands that don’t even look like maternity pants.

  But if you can get down to civilization, there is good cheap stuff at Kohls or Burlington Coat Factory. And there is always Craigslist, if you have a list near you… I bought a giant box of stuff for $50 to start me off. Some of it was ugly, but enough of it was cute to be more than worth it.

• 13. Jill  |  September 17th, 2008 at 4:37 am

  This just convinces me further that maternity clothes sizes make no sense. I’m also 16 weeks along and am now solely in maternity pants, and practically only maternity shirts since you can see through my regular tops to my stretching belly and/or the long styles just aren’t long enough.
  I’m also an 8 at Gap normally, but bought their pants in size 10. They’re slightly big now but I didn’t want to buy pants now only to go up a size in 3 months. Target and Kohl’s have done nothing for me and I finally broke down and bought stuff at Motherhood just because I need *something* to wear to work and I’m not about to spend $60 on a rayon skirt (Ann Taylor Loft, I’m looking at you) Some of the Motherhood mediums are too small and some are too big, but mostly they fit,,,for now.
  I bought some dresses at Gap for work and LOVE them. I need to purchase more of what they have, plus some more stuff from Old Navy. So far those are really the most reliable sources for me. I’m just annoyed that I have to buy all these work clothes that I’m never going to wear for any subsequent pregnancies.
  I wore the bella band for a few weeks, and occasionally wear it over a pair of full-panel pants that I have. I’ve heard it’s great for post partum for the same reason, so I’ll hang onto it I guess.

• 14. Carrie (in MN)  |  September 17th, 2008 at 4:45 am

  I was last pregnant 8 years ago, but I noticed you mentioned that the thought of a stretchy waistband or panel over your tummy right now makes you more nauseated. I had that problem – early in the pregnancies and then at the very end I could not stand a waistband of any sort. Loose dresses or overalls (god help me, I had some made out of knit material) were more comfortable.

  And – your belly won’t need support like a bra, but towards the end it can be quite heavy and you may want support for it to ease ythe strain on our lower back.

  Finally, I second the ebay suggestion. I didn’t buy there, but that’s where I sold my clothes when I was done with them – cheap (by my last pregnancy, my friends were done breeding too)

• 15. Jeanne  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:07 am

  When I was pregnant there were only about three or four stores that carried materinity clothes within 150 miles of where I live. Those stores had seriously ugly clothes. I longed for a Motherhood store and actually took a road trip to find one so that I could have something that had some shape to it and looked more professional for work. Then within a couple weeks of that I ended up on semi-bedrest and didn’t get to wear most of what I bought. Turns out the tents from KMart would have done it for me.

  In the end I loved the full belly panel pants because once my belly button had popped out I couldn’t stand having my shirt brush against it when I moved. The panel stayed in place and didn’t rub. I was sooo glad when I went back to being an “innie” afterward!

• 16. Sadie  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:19 am

  *eats six birth control pills at once*

  I often read laments like yours from expectant bloggers, about not wanting to spend money on maternity clothes because you wear them for such a relatively brief time. And frankly, I don’t get it. I am pretty frugal myself and rarely buy anything that isn’t on sale, but I CANNOT THINK of a time in a woman’s life where ponying up the cash for good, well-fitting clothes is more important than when she’s pregnant. I fully intend to spend eleventy billion dollars on maternity wear if need be.

• 17. birdgal  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:26 am

  As some others have said on here, yes, eventually you’ll need something that fits over your belly as it gets all round and takes on a life of its own (I am currently 38 weeks pregnant and I’m wearing gap maternity jeans w/what you might call a ‘belly sock’, but at least they stay up!). Yesterday I was wearing some roll panel capris from Gap that needed a bella band to keep from sliding down CONSTANTLY (this is a good second life for the bella, I’ve found). You’ll also eventually need all that extra length in your shirts, especially when the baby starts to ‘drop’ into position (your belly will go from ‘perky’ to more ‘droopy’ in nature). I pretty much got all my maternity wear from Gap and Target (a few pieces from Motherhood, but like you, I’ve found they don’t hold up as well and some of their stuff is FUGLY), though it helps that workplace is pretty casual so I didn’t need really nice work clothes or anything (I could not justify the prices at either Anne Taylor or Pea in the Pod). You’re at kind of an awkward stage right now–it will get better. Just keep wearing non-maternity stuff as long as possible I say, and when you do really need maternity clothes buy a few basic pieces and mix and match.

