21 Jul
Post-Maternity Wardrobe
You will need a special post-baby wardrobe. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS?!?! Well, you’ll need them if you are like me and gain 60+ lbs during your pregnancy. You’ll put on your maternity dresses and you’ll have a post-baby fat pad around your middle that will poof out in the exact spot a baby used to. That pooch combined with a maternity style dress will have everyone asking you are due unless you have a baby in yours arms. And then, because there really are people this dense, you will might get asked that question anyway.
I wish I had known about this before baby came because I might have spent some of my waiting-for-delivery time shopping online for post-natal clothing possibilities instead of surfing blogs all day.
The first time I went into TJMaxx with T1 in tow it was depressing and frustrating on many levels. I was new to bottle feeding him, still depressed that breastfeeding didn’t work out, and someone walked in on me feeding him while I was sitting half naked in the dressing room. He started crying not long after we entered the store, and stayed fussy throughout. And, to make things even more awesome, I had gained so much weight that I was too large for all of the XL clothing pieces. I just wasn’t feeling the plus size section that day, so I went home with one measly shirt, a shirt that’s still a bit tight around my middle even after I’ve lost a few pounds.
It was time to swallow my pride and turn to the LB. (I recently noticed that a store for heavy people can be abbreviated to the letter lb. Ironic, right?) I had to shop at Lane Bryant once before, when I gained so much weight right before meeting TH, and I admit I wasn’t ready to go back there again. Guess I’m lucky they vanity size big time because I won’t have to be wearing their stuff for long.
Even though I plan on getting this weight off soon, I wanted some clothing to tide me over until I got there. Wearing ill-fitting clothes that make you look pregnant or emphasize that you just left the town of pregnantville stinks bit time.
I placed an order with Lane Bryant for $900 worth of clothing, and had a little dressing room party in my living room. I had read through their return policy carefully, and knew that I could return everything that didn’t fit at a physical store, which happens to be within walking distance of my apartment. Out of the 20+ items I ordered, I ended up keeping these:
I was able to find a few shirts at TJMaxx, and I took a few things from my mom’s closet while I was home, and between all of that I have a decent supply of clothing that will get me through the next 10 lbs or so. By that time I hope to start fitting back into some of my old clothes again!
I also bought a swimsuit. I loved this one and thought it was super flattering, but the smallest size was a bit too big so I had to send it back. The one I bought looks really similar to this one, but it has some purple accents as well. It’s a tight fit (a Miracle Suit that claims to make me look 10 lbs slimmer, unfortunately I need to look something like 50 lbs slimmer), so I’m hoping I’ll be able to wear it next summer as well.
Soon I will be able to fit back into the clothing sold at Ross and TJMaxx once again. Until then I’m a plus size girl battling the bulge and poking at her muffin top. If you’re like me, and gained a lot of pregnancy weight in the form of adipose tissue, start thinking about what you’re going to wear when baby is out before baby is actually out. You’ll save yourself some time wailing “I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!” to your husband while riding the post-pregnancy hormone rollercoaster.
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
I gained 40 lbs and although I lost the majority of I quickly, I haven’t lost it all and don’t fit into most of my pre-preg clothes. My maternity clothes clearly don’t fit though. I just keep wearing the same few things that fit, over and over!
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tiffany Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 12:53 pm
I am rowing in this same boat!
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I hear you! I gained 40lbs last pregnancy, took off only 20, since breastfeeding SLOWED my metabolism down. This time, with my 4 month old son, I gained the same 40lbs, but miraculously was able to take it all off by 2 months postpartum. Unfortunately, I’m still working on that last 20lbs from having my 2 year old daughter! I am thankfully in my pre-pregnancy pants, but oh how I hate the muffin top!
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2p.s. this blog post helped me a lot. thought you might like it too:
http://womeninthescriptures.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-i-love-my-stretch-marks.html
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3I’m feeling you on this. Especially with Kyle. Post-Grant-Katy was pumping so much and so stressed out with her new special needs baby in the hospital, that she literally woke up one morning and all her clothes were falling off of her…(not to mention the weight that was lost during the pregnancy…and why is she still speaking in third person?…)
I foolishly thought that *might* happen with Kyle, but no luck. I want to roundhouse kick to the face all those women that go back into their regular, size 0 clothes practically the next day. I’ve seen a few like that.
Those Lane Bryant clothes are cute. I sometimes put off buying clothes because I *just know* I’m going to be losing 10 lbs soon, so I’ll just wait, but that’s silly of me. No matter what size I am, I deserve to have a few pieces that make me feel cute. You’ll get to your goal eventually, but I’m glad for now you’ve got some cute stuff. One of my main motivations for losing weight (other than the cruise with my mom coming up) is the desire to see cute clothes and be able to wear them. Period. I want to feel like that again. I don’t like this ‘wear whatever fits’ thing instead.
I just got some cute capris at Old Navy - they have a stretchy, knit waist (not too wide around the top) and are comfy, quite cute, and have a little room to adjust down or give a little room if needed. Maybe your ON has them!
