Coming home/body immediately after giving birth

[RGxo13]

Hello everyone!
First time pregnancy here. I’m 24 weeks and very excited so have started to think about hospital bag etc. One thing that keeps coming up is a comfy outfit for coming home. I absolutely love over the bump leggings at the min (life saver) but will they fit me once I’ve given birth? I’m quite a skinny person usually and everyone keeps saying to me ‘oh you’ll be one of those people who can come home in their pre pregnancy jeans’ - I can’t think of anything worse right now haha - but surely your body doesn’t just snap back to how it was? I’m usually a size 8, i’m currently buying size 14 expandable waist trousers at the min which are really comfy. Is it wise to pack something around this size for myself? Sorry, I know this is a total materialistic question but just want to know what to pack. Scared the over the bump leggings will be round my ankles haha!

Most women either wear maternity clothes home or a loose fitting dress works well in summer. They used to say as a general rule you'll be the size you were at 6 months pregnant but that's obviously only a guide.

I wore elasticated comfy bottoms and dresses for a while until my body had started to recover and slim back down, you really won’t be thinking about wearing jeans for a while!

Personally I kept using my maternity wardrobe for about a month post-DD and then slowly filtered my pre-pregnancy stuff back in as my body recovered.

When people make comments like “I bet you’ll be one of those people who just snap back!” ignore them. It’s just one of those nonsense comments people come out with to pregnant women that are just made to fill a gap/be nice. People keep telling me “oooooh you’re all bump!” whilst ignoring my 34w moonface and the fact I look like Jabba the Hut on Teams calls. How you’ll look after birth will be effected by your age, pre-pregnancy fitness, build and how your birth goes, those people have no idea how you’ll get on.

I continued to wear my mothercare maternity yoga pants between pregnancies so I wouldn’t worry about something like those falling down on you; even IF you think maternity leggings/trousers are a bit loose after you give birth, you just roll the top and that’ll be enough to keep them up.

Also remember that you could have a section or tear or even just general soreness which would make jeans or anything tight a terrible idea. I brought leggings with me for no.1 and got sent home in compression socks, couldn’t get the bastard tight legs of the leggings over them! The trusty yoga pants are already packed!!!

Regardless of how your body reacts, the last thing you'll want to wear is your jeans.

Where the baby was in this wobbly, jelly like stomach of emptiness which would need to be tucked it. There's also thick pads to contend with, which feel like a nappy.

I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight pretty quick, but the leggings stayed on for a month or so.

Forgot to add, stitches and jeans really don't go together

I'm 3 months post partum and still in my comfy maternity leggings 😄

Take a maxi dress and high waisted leggings.

Your tummy will be doughy and maybe feel a bit tender.

Your vagina is going to be a bit swollen and sore.

I really like wearing supportive high waisted leggings postpartum as I felt like all my organs were knocking around in an empty space for a few days!

Thanks so much everyone! All of your comments are really useful. I actually never want to wear a pair of jeans again in my life now I’ve discovered the maternity leggings haha so sounds like I might not have to part with them woohoo! Due in August so might go for a maxi dress and pop the leggings in too for if it’s a bit cold - English weather is never reliable is it haha. Thanks again everyone xx

I went into hospital in the oldest pair of baggy trousers that I dug out of a drawer because my waters had broken that morning and soaked every other pair of trousers I owned that fitted over my bump (maternity pads and incontinence pants were no match for the volume of fluid, I was not prepared!). Unfortunately I developed urinary retention after birth and they were the only trousers that fitted over the urinary collection bag strapped to my leg and I had no choice but to wear them day and night for a full week after birth. It was November so dresses were not really an option in that weather.

This isn't common at all and very unlikely to happen to you, but I didn't realise it could happen at all so it was just chance that I had something I could wear once they catheterised me. Take a dress or baggy trousers just in case of something unexpected.

I can’t remember what I had on - it was about 1am when we were sent home after being in labour for a good 18 hours or so. In December. I could have been wearing just about anything and not noticed. However I can say with certainty that it would have been maternity wear, and chosen for comfort! I have a photo of myself in hospital before my induction kicked in, wearing black maternity joggers and a T-shirt so I’d imagine I put those back on. They were comfy and warm and didn’t hurt my stitches.