• 18. Swistle  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:35 am

  I like the Duo tops JCPenney carries. I get the short-sleeved scoopneck tee in every color, ten bucks each, and I wear them every day.

• 19. Jenny H  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:43 am

  De-lurking to say Good Luck!

  Maternity stuff sucked when I was pregnant, both times. I am a rather large chested kind of girl and you DO NOT EVEN want to know what size top I had to buy. My jean size was pretty much the same, 12-14. But the top? It wasn’t pretty. And mainly because of the boobage. It was wildly annoying. I hit consignment/resale stores for my Maternity stuff. I checked online and the closest store to you that I know carries really good stuff(’cause I work at one in Georgia) is in Massachusetts. It’s called Kid to Kid, in case you can find one. They only take newer stuff.

  And you will be very grateful that your shirts are so long in a few months! The damn things tend to creep up. Plus, with you being up north you don’t want your belly gettin’ cold!

  Happy Hunting!

• 20. moo  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:47 am

  1. Old Navy had the most comfortable mat clothes for me.

  2.) if you have a consignment shop near you (kids’ shops are great for this) you can get SUPER CUTE brand name matclothes for CHEAP. Like Pea in the Pod shirt for $10, Mimi stuff for $6 … or cheaper.

  3. Some women prefer full panel, others not so much. It’s a comfort thing. With my first pregnancy, I was able to wear my regular pants until 33 weeks … and gave birth 4 weeks later. So I only had one pair of mat. pants. With this pregnancy, I’m 13 weeks in and already searching for mat pants. So every pregnancy IS different. Especially when your body remembers what to do from the first time.

  4. Mat clothes, like the majority of fashion these days, is made for tiny people who have no shape. I hate them, whoever they are.

  +5+930

• 21. jonniker  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:49 am

  Sadie: I thought I’d be like you, too, but the thing is, you don’t know what will fit you later, so you’re shopping for clothes ALL THE DAMN TIME. The jeans that fit me now, might not fit me in a few months. I mean, one could easily drop thousands and thousands of dollars and … oh man. Especially since I work from home, it feels wasteful, particularly when you want to save money for the kid, you know?

  I guess I’m saying that I’m surprised, too. I thought I’d be all for it, but when you really get out there and see how little there is, it all makes me feel very stabby.

• 22. Sarah  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:50 am

  I had 3 pairs of pants from Old Navy (they sat below waist and just had some elastic in the back) and I also wore them for months afterwards because they didn’t look like maternity clothes! And then tshirts from Old Navy. One pair of work pants from Target. It wasn’t until the last few weeks that I felt really big, though, and by then I was wearing tent shirts. Oh, I also got tank tops from Target, and just wore unbuttoned shirts over that…the tank tops can still be worn now – they’re just a little big, but they’re stretchy so they adjust accordingly! I was soooo sick of my maternity clothes by the end, since I just rotated between about 5 outfits!
  Evening wear became sweats with a nightshirt!
  But yeah, I would definitely say Old Navy and Target were the winners.

• 23. Alexa  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:52 am

  I believe everything in my maternity wardrobe was either from the GapMaternity or Target–long sleeved Tshirts from GapMaternity and Target Maternity were lovely: not tentlike, but some extra room in the bottom somehow. I completely agree with you about Motherhood and Co., I hated those stores. My very favorite things were a couple of pairs of roll panel pants from Gap. Eventually the demi panel under-belly pants will start to cut into you unpleasantly, but the roll panel ones were just right, and they were perfect postpartum as well.

• 24. Jess  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:54 am

  I am never going to be able to wear maternity clothes. You have confirmed this for me. I will have to spend my pregnancy shut inside my house, naked.

• 25. -R-  |  September 17th, 2008 at 6:02 am

  I hate almost all maternity pants, so I have been wearing a lot of skirts. I needed maternity pants/skirts much earlier than I needed maternity shirts, which seemed like tents until 24 weeks or so. Now at 33 weeks, my maternity shirts are almost too short! It is kind of scary.

  Anyway, Maternity Motherhood and A Pea in the Pod = horrible. All my clothes are from Target, Gap, Old Navy, and JC Penney. I only have like 7 outfits though, which is getting very old.

