Duck Duck Goose, my Mom is sort of trying to talk me into the tents with ruffles . She also hugely disapproves of some of the maternity fashions these days. I’m going to make most of my stuff. In black. No ducks.
Mouse_Maven, you should have punched him. I’m already planning on punching anyone who insinuates that I’m getting fat once I start expanding (the pre pregnant-looking phase). Pregnant women should come with little forehead labels: “Don’t piss me off. I’m pregnant. I WILL kill you, and be acquitted”. Can you sew? Do you know someone who can? I found a good tutorial on altering jeans for maternity wear, and adding a belly band.
I haven’t thrown up in two days! Should I be worried? I’m worried.
Totally! I bought a pair of maternity jeans that were under-the-belly (rather than the make-you-feel-even-less-attractive-by-coming-up-all-the-way-over-your-belly jeans) and since I have absolutely no ass (it’s true and quite sad), there just wasn’t anything to hold up these jeans. I was constantly hiking those suckers up and since I didn’t care what anyone thought of me because I was so freaking huge, it’s possible someone got a flash of something they should not have. Plus, I’m really tall so it was nearly impossible to find a maternity shirt that was big enough to both cover my massive belly and hang long enough to meet my jeans.
I found that most maternity clothes fit you in your second trimester. For the first trimester, they are too big. For the last trimester, too small. I ended up wearing the same two shirts and two pairs of pants for the last two months.
Your taste in clothes are similar to mine: jeans and soild-colored t-shirts. When I turned 30 in February, I bought a copy of What Not to Wear hoping to improve things. Then decided that I’m a mutant that should only be allowed out in burka.
Oh the heartburn! You have my sympathies. I haven’t found a trigger yet, I just carry those “fruit” flavored on what planet? antiacids with me.
We want to know the sex of the Mouseling. Insurance will only cover an ultrasound for a procedure, so when I have an amniocentesis we’ll take a look. (If the Mouseling cooperates. He/She was turning flips during the last ultrasound, so it took the tech an age to get a clear picture. * Baby, I’ve got a full bladder, please stay still!*)
I signed up for a registery, but I’m drawing a blank. From local garage sales, I got a crib and a baby bathtub. Mouse_Spouse and I bought a new crib mattress, a car seat and a stroller. I’m trying to figure out what else we’ll need. The Mouse_Pad isn’t very big, so stocking up for later is not a option.
Do doublecheck and make sure the crib meets current safety regs – we bought a lovely old wooden crib for whiterabbit; shortly thereafter they instituted the new rules about the distance the bars can be apart, and hers definitely didn’t qualify. Of course, I padded it well so it was never a problem, but it’s still worth checking on a used crib.
We were limited on space, too, so instead of a changing table, I just got a small dresser and we anchored a changing pad to the top of it, with a seatbelt to prevent rolling off later on. It was a good way to accomplish two purposes in one fell swoop.
And as one who suffered horribly with swollen feet with Young Tiger, be sure to lie down with your feet elevated well above the height of your head whenever you have a chance, to help the fluid drain. I used to have to come home from work and spend an hour lying down before my feet would start looking normal again; they’d get so swollen during the day they’d flop over the edges of my shoes. :eek: I still have a tendency towards swollen feet to this day, but between drinking lots of fluids and elevating my feet whenever possible, I keep it under control. Plus it feels so good to have the feet unswollen for a little while!
Oh, my husband went to a training at work that said you should not purchase used car seats. There is no way of knowing if they are still structurally sound.
I was pregnant three years ago and had tons of darling clothes. I found a lot at Kohl’s, Target and on eBay. eBay in particular was wonderful; the women selling the clothes often go into great detail about how tall they are and what size they are, pre-baby, so you can get an excellent idea if the items will fit you or not. I don’t know where you live, but where I live there’s plenty of maternity wear. I must have had 10 pairs of capri pants. Of course, they didn’t all fit at the same time. You do grow in and out of stuff.
A tip on the rude guy: you’re pregnant and most things are going to piss you off. I found that ramping up the positive attitude helps you get through it. Most people are kindly toward pregnant women, even if what they say is clumsy or poorly worded. Enjoy this time. Growing a little human being is a great honor and joy.
This is absolutely right. Not only might it have been in an accident you won’t know about, but the plastic itself degrades. Even your Cousin Ida’s carseat from her last, now in kindergarten, should be gently turned away. The expiration date (yes, just like milk) should be somewhere on the seat. If it’s so old that it doesn’t HAVE an expiration date, it’s definitely too old to use.