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4I remember my step-mom saying, it took almost 10 months to put it on, it will probably take that long to get it off. You’re definitely moving in the right direction, and those clothes really are cute. I love purple shades, so the shirt is my favorite as well, followed by the jeans.
I was wondering, what kind of exercise are you able to do? Do you still have to avoid certain things due to your back? I know you’ve mentioned walking with friends before. I have a whole list of weird things I can’t due thanks to my back- like jump roping and jumping jacks, or running on anything other than an elliptical or treadmill. They destroy me
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Em Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Everybody I know lives by the philosophy “it took so long to put it on, I get that long PLUS some to get it off!”
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Sophia Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Exactly!
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Thank you for your honesty (I’m going to save this info for when it’s my turn) and good for you for getting stuff that makes you feel good! When I gained weight in the past, I sausaged myself into too-tight clothes because I was in major denial and it did not help my self esteem at all.
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6Nicely done Jenna! I’m a big advocate of ignoring size labels and just getting what fits. Too small clothes not only make a person feel bigger than they are, they look it too! I think good fitting clothing can be very slimming. I love your positivity and honesty. Keep it up, you’ll get there! You did it once, you can do it again
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7I gained 40lbs with my baby. After the baby, I bought one pair of pants and one pair of shorts and wore them over and over. Then I had to go back to work after 8weeks. I bought 3 new tops and a dress but still only have a few bottoms that fit. Growing back into your clothes is definitely less fun than growing out of them during pregnancy! Best of luck to you Jenna. Slow and steady wins the race.
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8I am already dreading the post baby shopping trip because I am getting depressed just looking in my closet these days.
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9Jenna, something just occurred to me. Since there are probably always lots of women newly pregnant, very pregnant, recently not pregnant, and losing/gaining weight as a result in your ward, what if, through the Relief Society, you organized a quarterly clothing swap? That way you still get to try things on, but they’re free and when you’re done with them they can just go back into the cycle of mamas in different places in their pregnancy related weight loss/weight gain?
Since it emphasizes community, sharing of resources, and frugality, I bet people would be in to it. Throw in some snacks and drinks and round up some older kids to watch the younger ones and it could be quite fun
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Jenna Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 11:34 am
Ohhh I like this idea! I think I’ll suggest it in Chicago and see if others are interested.
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JessicaMayLords Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 2:58 pm
When I was living in northern California, we did this a few times a year, and it was awesome!! I got a whole bag FULL of new clothes and accessories (great way for the old to feel new) every six months or so, and I love it. Didn’t have to spend money, didn’t have to go thrifting, just picked out whatever I liked! We called them Naked Lady Parties (well, you’re not naked, but we all found random spots to try on the clothes since we were all friends) and we’d make finger food and cookies. A lot of the other girls bought fancier clothes than I do (since I cannot afford or condone buying JCrew full price, no matter how cute), so I got a lot of NICE clothes that I wouldn’t necessarily buy myself. We usually had about 10 girls over each time, and most of us walked away with at least a brown paper grocery bag full of stuff, often more like a GARBAGE bag full of stuff. SUPER fun. Anything left over was donated to a woman’s shelter (which the shelter really appreciated, since we brought purses, shoes, and jewelry, things they don’t usually get as donations).
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So, here’s a confession: I sometimes watch the TLC show What Not To Wear. It’s fun and goofy and as shallow as spit, but! I learned a valuable lesson that you too seem to have learned: you have to dress the body you have, not the body you had or the body you hope to have. Doing so is the best way to look and be the most confident. If LB it is, then go for it! If you need any slightly more ritzy pieces, Chico’s has some fun stuff in between the boring stuff, and they cater to women of all sizes too.
Plus, great work with the weight loss so far! You should be proud of yourself!
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11Be sure to save all these various pieces of clothing for future pregnancies/post delivery/whatever. I’m hoping to be pregnant soon, and I’m coming off two years of weight loss as of this month. I’ve kept my favorite pieces in all the various sizes, so I have a ton of stuff in the next size up, and some really nice things two sizes up. It helps to make the unavoidable weight gain less scary - because I’m looking forward to getting to wear clothing that I loved.
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12Good for you getting things that fit. So in honesty, I’m not and never have been pregnant, but got to a point where I needed to visit LB. Isn’t it horrible we live in a culture where many of us feeling guilty about doing that - buying clothes that fit our bodies?! Since TTC, I’ve lost weight and still have a ways to go. I find that I’m able to buy a lot of my clothes from Old Navy and they fit great and tend to be a bit cheaper than LB. For nice things I go to Macy’s or Nordstrom’s plus size sections and if I ever had unlimited funds I’d buy everything from Talbott’s - they have a plus size section with awesomely chic clothes, but my budget doesn’t allow me to indulge. Wearing clothes that fit is the best thing you can do for yourself
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13Jenna, don’t worry, having the belly after having a baby is totally normal, regardless of your size, how much you gain, etc. I’m one that doesn’t gain much and tends to lose it pretty quickly but I still only have 1 skirt and about 2 shirts that I can wear. Motherhood maternity has a style of maternity bottoms that I’m able to still wear, so I am. The post-maternity body is definitely not a fun one and can be really depressing too… especially when you don’t have clothes you feel good in! Good luck on losing the weight, you’ll do it! And similar to what someone else said, “Slow and steady wins (or at least finishes) the race.”