  Also, I hate all the suggestions in baby books to wear your husband’s clothes. That does not work so well if you need clothes to wear to work or if your husband is over a foot taller than you.

• 26. Jeanne  |  September 17th, 2008 at 6:44 am

  HaHa, just read -R-’s comment about wearing your husband’s clothes! I remember reading that and then throwing the book across the room! My husband is athletic in a ver lean way, and even non-pregnant I weigh more than him. He’s 7″ taller too, so wearing his clothes was never an option!

• 27. Megan  |  September 17th, 2008 at 7:53 am

  Can you send me whoorl’s jeans email? I just checked Gap’s website to see if My Jeans were on there, but they aren’t…and I wish they were, b/c I LOVE them. They’re no-panel, or whatever it’s called. And they look like regular jeans. They’re the long & lean ones, but not any of the ones on the site.

  I’ve honestly been living, LIVING, in dresses lately. B/c mat shirts look ridiculous, (except for one, which I’ll link to you), and dresses are just more comfy.

  If you guys take a trip down here, come to Destination Maternity in Natick. It’s all 3 brands you mention above in one store, and they have FAB sales. And DVF wrap dresses, for the designer in you.

  My new fave mat tee: http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=6055&pid=548713

• 28. Jen  |  September 17th, 2008 at 8:04 am

  I keep coming back to check these comments because I’m in the exact same boat as you – just as far along too. I did luck out because a friend of mine gave me a bag of stuff that she wore – 6 pairs of jeans in there and lots of t-shirts. I’m all for the hand-me-downs.

  As for this in between stage, I’m still working with most of my regular stuff – mostly dresses until the weather gets too cold. Was debating buying a Bella Band for help with work pants but now I’m not sure…work clothes are going to be my biggest challenge, I’m afraid.

• 29. Sara  |  September 17th, 2008 at 8:15 am

  Yeah, eventually you’re going to want a full panel pregnancy pant that covers your entire belly. The half panels keep falling down, which is maddening, and just the sensation of having a lot of cloth bunched up underneath your burgeoning belly will drive you nuts. By the last two months of my pregnancy I ended up with TWO pairs of pants that I just wore every other day.

  Also – I purchased a lot of about 12 shirts off ebay, which I wore pretty much the entire time.

  I know that you’re stuck in rural town, but I’m lucky enough to be in a big city, so I also went to a place called “Other Mothers” where you could sell your stuff to them for credit or cash, which made everything used and cheap.

  All together, my pregnancy wardrobe was less than $100.00.

• 30. Sadie  |  September 17th, 2008 at 8:25 am

  After reading all of the other comments, it would seem that I AM woefully naive, because the general consensus here is that maternity clothes are overpriced, ill-fitting, and overall just fucking suck. You chicks should get together and make a clothing line, for reals. Sounds like you’d be millionaires.

  Oh, and could you get that done before I ever get pregnant? Kthxbai.

• 31. Rebecca (Bearca)  |  September 17th, 2008 at 8:54 am

  AMEN. Maternity clothes are a conspiracy, man. I agree with you about wearing non-maternity tops. I did that through most of my pregnancies too. So much better!

  One thing I would recommend is a pair of black jersey pants from Japanese Weekend. It’s a maternity clothing store here in CA (not sure where else they are located) but you can buy them online and even though they cost $65, you will be able to wear them almost every day. They feel like pajama pants but are work-appropriate! Check it out:

  http://www.japaneseweekend.com/luxe_jersey_wide_leg_pant_p/23-4173-072.htm

• 32. Carriext  |  September 17th, 2008 at 9:23 am

  I didn’t need extra belly support–until baby #3. Suddenly, my belly skin lost all elasticity! The baby was just! so! low! that I ended up wearing a pregnancy girdle (talk about pricey!). But there were just days where I was in TEARS she was so low, and I needed the support! How embarrassing to be wearing THAT thing when someone comes over and wants to rub your belly! Ahem. Anyway, it’s your first, so you should be fine.

  I got a lot of cute/decently priced things at Target (of course!), Pennys, and Burlington Coat Factory (I know!). Good luck! And thank goodness that the empire waist is back!

• 33. el-e-e  |  September 17th, 2008 at 10:06 am

  For both my pregnancies, the first shopping trip was a HATE trip — I hate everything they have, I can’t WEAR these ugly stupid clothes, I hate the strap-on… and then the 2nd and 3rd and 15th shopping trips? (yes I had to buy X-LARGE Motherhood maternity pants at about 37 weeks because my LARGE were not large enough, booooo) –but those trips are like heaven because I was sick of the 6 shirts I had been rotating. So it gets better.

