I thought of this for some reason today. Where can you get non-lame maternity clothes? All the ones I see on women around here look like giant versions of baby clothes (pastels, frilly crap). I spend non-working hours in tshirts, mainly from threadless, and hiking type pants or jeans. I have a lot of stuff from rei & Eddie Bauer if that gives you a better idea.

5/31/2011 10:19:33 AM

Except for when I go to work, I'm a jeans and tshirt kind of gal myself that likes to dress up on occasion.

I've had luck at many places getting "non-frilly" items; however, there's something about being pregnant that has made me feel way more girly than usual that I do have a few frilly things (but again...I mainly wear those to work or my occasional need/desire to dress up)

like I said, many places...Target, Old Navy (although I was disappointed and didn't get much), Kohls (I got the majority of my maternity jeans and pants here), Motherhood, and in some cases just buying looser or larger items from stores I regularly shop. There's non-frilly items there for sure. I would think a company like Eddie Bauer that's been around awhile may even offer a small set of maternity clothes online--I dunno though.

In the beginning, lots of women will use a rubberband on their existing jeans. They loop it through the button hole and tie around the button. Some women have said said they were able to get to 6 months w/o buying maternity pants or jeans. I bought a Belly Band from target which allowed me to leave my jeans unbuttoned or zipped and the band held up my pants.

I broke down early though...there's something about that elastic panel that's so much more comfortable.

I also thought to buy items that were more universal staples and I could layer depending on the weather. That way when I get pregnant again (hopefully) I won't have to buy more, or as many, maternity clothes.

5/31/2011 10:46:11 AM

Quote :

"in some cases just buying looser or larger items from stores I regularly shop. "

ditto
I have a motherhood maternity outlet near me and also target is where I went for actual maternity clothes.

This time I was all about wearing tighter shirts so that I could show my bump more. My go to shirts were:


I got a bunch of them at old navy. The awesome thing about them is that I bought one size up and I was able to wear them my whole pregnancy because the lace at the bottom hugs right underneath your belly. I continued to wear my low rider jeans from American Eagle with these shirts and felt comfortable, cute, and not over-bellied. Then again, I do think pregnant bellies are about the best thing ever until month 8 and beyond.

5/31/2011 11:04:31 AM

i'll keep that in mind. EB doesn't have a maternity line

5/31/2011 1:17:48 PM

Target has some decent maternity clothes. I also searched through clearance racks at department stores. Since I'm a SAHM, I got by with a few pairs of pants and a few basic shirts. I've gotten some great wear out of the knit shirts with the ruched sides. It's also a good idea to get things that you can wear for the next pregnancy. Unfortunately, Silas was a winter baby and this is going to be a summer baby. Not a lot of overlap for me.

--
I'm considered full term now and I've been ordered to stay inside and off of my feet. I've had a lot of low back pain and some pretty righteous Braxton Hicks contractions. I'm worried that I'm not going to last until my scheduled C-section.

5/31/2011 6:40:57 PM

I found some nice jeans at Kohls and some good khakis at Sears. Most of my stuff is starting to get too snug though. I have also found some larger shirts at Walmart on the clearance rack for just a few $$. Sure they aren't maternity but I can get them in a large enough size to work. I've found that as long as the shirt is long then it'll work and grow with you. I also found some cute maternity things through oldnavy.com. Just watch the sales.

Also on a baby update....BP was high today (nurse at school checked) but then read insanely low at the doctors office (I think this nurse screwed up). Doctor checked and there is no dilation or any sign of progress. While checking, he seriously man handled my jay and he said that he was "just helping me along." I figured that he stripped my membranes.

I get to go back Friday and was told to start thinking about my induction options and to open my mind up to the possibility of a c-section. Absolutely no progress at almost 39 weeks with high BP and INSANE swelling apparently means that I will not be allowed to go full term and induction will soon be called for.



[Edited on May 31, 2011 at 7:56 PM. Reason : moar]

5/31/2011 7:55:31 PM

It's insane to me to think that I started following this thread in the fall of last year when I was thinking about trying to get pregnant and BB and ashley_grl were in the first trimester and battling morning sickness...

Fast forward and now I'm 18 weeks and they are about to have their babies. Holy cow times goes fast.

5/31/2011 8:10:11 PM

Holy pelvic pressure and cramps batman. First weekly appt this week. Very interested to know what's going on.

5/31/2011 9:13:42 PM

I had good luck with maternity clothes at JC Penny.

I want to ditto the maternity tanks at Old Navy. I think I had one in every color.
(I still wear them and my daughter is 8 months old)

[Edited on May 31, 2011 at 9:17 PM. Reason : old navy]

5/31/2011 9:16:09 PM

So I'm doing my research project surrounding women like you guys and I have a question, just as a preliminary thing...


