How many weeks before your clothes got really tight?

[Nunners]

Morning ladies,
I'm sitting here at my desk at work, in a very slinky skirt that I love. And it's really feeling quite tight - I'm figuring that I should wear everything very fitted now while I can as it's unlikely I'll be able to again for years!

I'm 9+2 and just wondered how long it was before you felt you were really busting out of your normal clothes?

And any tips for how I can doctor them (no sewing please, I'm useless - so much so that my husband laughs at my efforts) so that I can stay in them as long as possible?

I've bought a couple of bits so far which are designed to be my 'getting a bit of a bump' clothes which I can layer up with leggings and trousers and wear jumpers underneath, but as this is my first I have NO idea how quickly I'm going to balloon!

hope you are all feeling well and happy this morning. xx

[TooImmature2BMum]

My jeans got uncomfortable at about 12 or 14 weeks - they still did up, but every time I bent over they dug right in painfully. No, in fact, it must have been slightly later than that, because I bought maternity jeans at the beginning of October, so I would have been closer to 16 weeks. I stopped wearing a pencil skirt pretty quickly, not because it was too tight exactly, but because it seemed to emphasise my bump weirdly and I was quite shy in the early stages! Some of my other clothes hid the bump much better, so I retired anything that emphasised it. I think half the time it was my imagination, especially in the first trimester. Now, though, I'm 27+5 and I like wearing bump-enhancing clothes!

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

By about 6 weeks I had to give up wearing clothes with fitted waistbands, or I had to wear them with the button undone and my top over. Wearing anything too snug, or that dug in triggered my morning sickness (green with nausea, not envy there)

[JoEW]

I found my normal clothes started feeling tight really early on but that was mainly because I just felt so bloated all the time -it was horrible. However, I didn't buy any maternity jeans until 18 weeks, when my normal jeans were digging in so much it was hurting. I can still get into pre preg clothes now, at 21 weeks, but maternity stuff is much more comortable. I've only bought maternity jeans, wearing dresses and leggings from the normal wardrobe has been fine. I have just ventured into the world of maternity tights as I now look a bit like a sausage in my old tights but they are really baggy. Putting a hairband around your jean button and threading it through the hole gives them a bit of extra room but you do feel a bit trampy! I am finding clothes quite tough, I am too big for most normal stuff but swamped by maternity clothes. I had no idea that you spend so much time being pregnant but not looking really pregnant.

[mejon]

My normal jeans felt tight quite early on - 8 weeks or so but this was down to bloating I think as I was later able to wear them without much problem until 20+ weeks. Putting one of those bump band elasticy bits on the buttons seemed to make them too big and I had to keep hoisting them up. I've been in maternity jeans since around 24wks but haven't bothered with any specific maternity tops - just made do with the normal tunic tops/t shirts etc. I already had.

[LadyGoneGaga]

I think it's worth having a few "transitional" clothes in a bigger size than you would usually wear but not maternity for the earlyish months. You'll need them again once the baby is born and you still look 5 months gone for a few weeks

[Teasie]

About ten weeks for me and now I live in leggings, skirts and tunics. I'm now 16 weeks and glad that I finally look pregnant rather than hefty!

[growing3rdbump]

I am 17 wks with 3rd baby and finding clothes difficult! I can still fit in to some normal skirts ok and those that are difficult to do up I've used a hair bobble round the button and through the hole and it works perfectly!

[GlitteryBalls]

Immediately I started to "thicken up" and bloat around the waist long before there was an actual bump, so almost immediately I had to buy some new clothes as usually I had quite a small waist and tended to put on weight on my bum so most of my pre-preg clothes were quite fitted round the waist and uncomforatble. Didn't start wearing proper maternity clothes til quite recently (35 weeks) and now won't go near normal clothes as the size I would have to buy would be too depressing and I'm still a size 12 in maternity

Who ever thought I'd be happy to be a size 12! I never was before I was pg!

[Rachy91]

i had to stop wearing a belt at around 10 weeks but at 24 weeks ive only just had to stop wearing tights and skinny jeans, people say i should be greatful my bumps small but i feel like a bit of a fraud tbh!

for a few weeks now a lot of my tops have ridden up the bump and now most dont even cover it so im configned to long tops now!

OH bought plenty of maternity clothes early on as i started showing really early but its slowed right down now, so dissapointed that at 6 months i can still see my toes!!

[Nunners]

Thanks all - very reassuring basically to hear 'it varies' as an overwhelming response!

GlitteryBalls - I'm with you re the 'thickening' around the waist; I'm an hourglass shape so feel that my waist has rather disappeared!

My Mum has proudly reminded me several times already that she only put on weight on her bump, that she only really got big in her last 2 months and that she was straight back in her pre-pregnancy clothes after a few weeks of breastfeeding. Thanks, Mum. Just what I needed to hear - clearly I'm going to be the genetic freak that turns into just a great big hefty person ALL OVER!

I'm now going to brave the minefield that is non-underwired bras and a (currently) 34GG chest. I can't believe there's enough support in them, and suspect that my boobs will a) sit on my stomach b) look like spaniel's ears in a few months...

[PoisPois]

I'm 20 weeks and am still in all my normal clothes (size 12/14). Some of my trousers feel a little bit tight but nothing I can't cope with (or undo the top button to deal with!).

I am putting weight on but am not really sure where it's going - I'd rather look pregnant than just fatter than normal! I'm also a bit worried that it my bump appears all at once it'll be stretch mark city!

As for bras - there's no way I'm going down to non-underwired underwear. I'm the same size and you Nunners and I'm scared to think about what I'll look like without underwiring!! Does anybody know why it's recommended that you don't wear wired underwear? Is it just a comfort thing?

[Nunners]

Apparently there's something about underwired bras affecting your milk ducts, but I would have thought that as long as the underwiring fits properly, it wouldn't affect your boobs?

Surely only a really badly-fitting bra would have that kind of effect? Then again, if they grow quickly and a well-fitting one is expensive, who's going to buy new bras all the way through their pregnancy?!

[GlitteryBalls]

I'm not that big chested but I find non-wired bras MORE supportive. There's just this all round snugness to them that feels quite comforting somehow. It's so you don't get that pinching under the armpits. Your breast tissue does extend anyway right up into the armpit, further than what it would appear when looking at your actual visual fleshy boob bit, so yes, you risk blocked milk ducts and decreased lymphatic drainage if you wear underwired...

[GlitteryBalls]

And I've been re-fitted 3 times and I've not even had my nursing bra fitting yet so it will probably change again... Biggest change for me has been chest size rather than cup size - as baby gets higher your ribs expand, so non-wired bras are a bit less structured and dig in less...

[JBrd]

I was in maternity clothes by 12 weeks, and it was such a relief - trousers all digging in painfully, tops travelling up, nothing fitted anymore.
Maternity clothes can look like tents, but they are so comfy...

[lilly13]

Hi, I have been like you - been trying to make use of my skinny clothes... I am 18 weeks now. Last time I wore a skinny skirt and jacket was a couple of weeks ago (got compliments that I look sexy = translation in my mind: your clothes are too tight, darling)... I still fit into most of my pre-preg jeans, normally size 8/10(I gained about 5 pounds so far -- mostly around my stomach)... Trying to hide it all under loose tops as I haven't told anyone apart from my immediate family that I am pregnant ...

[PoisPois]

Oh dear, looks like I'm off to Bravissimo then! I thought I'd got away without buying any new bras because they've not really got any bigger yet (thank god!). I don't want to risk blocked milk ducts though - they sound painful!