• 34. Marie  |  September 17th, 2008 at 10:41 am

  I lived in Target and Old Navy maternity clothes. I had a few things from Motherhood, but I agree that the quality for the price was ridiculous. My favorite jeans were from Target and my favorite lounging/yoga pants were from Old Navy – I lived in them for the last month or so. I basically rocked the long-sleeved t-shirts and jeans and threw a cardigan over it all. I think now with the empire waist and the longer style of some shirts you can get away with more non-maternity stuff, which is awesome, because you don’t really strike me as a bow-in-the-back kind of gal.

• 35. metalia  |  September 17th, 2008 at 10:44 am

  Okay, first of all, I never had the giant belly-boob feeling you speak of. It got HEAVY, yes, but it didn’t…sag, or anything,

  As for cheap, cute maternity shit, do you have a Forever 21 near you? Because while they don’t carry maternity clothes per se, a big chunk of my pregnancy clothes came from there. They have a METRIC TON of long, tunic tops, and cute empire waist things. There and (DON’T LAUGH) delias.com, I found absolutely adorable things I could get away with, and the prices were so reasonable that I didn’t care if they fell apart after two washings. (Though, for the most part, they held up.)

• 36. -R-  |  September 17th, 2008 at 10:52 am

  I am back to see if anyone else has good maternity clothes recommendations because I need some pants for these last 6-7 weeks. I am still at the point where I hate full panel, by the way. It makes me feel squished.

  But I keep getting stuck on this: What the heck is a strap-on? I do not understand.

• 37. jonniker  |  September 17th, 2008 at 10:57 am

  R: It’s the fake belly they have in the dressing rooms at maternity stores. I’ve only honestly ever seen them at Gap Maternity and the Dreaded Motherhood.

• 38. Lise  |  September 17th, 2008 at 10:59 am

  Delurking to say congratulations! And God pregnancy sucks! It’s amazing how many different ways there are to feel sick, uncomfortable, anxious, and unattractive. But then, when it’s over, you not only have your sweet baby, you also have the sweet relief that you are no longer pregnant. So. I know this won’t help you much immediately, but I had good luck with maternity clothes from H&M. I still wear a pair of stretchy capri pants (with an adjustable elastic waistband) that lasted through two pregnancies. Best maternity clothes purchase I made. I had good luck with their shirts too. I know H&M clothes have the reputation of falling apart after a few washings,but I haven’t had that problem. Maybe the next time you are in Boston? The Downtown Crossing store carries maternity.

• 39. -R-  |  September 17th, 2008 at 11:01 am

  Aha! They had those weird things at Bloomingdales too. I did not try it on though, as it seemed a little creepy.

• 40. ZestyJenny  |  September 17th, 2008 at 11:25 am

  I have too much freaking work to do today to read all of your comments, (Which I usually do, because you have the best commenters ever) so forgive me if I am repeating things others have said.

  I have been loving Old Navy for maternity clothes. Usually, I don’t buy much there because it can be pretty cheaply made, but as you said, for maternity clothes, there is a shorter window of use. Anyway, they are seriously cheap. Every couple of weeks, I’ve spent about $75 on OldNavy.com and gotten like 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, and a hoodie, plus shipping or something ridiculous like that. In fact, I am wearing my new hoodie that came in the mail the other day, and I love it so much! so cozy! And it zips up! And fits me!

  I would be careful about putting too much faith in Target and Liz Lange. I was counting on them to be my bffs but they’ve let me down. I haven’t really liked anything they’ve had so far.

  As for the full panel belly sock, I love it. I started loving it at about 22 weeks. That’s when I suddenly wanted to rip anything constrictng off of my lower abdomen. The full panel does not feel as constricting as it looks.

  I have been lucky enough to get lots of hand me down maternity clothes, but let me please tell you about a HORRIFYING experience I had to have, IN PUBLIC. A dear friend who I don’t see very often, showed up to a party with a big bag of her really cute maternity clothes for me. The problem was, I could have told her, AND DID, before she started pulling them out piece by piece, that they were never going to fit. She is a pre-pregnancy 6 or S, and I am a pre-pregnancy 10 or L. So, DUH, nothing fit me at 26 weeks, even her biggest clothes. But she kept pulling them out going, “Oooh! This one is so cute! It’s HUGE! It will totally fit you!” Can you just picture it? It was awful.

