Best post-baby clothes

[herethereandeverywhere]

I'm 32, about to have my first baby. I'm 5'3" was a size 8-10 before I ate my way through the last 9 months (think I've put about 3 stone on!)

I'm not unduly worried about the weight and will work it off gradually but I need some ideas for outfits in the meantime that:

1. are vaguely fashionable and flattering
2. are breast-feeding friendly

I used to wear Karen Millen/French Connection/Zara/Topshop type stuff. I lived in skinny jeans with boots over the top last winter but dread to think what size jeans I'm going to be in now!

All suggestions gratefully received!

Thanks

With both of my babies I found combat trousers (pockets v handy for keys etc. when out and about with baby and shopping) and tops (get nice ones from Topshop or Zara) and comfy shoes (lived in my uggs or slip on shoes) quite handy for my maternity leave stint. But basically, if you're going to be breastfeeding you need separates so shirts and vest combos or tops you can hoik up to feed are good - you can wear jeans all the time if you like (but as I was off over the summer with both boys wanted something lighter but didnt want skirts or shorts as couldnt be bothered to shave my legs) and boots.

Good luck and hope the birth goes well.

wait and see what happens, then just buy a couple of pairs of jeans the right size and wear what you are comfortable in.
As it's your first child you will likely lose the weight very fast and not have anything to worry about
I am built (or was) as you describe and with my first I was back in my normal clothes after 6 weeks.
I walked with Dd1 in the pram for over an hour everyday during her naps and lost the weight very quickly.

If only I could do the same with no.4

have you eg size 12 jeans you wore in early pg? I found my 'one-size-up' trous invaluable whilst deflating.

and yes yes re shirts and vests - after 6m of wearing sack-like smocks I was desperate to wear something a bit fitted. Tailored shirts over vests fitted the bill nicely as they gave a good outline without actually clinging so I dug out my old faithful TMLewins from my pre-kids London days.

do not attempt long dress/tunic things - IME however flattering they are to postnatal tum they are a nightmare to hitch up to bf.

the other thing to remember is that the balance of your figure may have changed - after years spent dressing to make the most of my petite norks and play down my relatively ample arse I was suddenly the possessor of a quite impressive chest and became an hourglass rather than a pear... great days [happy sigh]

I found that I wore lots of tight fitting tops during my pregnancy and that look just didn't work with a saggy tummy! It took me quite a while to lose my baby weight (9 months on 9 months off!) and I really struggled with what to wear so I'm planning on tunics and empire line tops for next time.

For BFing I really recommend vest tops or boob tubes from topshop or reasonably cheap that covers your tummy but you can pull it down from the top. Vests mean you can't pull the top down - does that make sense? Then put a top over the bube tube so you pull the boobtube down and the top up and you are pretty well covered!

I stupidly forgot with DD2 that for the first few weeks you need really long tops becuase you have a sanitary pad the size of a mattress between your legs! In fact with the whole breastfeeding-and-saggy-tum malarky, long tops generally are your friend!