Originally Posted by
fertilemyrtle 
This is my first baby, due between mid-June and mid-July. What should I get ahead of time for dressing this summer?...
I'm athletic (yoga teacher by trade), so I love the idea of nursing camisoles. That way I can practice yoga in them too. My bust was 36C before pregnancy, and has only grown a bit (probably a cup size, but I still use some pre-pregnancy bras). What size (approx) nursing bras should I buy? Should I buy now, or wait to see what size my breasts will be? When will I know my size? - I know my boobs will be huge in the first weeks, and then calm down a bit. Anyone have a specific bra they'd recommend, or specific camisoles?
I wouldn't buy any sized bra at all until at least 3-4 weeks after giving birth (better yet, 5-6). Last time I bought a whole bunch of nursing bras a couple of weeks before my due date and they all ended up being way too big. I would stick with nursing tanks (or better yet plain cheap non-nursing tanks with shelf bras, you can pull them down to nurse) for the early postpartum days.
Honestly I even find nursing tanks too restrictive but I am one of those hate-my-bra people. (I only wear them to work.) I am a 34C when not pregnant or nursing. If you want a nursing tank/bra here is my evaluation of the ones I own:
- Bravado tank: very flattering but sort of low-cut so that I don't feel comfortable wearing it alone, clasps are discreet but take a little getting used to
- GlamourMom tank: less flattering (gives you the squished-boob sports bra look) but more modest to be worn alone if wanted, clasps are really obvious but very easy to use
- Original Nursing Bra by Bravado is quite comfortable (and it fits a size range so if you are dead set on a real bra it is probably OK to buy one of these earlier postpartum).
- Body Silk Seamless by Bravado is also very comfortable, slightly more sized so I wouldn't buy it so early but probably more flattering in the long run, comes with optional molded cups if you like that (I don't so I threw them away).
- Sleep bra by Motherhood Maternity, I love this one (it's the closest to a non-bra) and wore it pretty much exclusively in the early postpartum period. Also fits a size range so you could buy it early on.
- Sleep bra by Medela, I dislike this one actually, it's the same idea as the Motherhood one but has less coverage and thinner fabric so the straps and band get too thin and kind of bitey
Otherwise, I'm planning to wear my maternity clothes for awhile, and hopefully fit into my roomier sundresses and flowing tops later in the summer. I have to look at my wardrobe with this whole new set of eyes though - as in, "How quickly will this shirt/dress allow me to whip my boob out?"
Last time I initially bought a whole bunch of nursing tops and ended up hating them all (ugly, ill-fitting, too low-cut, etc). I found it much easier and more flattering to just layer a nursing tank under my regular pre-preggo shirts, which all fit fine after the first couple of weeks. That way you only have to worry specifically about nursing access if you are wearing a dress.
By the way, although it took me a year to really lose the baby weight (of 30 lbs gained, 14 came off at birth and the remaining 16 went s-l-o-w-l-y) and a year and a half for my stomach to go back to its previous dimensions, I was able to get into a lot of my prepartum pants by six weeks, just because of the way they were cut (mostly the ones that were lower in the rise or stretchier in the waist).