• 41. Elizabeth  |  September 17th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

  Oh, the maternity clothes were the worst. I think all my blog posts from that time just alternated between “I am so sick I want to die” and “maternity clothes are from the devil”
  SO you’re right on track!
  I really liked the stuff from the Gap, and JC Penney had a few cute dresses. All other maternity clothes were either huge, disgustingly ugly, or designed to show off my boobs as much as possible, which was about the last thing on earth I was in the mood to show off. I ended up just buying a bunch of t shirts and sweaters that were extra long and in a size bigger from the regular section of Kohl’s or something, as I recall.
  and yeah, that bella band was useless. I just never got how it was supposed to be awesome to walk around with my pants unbuttoned.
  When I was about six or seven months pregnant, it started to really suck to have something squeezing my stomach, and that’s when I switched over the full panel maternity pants.
  But to be honest I wore my non maternity fleece yoga pants from Old Navy every chance I got. Those and my husbands sweatshirts were my maternity staples.

• 42. elise  |  September 17th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

  I’ve got nothing of value to add, I’m not pregnant, and right now I honestly don’t think I ever will be.

  But!

  This post was hilariously gripey, and I just wanted to thank you for the laughs. And I’m not laughing AT you, I’m laughing with you. As long as you were laughing when you wrote it. A little.

  Best of luck. And, as a boutique owner who deals with lots of pregnant ladies, I think your plan to stick with non-maternity tops for as long as possible is a good and totally do-able plan.

• 43. Penny  |  September 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

  Really funny. And you know, I have read quite a few rants against maternity wear and ALL of them are, actually, funny. Because maternity wear LOOKS like it might be neat, but it is not.

  -thank you for affirming that motherhood maternity’s sizes are really tiny. Thank GOD.

  -stay away from old navy maternity jeans. They fall down.

  -the panels- it seems like, you have options when you’re still “little” but it’s full panel or bust when you’re huge and the baby has dropped. Because everything else seems to slice your belly, and that hurts.

  -avoid the maternity shirts as long as possible, because you will also grow out of some of them and have to buy MORE and that sucks.

• 44. Emily  |  September 17th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

  See, this is where it sucks to be me. I know that you’re going to hate me (no really, HATE ME) for saying this, but I kind of… envy you people who get at least SOME morning sickness/nausea. Do you know what happens when you’re pregnant and you can keep EVERY SINGLE THING YOU EVER EAT IN YOUR STOMACH?

  Well. You OUTGROW maternity pants, and not because your belly is huge. BECAUSE YOUR ASS AND THIGHS ARE.

  If I could have thrown back up a couple of those chocolate milkshakes, I’d be in MUCH BETTER SHAPE.

  (That said, things I love: Old Navy maternity t-shirts. Gap Maternity yoga pants. And I never got REALLY huge with my first pregnancy, so the demi panel for jeans was best for me, but no one does a demi panel like Gap. It’s soft and flexible, the others tended to dig into me and hurt.)

• 45. Emily  |  September 17th, 2008 at 4:10 pm

  P.S. I have a story about Motherhood Maternity and their dressing rooms and of PEOPLE CATCHING SCABIES THERE. RUUUUUNNNNN!

• 46. the new girl  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

  I used the bella band a lot when I was bigger and the jeans that I had wouldn’t stay up b/c the panel was soft and stretchy. I kind of liked it *after* as well, to kind of suck it all in. But that’s another story.

  I LOVED the regular shirts when I was pregnant, because, as you say, the empire waist and all. With all the puking, I didn’t start to gain until WELL into my 2nd trimester, so a regular shirt would fit fine and be cute! I bought some things at Motherhood Maternity (do not underestimate the comfiness of the way-big maternity underwear.) I got a lot of good things at Old Navy, though. Long, long tank tops that I layered with longer shirts (when the bump was a little bigger.)

  I got the hidden panels and a few pants with the demi-or-whateverthehell and then, believe it or not, one day the big old humongo panel was more comfortable.

  You do get a little use out of them after the baby is born but it was a weird thing that after I had her, I forgot what I USED to wear. I have to go and buy ANOTHER bunch of clothes now, from the body changes.