If you guys were told you were at an increased risk for having a child with Down syndrome, would your anxiety depend on how much you knew about the disorder? Would you be more anxious if you knew more about it, or more anxious if you knew less about it?

5/31/2011 9:20:13 PM

^ For me I'd be more anxious the more I knew. I tend to freak myself out over all the bad things that can happen, or will happen. I would tend to focus on the negative aspects and stress myself out royally.

This is also the reason I declined all the blood testing.

5/31/2011 9:51:20 PM

"Book knowledge" increases my anxiety. Book knowledge is cold, hard, and removes the human element. It discusses all possibilities and some of those possibilities are grim. There is a lot to worry about and many of the things that you worry about never come to fruition. Sometimes the facts are so dry and fear provoking that a person may decide that they are unable to go through with pregnancy.

"Practical knowledge" is entirely different and really lessens my anxiety. Through various therapeutic groups for delayed children, I've gotten to know a number of parents and children with Downs Syndrome (and other syndromes). When you meet the children and talk to the parents, you get a glimpse into their daily successes and challenges. It's not as scary once you actually know affected people because then it's more than just cold hard facts, statistics, and possibilities.

At least that's how I feel. I'm sorry that it's not a cut and dry answer.

[Edited on May 31, 2011 at 9:53 PM. Reason : ^I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who feels this way!]

5/31/2011 9:52:59 PM

^ I totally understand. We had to meet with a genetics counselor today because of my husband's and mine family history. I have a sister who is mentally retarded (she is 31 but developmentally is on the lines of a 3/4 year old) and he has an aunt with Spina Bifida. We knew going in that the chance of me having a child like my sister was less then 5%. However, I think a lot of people would think I am crazy for not doing all the testing - but for me I just didn't want to stress myself out with the possibilites, not knowing for sure what would really happen until the baby was born. I also think that a lot of that is because I KNOW what it's like to have a child like that, and it's something I know I could deal with.

I did get a level II ultrasound though, because that would be something that they could physically SEE wrong. Fortunately, baby boy is completely healthy and developing right (in fact I'm measuring a week earlier then my due date - he must have hit a growth spurt. =) )

For me it's the "what if's" or "maybe's" that scare me as opposed the the definitative.

Anywhos, enough of a rant.

5/31/2011 10:01:34 PM

I with you, 100%.

I am so glad that I didn't know what was wrong with my son while I was pregnant. The reading that I could have done on complete DiGeorge Syndrome would have been so bleak that I probably would have terminated my pregnancy. It ended up being that the less I knew, the better off I was and the more I enjoyed my pregnancy. Forewarned is forearmed, BUT nothing could have prepared me for Silas and I mean that in the best way possible. While he's very textbook in someways, he's a unique individual who has had some very surprising not-so-textbook outcomes. I'm so glad that I didn't know diddly squat about his diagnosis while I was pregnant because that's the only reason he's here and I'm so glad that he's here.

5/31/2011 10:28:12 PM

If I found out my baby had some kind of genetic disorder, I would want to know all my options of caring for my child. I think I would be totally scared either way but more so if I did not have some kind of knowledge of what to do and how to get help. Good luck with this, Sam. Everyone is different and it seems to be difficult to differentiate your counseling methods because of that variance.

5/31/2011 10:47:45 PM

I realized I worded my question wrong


Just as a background, my master's project is on potential determinants of maternal anxiety. We're looking at a few different things but the main thing I want to focus on is someone's familiarity with Down syndrome. That is, not necessarily book knowledge but if they know someone or have at least met someone with it.

My hypothesis is anxiety would increase in people who didn't know someone or hasn't at least met someone with it. One of the MFM's on my committee thinks it'll go the other way The other MFM and the genetic counselor are just sitting back to see where things go.


My whole goal with this is to be able to bring awareness to better patient education if it does turn out that people who don't have much experience with Down syndrome are more anxious.


And Troop - don't feel bad about not getting the blood test! It's definitely not for everyone and I don't blame someone at all for opting to just keep going.

I'm the type though where I would want to know everything Hell, I would get an amnio in a heartbeat. Then again, I'm starting to become a bit paranoid because I'll be constantly working around stuff like this and know all the ins and outs of it The only thing that bothers me about how the maternal serum screening is viewed is that it has a "high false positive rate." It actually doesn't, and the false positive rate is only 3-5%.... and it irks me to see people online saying things like "OH MY GOD THEY TOLD ME MY BABY WAS GONNA HAVE DOWNS AND SHE DOESN'T AND SHE'S HEALTHY SO THEY WERE SOOO WRONG"

Big difference between having a higher chance of something (via a SCREENING test) versus having a diagnosis Of course, I have to be able to say this in a nicer way

[Edited on May 31, 2011 at 11:49 PM. Reason : and very few people actually say that in clinic thank goodness]

5/31/2011 11:45:27 PM

My short answer...I'm a planner by nature, so knowing more and arming myself with knowledge would make me less anxious.

