Why did no one mention this?!?

[monsterchild]

I know it isn't a serious issue, but I am 16 weeks and in a bad way! None of my clothes fit properly. I'm too pot bellied for my regular clothes, but the maternity clothes my Dsis gave me (bless her!) are too baggy yet. I either am horrible uncomfortable or look like a hobo!
The problem is that while I am indeed a professional, I don't have a lot of cash to buy 4 week interim clothes. I did get a bella band, and perhaps that will work, but does anyone have any ideas?

And to make matters worse, a few months before I got pregnant, I happily threw away all my chubby clothes as I had lost 3 stone and was so proud!

Boo!

If it is any comfort then if you buy clothes that fit now they will be about the right size for the first few weeks postnatal too...

Yoga pants like these and the like work well as they are stretchy in the right places.

oh God, i thought you were going to say something about grape like piles, or pendulum like boobs!

It is indeed a difficult time at 16 weeks. I kinda lived in trachy bottoms at weekends, leggings and nice shirts/blouses and comfy shoes for my working week.

Big knickers are a MUST!

Jersey dresses are your friend. I had a black jersey knee length skirts that I wore a lot for the office. With smart shoes and top, it looked professional and grew with me right until 38 weeks and starting mat leave.

It's about your stage that you have to start wearing maternity clothes. Just wear maternity bottoms and usual tops, nobody will notice that they are maternity bottoms. I hated bump bands, felt horrible and uncomfortable with my buttons and flies undone, even if covered up by bump band!

Ps. Skirt was from blooming marvellous. Wore it TONS for work.

Can you manage just one item, maybe from somewhere bargainous like Peacocks, Asda or Dorothy Perkins? All these do good mat ranges that aren't expensive. I do remember hitting exactly the same stage. I'd grown out of normal stuff but as i'm a small size, the maternity stuff swamped me. Bought one pair of maternity black trousers and wore my floaty summery tops till I got past the stage. Nothing improves your confidence at 4 months like a decently fitting pair of maternity trousers. And it won't be just for 4 weeks, obv wear them as long as they fit. Which wont be till the end . Plus tthe fact that you can wear them after your baby's born :)

I'm 19+5 and have a very noticeable bump, but I'm finding it's my bottoms that are the biggest issue. I've bought 2 pairs of leggings (long and cropped) for £7.99 each from H&M, a pair of black skinny jeans from Dorothy Perkins, and a couple of maternity dresses from eBay for a few pounds each.
That'll see me through the next few weeks with some of my existing tops. I have maternity clothes from last time but like you said much of it is too big at the moment.

Ooh, these are all good suggetions, especially the dress, lightrain. And I hadn't thought at all about being able to wear the same again after the baby's born.

And nosleep I have the pendulous boobs, but no piles, thanks be to god!
And speaking of maternity clothes, why do they not make room for boobs?!? Doesn't everyone end up with larger boobs? You'd think with large mat clothes, Id' be abe to fit in them better, but they for like, B cups or something.
MAdness!

Anyway, thanks for the great ideas, I am just at wits end about the clothes! I will have a look at your ideas!

I didn't wear any mat clothes last time I was pg, got by on jersey dresses, trousers with wide knitted waistbands and wraparound skirts that tied up, not buttoned. I had a very boring wardrobe for the last 4m or so.

This time around I got bigger quite a lot faster, and it's colder so am sticking to the 3 pairs of trousers I have with knit/jersey waistbands. Can't bear elastic anywhere near the bump, too uncomfortable - and it's tool cold to wear skirts without tights (not wearing tights, too uncomfortable) so the skirts are out as well.

this is the sort of waistband I'm talking about - just not in that colour [blech] but I realise that you won't be able to get Aussie clothes easily in the UK! Might be able to find something similar though.

I've taken to wearing DHs 'trunk style' underwear, much more comfy than knickers!

I got a decent pair of black maternity trousers from Next, and then trawled the charity shops after that for anything that looked nice and was cheap! I think I look bigger in the big floaty tops so the long, tight t-shirts and vests from Primark have been good with a cardigan. The charity shop yielded a lot of nice empire line 50's style knee length dresses (amazingly!) and they're only one size up. I also got a couple of grecian-style maxi dresses - having never worn a maxi dress in my life at 5 foot 2, it's been a journey into new fashions

But I'm still only 27 weeks and, since according to the MW I have a short torso, getting bigger and bigger! Knickers have been the real issue. Knickers are so uncomfortable :(

You may not be at the stage where this will work yet, but when your maternity trousers are just a little too big still, wearing a bump band over the top can help keep them in the right place.