• 47. Kristabella  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:21 pm

  I have nothing to offer, but I did read it all.

  I’m so sad to hear that the Belly Band is not good. I have maybe, sometimes contemplating getting one of those when my pants get too tight from eating an entire pizza and drinking a keg of beer in one sitting.

• 48. Beth  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:23 pm

  Target: Nice-looking maternity clothes at low prices. I LOVED my Target two-piece (charcoal-gray straight skirt and shirt, both in jersey-ish fabric). Get basics at Target.

  Later in your pregnancy you may want to get a maternity belt. I predict you’ll hate the thought, but you’ll love it when you get really big. It takes the weight off your back and really helps. ;^)

• 49. Lippy  |  September 17th, 2008 at 5:27 pm

  I second Kohl’s and Target. I got the best pair of mat. pants there 5 years ago. Of course by the time I went to get more they were gone. I don’t know how you usually dress, I wear a lot of button down shirt (LL Beanish). So I get a lot of t shirts and wear a regular button down shirt unbuttoned. The last two months or so you just spill everything on the belly, so all your shirts are stained anyway. I just found out I need to pull all my clothes back out for baby number 3. Off to eat another ice cream sandwich to settle my stomach.

• 50. Anyabeth  |  September 17th, 2008 at 7:12 pm

  I really can’t imagine trying to wear regular (even empire) shirts at the end. But I have a long torso and I carried high so even maternity shirts were getting short. The best of the lot were the shirts from the gap–they had t-shirts with ruching on the side that were long enough and comfortable but also had some shape (without the damn ties). Made it clear I was pregnant and not fat. Because at about eighteen weeks regular shirts just started to make me look like I had let myself go.

  I had the worst time with maternity because I am normally a large and yeah, not a lot of choice. And I work in fashion (!) so just wearing yoga pants was not an option. Since you work from home I would just invest in some great t-shirts and yoga pants. Maybe one pair of jeans. And maybe one or two cutish tops so that if you do go out you have something to wear. It does feel like a waste but you will wear the hell out of this stuff and be so sick of it at the end. Sad but true.

• 51. Donna  |  September 17th, 2008 at 9:53 pm

  Check out this link:
  http://www.alphamom.com/smackdown/2008/08/macguyver_maternity_five_steps.php

• 52. Misty  |  September 18th, 2008 at 6:45 am

  We did the gDiaper thing. In a brand new just built house. Clogged the toilets. Even though they SWORE they wouldn’t. So, I would just be aware of that and compost the wet ones if you are into that sort of thing. I decided my landfill guilt would cave under the plumbing bills. Another ideal, dashed.

  Also, between my first and second pregnancy, I really did notice this strange trend to Boost! the belly. It does feel like a bra. How weird, right? The belly does get heavy towards the end and round ligament pain is a bitch, but I didn’t really see the need for all that support literally thrusting the belly up and out. However, everyone’s body is different, so it could be helpful to you as you progress.

• 53. ali  |  September 18th, 2008 at 9:41 am

  lululemon. 100%

• 54. Jessica  |  September 18th, 2008 at 9:43 am

  I am far too busy feeling like hell to read all the comments so I apologize if anything I say has already been said. Also, these kinds of comment-reading-skippers used to drive me mad, so I’m sorry for that too.

  1. Motherhood and it’s sister sites are evil. I could wear Motherhood stuff for the first “cute baby bump” stage (I start showing around 15 weeks) but not afterwards. I love how they’re all, “Buy your pre-pregnancy size!” Yeah, whatever, I’m normally a size 8 or 10 and their medium stuff feels like I’m squeezing myself into a tube sock. I was able to get some big XL capri pants with that stretchy no-seam panel thing that still fit okay, but everything else? Too small. And I’m only 5 months along.

  2. Target and Gap stuff, as you’ve found fits pretty well.

  3. When your belly gets to the point where yes, support feels good, you may also find that sitting in jeans starts to hurt. Where the panel (regardless of what kind of panel) ends and the jean part begins under your belly, it’ll start to pinch and feel horrible down there. I fondly refer to this stage as the Mumu stage, where all I feel comfortable in are gigantic tent dresses.

