First pregnancy... maternity clothes size??

[Julieee]

Hi there,

This is my first pregnancy. A little background on my size: I'm 5'7 completely average (except for small breasts ha), weighed 128 before getting pregnant. I live 900 miles from my family and a few family members want to send me maternity clothes for gifts! That's very sweet of them considering I'm 70 miles from the closest maternity store!

My question is, what size do I tell them? Is it impossible to know until I reach that point?? Or is Medium a good guess? I've been fitting into medium clothes my whole life--and size 6 pants. Would this be a safe guess to assume i will fit into a medium down the road?

I'm currently 15 weeks and have to use a beband for my pants. Any input would be much appreciated!!! Thank you!

[finnegansmom]

yea I would buy your current size.
so mediums should fit.
Old Navy has some cute things online that aren't too expensive, i've had pretty good luck with their stuff. I like gap stuff too, it's a little pricier but I find their stuff to fit pretty true to size. I love gap jeans, I have a pair in the same size as 'normal' and they fit PERFECTLY. and are long enough, I'm 5'7" too...

[jenofur]

In my experience you buy the size you were pre pregnancy. So if you normally wear a Medium then a Medium in maternity clothes "should" fit you.

[kawa kamuri]

i always fit a size or two smaller than pre-baby.

[WifeofAnt]

I bought a few smalls and got a bunch of mediums off of craigslist. I was a 3 in Juniors before pregnancy (but those didn't fit after 8 weeks). After about 20 weeks I couldn't wear ANY of the smalls. My thighs were bigger and it was squeezing my bump whenever I sat down. Definitely get at least the mediums. I'm kind of upset I wasted money on small! I even bought some regular style bikini underwear in medium (after wearing small pre-pregnancy) and am considering moving up to maternity. I don't see me actually admitting to moving from small to large in less than a year... within normal weight gain!

[Dichotomy]

Im 5'6 and was around 140 before getting pregnant.

All of my maternity stuff has been size medium and fits really well right now (at 30 weeks). Admittedly though, the belly "band" part of the pants were a little big until I started to get bigger, and I had to keep pulling them up a bit until I hit maybe 23-ish weeks.

So it might be hard to say for sure...you might be inbetween a small/medium.

[Ola_]

I think it partly depends on the company making the clothes - some run bigger or smaller. And some are just inconsistent. But it sounds like a medium is a good starting place anyway.

[Julieee]

Thank you ladies!!! You've all been very helpful!!!

Side note, Ola, what is that flower by your member name? It looks like a yellow columbine almost! Very beautiful!

[Ashley_R]

I'm 5'5" and 123lbs pre-preg; all of the clothes I bought this time were S or XS. Old Navy tends to run big (they were the XS), which seems to be a recent change because my M from my last pg fit me the same at the XS. So anyway I'd get some M and a few S for the early days, I know my issue toward the end is always length (I only have about 2 shirts that cover my belly completely, now), so larger sized help with that.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

I wear a smaller size in pregnancy clothing - truly! I am a M or an 8/10 in regular clothes and wear a SMALL. A very small part of that is that I feel a bit more comfortable in tighter clothing when pregnant because then I don't feel huge but that's more for things like my willingness to wear and XS or the size 4 pants I found at Goodwill. I can say for sure that the size SMALL FITS - definitely not too small or what I consider tight. I would err on the side of smaller. For you, I would think you are definitely a SMALL or even an XS, at least in the Pea in the Pod and Motherhood brands, which is what I have most of.

I do have a size 4 pair of Gap pants and they are tight but cute, imo. In Old Navy I have a size Small pants. I got a Boob dress (all from our amazing Goodwill!!) that is a size SMALL and it's roomy for sure.

Good luck!

[Family4Christ]

You'll also find most places have sizes charts, which allow you to measure and may help with the size variances from place-to-place.

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by Julieee

Side note, Ola, what is that flower by your member name? It looks like a yellow columbine almost! Very beautiful!

Thanks! I think it's a yellow lily from DH's garden. He takes photos of flowers that he sees and sends them to my cell phone because I don't like cut flowers (they make me sad when they wilt).

[WifeofAnt]

I found that if I was between sizes I liked the larger size better. If it was slightly too big I could put my belly band on and keep it pretty comfortable. If it was slightly too small there was no adjusting that could make it comfortable. Another reason why slightly bigger is better is that you're not going to get any smaller during pregnancy unless you have some serious morning sickness or hyperemesis.

[StephandOwen]

With my son (7 years ago!) I was about 110lb 5'2" before pregnancy. I had very few maternity clothes (I was young and poor) but I started out with a couple small clothes. Then by about 25 weeks I outgrew those and bought a couple mediums. By about 33ish weeks I outgrew those! I got a couple large maternity shirts from my mom at that time (which she had worn- she had a baby girl 5 months before I got pregnant). By 39 weeks (when I delivered) even those large shirts weren't covering my belly. I was so huge and frustrated! I already told dp that if I get pregnant again I'm just stealing his shirts because I am not wasting money on clothes that will only get worn for a few weeks!

[rhiOrion]

I was 5'5" and 133 before pregnancy. I mostly wore mediums, but sometimes smalls. I think I could wear smalls since I naturally carry a fair amount of weight in my stomach. Which means I usually have to size up, and end up with pants that fall off when I stand up but hurt when I sit. But, pregnancy pants are made for allowing extra room in the tummy! Woo! I seriously wish I wouldn't look weird if I started wearing maternity clothes while not pregnant

If you suspect you might be between sizes, I'd say size up - some of my smalls were getting a bit tight toward the end. Generally maternity clothes seem to be made for the second trimester, I think.