Also, I just had my six week postpartum appt this morning and we talked about the belly pop-thing. It will get better with sit-ups & crunches. The more normal it is before you get pregnant again the more it will assist in preventing additional back pain. (Since the abs are often dubbed our “core”, that makes sense.)
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14I gained 30 pounds while pregnant. I lost it all within 5 weeks. That was FIVE MONTHS ago. I STILL don’t fit in all my pre-pregnancy clothes. Everything has shifted. SO frustrating.
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Sharon Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Same here exactly. Nothing is in the same place anymore!
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Shopping beforehand wouldn’t have helped me… as I wouldn’t have predicted HOW the weight would drop off of me as it has. Going back to work at Week 7, I needed professional pants… so I bought a pair on sale at GAP and wore those every day for about 3 weeks straight. Then they were too big for me, so I went and bought 2 pairs of bermuda shorts for work/home for the summer in a size down. Now they’re falling off of me, and I don’t want to spend money to buy more clothes in the last “in-between” size before I’m back in the old stuff before the fall arrives.
Luckily all of my shirts fit again, but it’s just my thighs/butt/tummy that are holding on to the pregnant memories.
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16I only gained 25lbs with my baby and it all fell off (and then some) within 3 weeks of delivery. However, my body is just different. Some of my pre-preg clothes still don’t fit even though I weigh less than I did when I got pregnant. It stinks. There are items I really like that I’m holding on to-hoping and praying that they will fit again.
And I do shop at LB and I like it and I don’t feel like crap for shopping there.
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17Hey, you’re lucky you have Lane Bryant! We don’t have them in Canada, and we’re stuck with the plus-size department in the Bay or Sears, or Addition Elle which is frumpy and super expensive.
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18Jenna, this was me yesterday. I realized recently that soon I will have to return to work and I have nothing to wear - maternity clothes do just make you look pregnant, and frankly I am tired of all of mine. So, I tried to take my (normally well-behaved, especially in the stroller, where she loves to sleep) baby shopping, because I don’t know what size I would need to buy and didn’t want to go online. She started screaming as soon as we got to the store. I breastfeed and didn’t want to do it there (besides, she had just eaten and wasn’t acting hungry), and I had no pacifiers (which work sometimes) with me or anything. Had to leave immediately.
Glad you were able to find some things that you liked, though! The things you showed us are cute!
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19I totally hear ya! I actually only gained 24 lbs., and was able to lose it just by breastfeeding, but that still doesn’t mean that I look the way I did before I was pregnant. After your skin and muscles stretch to accomodate A HUMAN, it will take time for them to move/shrink back. Although I am almost smaller pants-size wise, I still am rocking a major muffin-top, and have loose, stretch-marked skin that hangs over my pants. I have cried in dressing rooms, trying to find something that looks flattering, and haven’t found anything that I like too much. I figure that I just need to let my body have the time it needs - it took me 9.5 months to grow, and it will take at least that long, to shrink back.
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20Yeah, I hear ya… except I just made do with maternity clothes and my very few fat clothes until I started losing weight, because I just really cannot afford new clothes. I did go out and buy some fabric, and my MIL has helped me make a couple pairs of pants. By the time the baby was six months I ripped everything maternity out of my closet and have been doing muffin tops and elastic waistbands. Then last week I had tonsillitis and basically couldn’t swallow so I’m now wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans again!
But I wish I could order $900 worth of clothes at a time, even knowing I was only going to keep some of them. That would wipe us out.
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21I also bit the bullet and bought some things the other day though it was an ego-killer to buy them in a size I’d never worn before. I went home and cut the size out and felt much better!
Post-preg clothes are definitely an excellent investment. Nothing makes you look and, more importantly, *feel* worse than trying to squeeze into stuff that doesn’t fit. The stuff you got is really cute and will go a long way.
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22I’m glad you’ve posted this. I’m looking at my 4’10″ frame at 32 weeks pregnant and I can’t help but think that after the baby, well, I’ll be surprised if things ever go back to “normal.”
Since I’m super short, it looks like I’m much further along than I am. Someone tried to be nice and told me that I was this big because I’m carrying a boy. That’s silly. I’m pretty sure that I’d be carrying any baby straight out in front. Not sure where else that kiddo would go.
Anyway, we all just need to be kind to ourselves and be in awe that we’ve given the gift of life to a precious baby. So our body takes a beating…that’s all temporary. I’m glad to see you’re taking it in such great stride, Jenna
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23I have bought tons of dresses! I am trying to avoid maternity clothes as long as I can. I think I might have to buy 2 or 3 maternity pants, but surprisingly you can find so many tops that flare out and dresses that will let your belly grow as big as it wants. Tunics have been a lifesaver for me. I know it can be frustrating! I am glad you found some nice clothes at LB.
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24Beautiful clothing for a beautiful woman! You’ll get there, it took me almost a year to be back into my 8′s but you will get there… just keep walking and eating like you do and it will happen! Good for you for spending some money on yourself, you deserve it!
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