I have a longer answer, and I thought about typing it out but I just don't have the energy right now

My longer answer consists of having a family member born within the past year w/ a genetic disorder and us sitting down with a counselor to discuss the risks for us associated with it--of which there were none b/c it was more than likely inherited from the mom of whom my husband is not related to. And that's the short version of my long answer...heh

6/1/2011 10:26:56 PM

hmmm. well i would definitely do whatever tests available. i'm like ^, i want to know every damn thing & the process/mechanism behind it.

the only personal experience i have w/ someone w/ downs is with a coworker's 8 or 9 year old daughter. she makes me anxious bc she has absolutely NO filter on her mouth. whatever she's thinking/seeing just flies right now. my coworker talks all the time about she embarrasses him in the store frequently. he thinks it's funny; i'd be terrified. in my limited experience with this stuff, i would say that knowing someone w/ downs would make me more anxious (regardless of how much info i read up on it).

6/1/2011 10:41:11 PM

hmmm... well I appreciate the input!

I keep hearing random answers (haven't done the study yet) so I'm wondering what, if anything, we'll find with the whole familiarity thing. And yes, people with Down syndrome find themselves quite funny

Personally, I would be ok with it, but I have also had experiences with high functioning adults/kids.. I'm wondering if that would play a role in the results.


We're asking a lot of other stuff, too, so maybe we'll find out something else that we weren't expecting?

Thanks for the input guys and I hope you had a good experience with the GC, LK.... (and troop)

6/2/2011 12:02:41 AM

Idk if she (the daughter w downs) finds herself funny but her dad definitely does. That's a good thing I guess.

6/2/2011 7:31:19 AM

1cm! Only 9 to go

6/2/2011 12:58:07 PM

LK, did you lose your mucous plug?
I'm pretty sure that I lost mine yesterday.

6/2/2011 2:40:12 PM

Not yet

Def got my eyes out for it now though.

Is it as gross as I've been told? (stupid question hahahahaha)

6/2/2011 3:30:49 PM

good luck you guys

6/2/2011 3:47:28 PM

TMI ALERT!

What I saw yesterday wasn't as gross as the pictures that I've seen on the internet. It was like clear snot and not quite as much as I thought that it would be. It was more gross *feeling* than anything else.

I had a lot of cramping yesterday and felt something kinda yucky in my panties while in the grocery store. I gave my husband a look and ran off to the bathroom. Like a dummy, I was terrified that my water was going to break before I could hide in the bathroom. When I checked myself out in the bathroom I was pretty relieved that it was only the mucus plug stuck to my undies.

6/2/2011 6:01:43 PM

Haha good. Cause some of those photos are nasty

6/2/2011 8:37:08 PM

Haha eww

When my bff had her baby I asked what it felt like when the placenta came out... she described it as, "like a giant booger coming out of your hooha"

it was so gross but I LOL'd so hard.



Anyway, I saw a baby with Down syndrome today she was precious!! But then we saw a woman with a baby who had a lotttttt of stuff going on in the ultrasound she didn't do an amnio though so I guess we'll never know what happened.

6/2/2011 8:39:05 PM

my grandmother died last august, my grandfather in february, and we were going through their stuff the other day. these are the grandparents i plan on naming my kids after. anyway, we found a blanket/quilt thing that you put on the floor for babies to roll around on that grandma made for me. it's in the washing machine right now. when i saw it i immediately remembered the little characters on it. it looks brand new.

[Edited on June 2, 2011 at 8:49 PM. Reason : ]

6/2/2011 8:49:01 PM

^ that is and at the same time... it's great that you were able to salvage such a memory

but sorry for your loss

6/2/2011 9:10:39 PM

That's awesome you were able to find a little gift from them.

My grandmother (who passed away in April) had bought a sweet church dress for the next baby girl born and that just so happens to be the baby in my tummy. It was such a sweet thing to find hanging in her closet after she had passed.

On a different note, it looks like we may be having a baby this week. I'm 39 weeks, elevated BP, extreme swelling, and a larger than average baby. I go in on Tuesday to get checked and will be letting the doctor know what day we picked to be induced.

I hate the thought of an induction without any natural progress. I really do not want a c-section but also see the risks involved with waiting for this girls time.