Maternity clothes suck! Especially if you’re just showing right now - all that’s in stores is cutesy tank tops and capri pants and those smocked top spaghetti strap numbers that make even non-pregnant people look like they’re sporting a belly. Apparently no pregnant women work and want to look professional during the summer.
When I was building my preggers wardrobe I managed to find enough plain, long, stretchy t-shirts, but pants were the worst. Below the belly falls down, so as much as I hated the huge full panel, that’s what I ended up with. Then I had trouble finding even those. I had a full on hormonal melt down one day when DH did the wash and just about all the newer maternity clothes that I had just bought shrunk to the point of uselessness. They cost more than the regular clothes that I buy, and they didn’t hold up. I went to Value City and bought a bunch of pants in my prepregnant size. I went to the fabric store and bought a bunch of navy blue interlock and some wide elastic. I made my own custom-fitted maternity pants, and what’s more - they had pockets! (Why do maternity clothes makers refuse to squeeze pockets in anywhere? I have a pair that do have them, so you can’t tell me it’s impossible)
When I am queen of the universe, maternity clothes will be normal looking, well constructed, and inexpensive.
MouseMaven, I realize that these might be kind of out of the way for you, but have you tried the Target stores either at Colorado/Alameda (in Denver/Glendale) or the one at the Colorado Mills Mall? Those both seem to have relatively large clothing sections of all types.
One of the things that was most remarkable about our trip to China was to see all the pregnant woman wearing the same outfit - black corduroy overalls with little cartoon characters embroidered on the bib. Seriously, every single pregnant woman we saw in the whole 3 weeks was wearing this outfit. And then, on our last night in Beijing, just before we headed home, we saw a store that must have been a maternity store - because the ENTIRE STORE was filled with black corduroy overalls with little cartoon characters embroidered on the bib! At least women in the US have a little bit more of a choice than THAT!
I recently went to Old Navy and they had just put out a rack of maternity clothes on clearance. Get this - everything on the rack was $1.97. That’s right. It was on sale because it was all winter stuff and they are putting out spring and summer clothes now. I am due in December. I pretty much took that whole rack home with me, at least everything in my size. I have a closet stuffed with maternity wear now, I joke that I will have a better wardrobe when I get into maternity than I do now! Plus I had just bought a bunch more online also on clearance from Gap (not quite that cheap, it was mostly under $10 a piece though) so I really have tons of stuff. Hooray! The only issue I have is I need tall pants (34" inseam) so those are harder to find. I have one pair, I hope to buy one more.
Last time I was stuck being hugely pregnant in the summer (I had a July baby) so this time I am looking forward to being in the cute second trimester for the summer. And I am almost done with the first trimester, huzzah! I am in that boring stage now. I am glad to be feeling better but I don’t have an feeling of being pregnant anymore at all. I feel bloated, that’s about it. Most of my regular clothes are starting to feel a little tight but maternity stuff is still way too big. Luckily that empire waist is in right now so I have a bunch of tops that I can wear for a while. I have noticed that anyone who wears them looks a little pregnant anyway so I feel very fashionable this season
I have discovered the trick is to buy off season. If are buying summer maternity stuff right now you will be stuck paying full price. I am hoping to get through the summer without needing a maternity swimsuit, (I will be about 5 months pregnant in August) but I figure if I do need one for the very end of the summer they should be cheap by then.
If you think you’re having trouble with clothes, try being a person “of size” and needing maternity clothes. I was wearing about a size 22 when I got Dweezil started (14 years ago??? How’d that happen) and NONE of the maternity stores came anywhere near having anything. One shop in the area - 30 miles away from my house - had some things. And JC Penney mail-order. I wound up having 4 jumpers made by a seamstress to wear to work, as I needed tailored things for the office and even that one shop had nearly nothing suitable.
And a couple of dresses which I bought at “big non-pregnant women” departments; just got one size up. I had the clerk at Nordstrom in stitches by stuffing my jacket up under one dress to simulate a belly so I could see how it would look in a few months
Ooh, ooh, Mouse_Maven, go get yourself copies of 2 books, RIGHT NOW: Baby Bargains and The Big Book of Birth. The former was THE biggest help to us when it came to registering for stuff, and knowing what’s actually useful, what’s not, and which one to get. Consumer Reports has a book out, too, which is also really helpful. You can get the same information if you become a member of their website, if that’s more your thing.