I was asked about a week later, when buying nursing bras, when my baby was due by the lady helping me - she was mortified when I said he was outside the changing rooms in his pram 😳😄 It was a few weeks before I totally ditched the maternity wear; and then I was still a size or two bigger than usual. I held onto quite a bit of the pregnancy chub until I stopped breastfeeding tbh. It did go eventually though…!

Dont forget a pair of big knickers and a comfy bra without underwire etc. Also throw some fuzzy socks in your bag for post partum (extra points if they have grippy bottoms) much easier for keeping your feet warm if the hospital ward is chilly (although in August you might be packing a fan instead!)

God,yes, this. I would also now, if thiswere me, pack a baggy dress just in case.

Go and follow meganbcall on Instagram, she had a baby two months ago, she was teeny tiny before pregnancy and super fit and active. She had been so open and honest about her post pregnancy body and it is just SO damn refreshing!!! It gives you a very realistic idea of what your post birth body will be like.

I'm a slim size 8 and snapped back instantly but still wore mat leggings home. You'll want loose clothes and quite frankly, won't care what you look like

I remember having given birth to my son on a Monday evening going down to the labour ward Tuesday morning to see my friend who was in labour ( this was over 30 years ago. I wore a maternity dress that I had worn going in to hospital. I felt great, thought I looked quite trim, only for a midwife to say 'not long now love'!

I was a size 6 before pregnancy and it took a few weeks before I no longer looked 6 months pregnant 😂. I was definitely still in maternity wear when I left hospital, just wobblier than when I was pregnant if I remember correctly. I think I was about 4 months postpartum before I was properly back to my usual size, the weight took slightly longer to come off than the belly took to shrink.

Loose dress is absolutely perfect!

After DC1 I was one of the lucky ones who fitted into size 8 pre-pregnancy jeans within 2 weeks of giving birth - they were still the last thing I wanted to wear until baby was closer to 1! My maternity clothes and dresses were so much more comfortable!

I wore my maternity leggings home, I was hobbling around the place in pain so I didn't really give a crap what I was wearing.

I did go back to my size 8 jeans by the end of the first week, only when leaving the house though. At home I lived in pajama bottoms until everything had healed and stitches dissolved.

The way they chuck you out of hospital, you won't have gone down that much, you'll probably be much the same size you are right now. But why are you buying size 14 if you are a size 10? I bought all my maternity stuff in the usual size. Or are you saying you aren't buying maternity?

@darjeelingrose bits of both so normal size maternity clothes or getting size 14 non maternity clothes (primark as can’t seem to find a mar range in mine). That’s what I was wondering do I take stuff for the size I am now or the size I will be when I go in for labour x

I don't think it's really about the bump post birth, everyone is different, it's the overall discomfort that comes from pushing a baby out, bleeding, giant knickers and giant pads and general soreness. I had DD2 end of August and left in my maternity maxi dress. When I DD1 I packed my pre pregnancy maxi skirt which was quite stretchy, but it as so uncomfortable on the waist. I had my leggings in the bag in case I was chilly, but wasn't an issue, adrenaline and everything else still whirring through me :)

If you’re 24 weeks you must be due in August sometime, a maxi dress or something might be more comfortable after you’ve just been in a roasting hot hospital. I’m due at the end of July and planning to pack my maternity cycling shorts with an oversized tee so I will be comfy and not too warm x

Maternity clothes for sure.

If planning to breastfeed, make sure to factor in breast access for post-birth clothes. I got stuck in for longer than expected with DS2, and I asked DH to bring me clothes with boob access and somehow he completely misunderstood and brought stuff that had really tight necklines?? It was all basically impossible to feed in. A friend asked if I needed anything and I asked if she'd take me to H&M and bless her she brought me a bag full of loose stretchy tops of her own!

At the very end of pregnancy your bump is massive and doesn't necessarily fit into clothes that you can wear at earlier stages.

Clothes that fit in that middle stage are generally perfect for postpartum though. The bump won't be as big when you've had the baby but it is still there (like about a 5/6 month bump size) and your hips are still wider and might be sore.

Oh I suggest easy shoes or stretchy.
I had no drugs or anything during birth, but weirdly when I left home at midnight on a Friday to hospital my trainers fitted perfectly, and when I tried to put them back on Monday morning to go home my feet had swollen loads ( birth sat afternoon). They just fitted to get home, but tight. Apparently swollen feet after birth are a thing, water swelling.
It was only 1-2 more days and back to normal size.