  4. I hated the Bella Band. But I do have this odd looking white elastic strap thing I got from Motherhood during my first pregnancy that you strap on and it provides some lift on the underside of your belly. It makes it possible, in the last few months to walk around without dying. Also, your husband standing behind you and just gently LIFTING on your belly feels wonderful. So does swimming.

  5. I don’t know if it’s this way for everyone, but I’ve ended up having three sets of maternity wear per pregnancy. It’s insanely annoying given the expense of the stupid items, but the whole idea of wearing one size straight through never flew for me. I have Medium stuff I can wear at the beginning. Large stuff I wear during the middle, and XL and XXL stuff I wear at the end. And dude, I’m not some gigantic huge gain-a-ton-of-weight person. But I do insist on being comfortable and not squeezing into uncomfortable crap.

  Maternity wear is so frustrating.

• 55. Jessica  |  September 18th, 2008 at 9:44 am

  Oh! If you want to DIE over maternity wear prices, try Nordstroms. I choked out some dough for a Japanese Weekend maternity top and some of those wide legged cropped pants… yoga? from there, and though they were expensive, they fit wonderfully and are good quality.

  A Pea in the Pod shirt I shelled out $72 for in size LARGE is too small, and they wouldn’t take it back. I hate them.

• 56. Kristin H  |  September 18th, 2008 at 10:01 am

  Can I just comment on the worst maternity clothes ever? Whoever designs and sells those little skimpy tank tops with spaghetti straps should be forced to wear them for nine months with side C or D boobs. Seriously, who wears those tops? And more important, who approved them being made and sold in the first place? At a time when MOST women need extra support in the boobage area, why taunt them with tops that are cute but cannot be worn? Geez.

  end rant.

  I hear you on not being a big fan of pre-used clothing. Me either, except that I have totally, utterly, and completely fallen in love with garage sales for kids clothes. It’s like you said: the stuff is barely worn, and for 25 cents or 50 cents or hell, even $4.00 (expensive in garage sale terms!) you can get everything under the sun for the baby to wear. I love garage sales! I’ll shout it from the rooftops! I love garage sales!!!

• 57. Kristin H  |  September 18th, 2008 at 10:17 am

  Hi again, since I’m late to the party I figured you wouldn’t care if I comment some more. : )

  Re: Belly support. I never really felt like I needed it, but I did find that swimming was really great for easing my back pain. I swam just about every day in the last couple of weeks. Hm, maybe I needed support and just didn’t realize it.

  Maybe to justify the money you’re having to spend on clothes, you should have lots of kids!

  I’m sure that makes sense economically, in some twisted way.

• 58. Leah  |  September 18th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

  I’m actually in the middle of writing an article about maternity clothes for a website, and reading what you wrote just goes to show that there is SO MUCH variation from person to person. I find that I NEED the extra long shirts or else not just my paneled jeans but also my belly are exposed to the elements. Also, I’m finding that all of the sizes on all brands of clothes are all over the place–I’m a S, M, L, and XL all at the same time. I haven’t found one brand that is anywhere near consistent or reliably close to my pre-pregnancy size. (Hips widen, ribs expand, etc.)

  And as for eventually needing a belly sock for support? I can attest to that. The weight of the belly is one of the things that’s contributing to my sciatic pain, and I’ve found that if I wear somewhat constrictive pants I feel better at the end of the day. That sure as hell beats getting one of those maternity support belts, I can tell you that.

  Also, you know that I have always planned to send you my mat clothes when I was done with them but…I’m not done with them. I always hoped that you’d be pregnant before the end of my pregnancy, so there you go–wish granted but nothing to hand down. :\

• 59. beyond  |  September 20th, 2008 at 8:20 am

  so glad you explained what a strap-on is in the comments!
  i have heard many good things about yoga pants, my friends say they are comfy during all pregnancy stages and very very wearable after giving birth.

• 60. Lisa  |  September 22nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm

  Yoga pants from Target. You know, the kind the skinny girls wear tucked over and riding low. When early pregnant, they are soft yet stretchy, and tuck nicely under the belly pooch with a wee bit of support (they are stretch pants, but not that annoying elastic band around the belly. Up until six months I couldn’t stand anything touching my stomach. These rocked.) At the end, when I was ginormous, they could still be tucked low under my enormous girth, or pulled up over the belly like a tube sock. And they are a nice transition post-partum, because they are regular pants and don’t droop in the front. In fact, I was wearing them this morning, even tho baby is 11 months old now.

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