6/5/2011 10:59:58 PM

good luck!! hope everything goes well!

oh and when i said she made it for me, i meant that she made it to put me on when i was a rolly polly baby. i just realized that wasn't very clear. oops!

[Edited on June 5, 2011 at 11:07 PM. Reason : ]

6/5/2011 11:06:55 PM

I just felt baby boy kick for the first time from the outside... and my husband is asleep so I can't even share! Such an amazing feeling.

6/5/2011 11:07:19 PM

wake his ass up!!!!

6/5/2011 11:08:15 PM

^ I was going to, but then he stopped.

6/6/2011 6:49:32 AM

Holy crapola!

The baby is actually head down in my pelvis instead of breech. We haven't canceled the C-section because we live 1.5 hours from our OB/GYN, but she thinks that I may go into labor before then. If so, I'm going to give a VBAC a shot. At least I'm no longer worried about going into spontaneous labor with a breech baby.

6/6/2011 6:37:34 PM

that's good news! i hope it all goes well.

my SIL is pregnant w/ her 2nd breech baby. she was really hoping to do the vbac thing but baby #2 is sitting upright facing outward. they said she may have a heart shaped uterus. she's due july 11 but i think they're scheduling her c-section for july 4 or earlier.

6/6/2011 6:48:14 PM

2^YAY!!!

6/6/2011 8:43:23 PM

se7entythree, I have a humpty dumpty my nana gave me when I was a babe in our nursery. when my brother came to help hubs bring in the dresser he recognized it immediately. i'm glad my mom saved those kinds of things. glad you have a memory like that as well for your future children

good luck ashley_grl!
and glad to hear your babe is head down bottombaby...hope you can have a successful VBAC!

I've packed our hospital bag finally. I've also started to take evening primrose oil to assist in softening my cervix. I've been having Thursday appts this whole time, but this week I had to wait until Friday to be seen for my next checkup--bah. Regardless...full term Wednesday. Eeep!

6/6/2011 9:28:01 PM

what would a pregnancy thread be without a false alarm?

<-----this gal, right here, today

Left work early cause I thought my water broke and I was leaking amniotic fluid. That would be a negative ghost rider. Came home, met up with hubs, finished packing our hospital bag just in case and off to the doctor to see if I was in fact leaking. NOPE!

Still 1cm dilated...babe is gonna cook for longer

If any thing we are now packed for when we are ready to go. And my hubs was surprisingly calm and together.

Also, we attempted to install the car seat this evening as that wasn't done yet only to discover the graco 35 snugride does NOT fit in a Mazda 3 hatchback like we were told it would...so we need a new car seat.

[Edited on June 7, 2011 at 9:20 PM. Reason : D'oh!]

6/7/2011 9:09:33 PM

Aww. It must be that time of the month or phase of the moon.

For about 3 hours last night, I had contractions every 15 minutes. They never got any stronger or any closer together. But it sure got my butt into gear and I did the same thing: pack my bag.

6/7/2011 9:55:48 PM

Ack, good luck guys! Hopefully no more false alarms.


I learned a very valuable lesson this week: don't ever say "bodily functions" to a pregnant lady when you're trying to describe the beginning stages of pregnancy. Meaning, biologically.. aka not what you would think of typically when you hear that phrase. That was a little awkward.

6/8/2011 2:13:57 AM

We are officially starting the induction process this evening. Checking in at the hospital around 6pm to start the cervadil overnight. Then we'll see how things progress on Thursday.

I was 1-2 cm dilated today at the doctor. Not much but having some progress is hopeful. After my doctor's appointment, my bloody show showed up. I had thought that maybe it was just from the cervical check but it just wasn't the right 'color' for that. Soooo maybe I'm progressing some on my on.

One thing I will add is that my hips are KILLING ME!! While sitting/laying it is a constant ache but when I move it is literally like a knife stabbing into my hip sockets.

Wish us luck!

6/8/2011 6:48:47 AM

Good luck!!

6/8/2011 7:16:04 AM

^^ good luck!

6/8/2011 8:59:17 AM

omgosh! Good Luck!

6/8/2011 11:36:27 AM

Good luck!!!

6/8/2011 12:30:30 PM

omg good luck!!!!!!!!!

6/8/2011 1:23:42 PM

I hope your induction is a success!!!





I'm so happy to hear about the babies in this thread making their outside world appearances.

6/8/2011 6:13:16 PM

So excited for you guys! I love living vicariously through my twwers, between your babies here and the weddings in the weddings thread-- my life is complete

6/8/2011 6:23:12 PM

GOOD LUCK!!!

6/8/2011 7:45:37 PM