At 16 weeks its like the inbetween stage of having a bump and feeling a bit like a porker - or it did for me at least. I just grabbed every dress I had out of my wardrobe that sat comfortably just under the boobs and wore tights with it. I made myself a little stretchy button too, sew some elastic into a loop and sew that onto a button, put button through button hole on pants and elasic around regular button which doesnt reach ... got to wear all my regular trousers for a few more weeks too :)

I think that was about the point that I gave up and invested in some maternity clothes. My tops still did me for weeks afterwards but I bought two pair of work maternity trousers from next and they still fit. I since found out though that New Look have a GREAT maternity range and are much much cheaper. But yep, knickers are a pain in the ar$e pun intended.

Buy a wrap dress from Seraphane with a couple of different coloured vest tops to go underneath, cardigans etc different shoes and it was great for work.

I'm living in a Tesco F+F long black jersey skirt, cheap as chips. Absolute life saver. Looks smart for work, but can wear with tshirts/denim jck etc for leisure. I'm 23 weeks and look like a barrell!! I'm only short so all this extra weight is killing me!!!!

Oh. Also bought some stretchy wide legged jersey trousers (elasticated waist) from Marks+Spencers. They were £25 I think - been great for work too.

I have always had a lot of dresses in my wardrobe and have been wearing those with long boots and/or leggings. I bought a belly belt, it worked for me and it meant that I could continue to wear the skirts and jeans I have for a while longer, but you do have to wear long top with it and it doesn't work with little hooks. I only have a few maternity bits, the belly belt and my dresses will see me through (I hope) I'm 22 weeks.

I'm 19 weeks. For the past few weeks I have found most of my pre-preg trousers and skirts don't fit - but I've managed not to buy any maternity clothes yet.

I've been living in dresses as these don't have an obvious waistband and so still fit. I have to wear smartish clothes for work, this is where the dresses are especially useful - I have 2 quite smart jersey wrap dresses, 1 shirt dress and a couple of tailored dresses which still (just about) fit.

I've also borrowed a couple of items from a family member who is 1 or 2 dress sizes bigger than me - so for example, one pair of her larger trousers still fit me, and a couple of her skirts. Is this an option for you?

Wrap dresses from (whispers) Boden. I bought mine a size up and there is enough of a wrap on it that so long as you wear a cami underneath, you can get away with it to full term.

I also had a great one from LK Bennett but that was pricier

Am I the only one who's never had knicker issues? Last time I put on 3.5 stone and bought a few pairs of knickers and thongs in the next size. I still had them in the bottom of the drawer this time so have been using them. I couldn't live without my thongs as I've been wearing dresses and leggings so much!

My working wardrobe has been 3 maternity jersey dresses, some Gap black maternity trousers, stretchy tops with bump bands under if necessary and my suit jackets over the dresses for client meetings (although I can't fasten them!)

It's pretty repetitive but I'm loath to buy more than that for such a short period of time.

Charity shops are your friend, especially if you don't want to shell out too much money at this stage.

Look for tops/dresses that are longish and gathered under the bust and skirts which are a size or two bigger than your usual or nicely stretchy and you can continue to look smart, yet feel comfortable and not break your budget. Second time round, I'm still wearing some of my charity shop finds from last time, they've been brilliant!

whatsoever I'm like you. I just cant justify spending a lot when I know I'll end up sticking it all in a bag and giving it away after this baby (DC2 and we've agreed definitely our last). I'd rather save the money and spend it on non-mat stuff afterwards.

I got a pair of Next 'starter' trousers for £23, I wore them everyday for work and granted they were on their last legs by the time DD2 was born but they were great!

H+M do some great nursing tops that have space for a 'tummy' think they are around £8. If you breastfeed you will use them again definatley. I also found a lot of the inbetween clothes came in usefull for a good 6 months and the rest after the baby was born. I also second tunic style tops.