I’m still reading the other book, and it’s just amazing – she tells you all about what happens to you (physically and emotionally) during each stage of labor, what’s within the range of normal, what drugs will be offered to you and what they do, how they work, their side effects, etc. And she does it all in a relatively unbiased, positive way. It’s just great.
I used to work at a company with a lot of Chinese women and nearly all of them who became pregnant while I was working there owned a pair or three of those overalls! They weren’t all black, though; some were green or maroon. It really seems to be some sort of pregnant uniform!
We got neat maternity clothes for Mrs. Small. Actually, we didn’t but I was at Goodwill (the one I found a sweet Who 1980’s tour shirt) and found her a nice sized Pink Floyd t-shirt. It was a XXL, which fit over the baby belly. Yay Goodwill!
Also, she fell while walking off the porch at my sister’s last week on Sunday. Didn’t hit her belly or anything, but she called the doctor. She said that she felt fine, but they wanted her to come in. She also told them she had an appointment on Monday, so they said unless she was bleeding and whatnot, just talk to the doctor on Monday. The doc told us to get a new ultrasound, since it was still covered by insurance to get one, and he is now nearly 4 pounds!!! No problems from the fall, but she is (off the original guess) due in August, therefore at 29 weeks (last week), but she is measuring at nearly 34. We may have a little small sooner than later! Just wanted to say…heh
Also, about the maternity clothes - for formal nights, she found a few things at Deb’s - a larger one with a plus size section. Basically, we went to a dinner and all that jazz and she needed a dress, it was suit + tie for guys, semi-formal dress for ladies. She bought a neato green sundress thing. It looked nice, and no one could say anything about it if it wasn’t formal enough because it just showed off enough baby belly.
We usually find some decent things at Old Navy. Other than that, shirts have become guys XXL instead of Maternity L. Maybe that is a good way to go…
I have The Unoffical Guide to Having a Baby, by Ann Douglas, and it’s fantastic. It goes week by week instead of month-by-month, and it’s very calm and informative.
Okay, should I be shopping for maternity stuff now? I’m not due till January, and I haven’t started because I have no idea how big I’m going to get. Is there any good-ish way to size up? I won’t really start expanding for a few more months.
My advice, Li-Li, is to buy as you go. I know someone just mentioned buying out a rack of stuff they saw on sale, but my experience is that not only do you NOT know what size you’re going to be, but stuff is wildly sized. We’ve had plenty of discussions here at the Dope about women’s sizes in general being sized wacky (personally, my own clothes range from a 10 to 14 and they all fit the same :rolleyes: ). Well, that goes double for maternity clothes. Some appear to be styled and sized for pregnant teenagers (maybe they are). Others seem more for the MamaZappa set (Dweezil came too early MZ! )
Another problem is, you may prefer the over-the-belly pants if you’re bottom-challenged like lilflower, rather than the low-rise type that sits below the baby. I was more comfortable with my belly covered by two layers, so I mostly wore the over-the-belly type. I found some great ones at Lands End that had a zipper up the back, and adjustable, non-showing elastic. They didn’t have a big ugly panel, just more material.
They also fit well in the first few weeks post-partum, when you’re still all pregnant-looking and NONE of your normal clothes fit. This may be one of those secrets that “nobody told me,” so heed my words, ye pregsters.
A third problem is, you’ll probably gain some weight that’s NOT in your belly. So if you wear a 10 now, your new size is probably more like a 12. If you’re one of those women who stays the same size, great – but be prepared for a little blimpage.
Hurting The Bastard is sooooo tempting. Sadly, it would be unprofessional of me. Oh, I’m sorry. I thought he was a rat when I put him in the guillotine. Well, he wasn’t using that brain anyway, maybe we can take a look and see how his mouth worked without it.
In other news: I have typed up a letter of resignation, but my boss has been MIA for three weeks. On one has any idea where he is, and he’s not answering phone calls or emails. Grrrrrrrrrrrr!
Thanks for all of the advise everyone! Having a baby is overwhelming. I have worked with animals for much of my adult life. At an animal shelter, you had to answer a bunch of questions before taking a cat or a dog home. In the lab, you have to go through a lot ** of training before handling the animals. In a few short months, I’ll give birth to another human being and then the hospital staff will just send him/her home with me**! :eek:
I haven’t found a trigger yet, I just carry those “fruit” flavored on what planet? antiacids with me.
:eek: