Best Maternity Wear Option for First Trimester

Bella Bands quickly becamoe one of my favorites when I got pregnant :) I bought a two pack (sold on Amazon that way) and i have worn them with dress pants and with jeans! I am now 34 weeks along and still wearinging mine- they are great for helping to keep maternity pants in place too! I would highly recommend them to anyone - good luck!

I used both, I love the bella band I used it my entire pregnancy plus post partum for a while until my hips receded :) The secret fit pants I wasn't crazy about I was still pulling at them all the time, and the band got to small as I reached 3rd trimester.

Congratulations! I found a lot of first trimester pants at Target. I think it's the Liz Lange Maternity line - they have elastic in the back but button and zip normally in the front. They were so much more comfortable, and fit much better than my full-blown maternity pants.

I loved the secret fit pants from motherhood. They were very comfortable, especially in the 3rd trimester!

I loved the Bella Band; I bought one in almost every color I could find, and they enabled me to wear most of my work pants AND some jeans through my whole pregnancy. If they show at all, they just look like another shirt peeking out underneath! I didn't want to have to buy new work pants just for my pregnancy, and the Bella Bands were a perfect substitute!

(I'm adding this after reading the other responses. You have to make sure you get the right size you're going to need throughout your pregnancy - too small and they'll become uncomfortable; too large and they won't work properly. I also preferred to wear them folded over [they are long-ish], as I didn't like the tightness over the top of my belly, and it helped hold up pants better. I also recommend the elastic clips called "Belly-Ups" - you clip them to the back of your pants and to the bottom of your bra. I wore them under the Bella Band. They work great for those pants you are constantly hiking up every couple of minutes!)

Suzanne -

I have a black bella band that I used once. It didn't really work for me but I think my pants were already too tight AND I think I was too far along.

Let me know if you would like it. I can mail it to you. :)

I didn't care for the Bella Band but I love the secret fit pants. I just had my third baby in September and I had several pairs of the secret fit pants and I loved them. I did have a little trouble keeping them up in the beginning but they were super comfy and lasted throughout the whole pregnancy. Congrats.

The Bella Band worked great for me, especially before maternity pants fit properly. I used it with my career slacks almost through my entire pregnancy when I was still working. It's a small investment to save a lot of money in maternity clothes.

I tried the Secret Fit pants my second trimester and thought they were very uncomfortable. The woman at the store let me exchange them for pants I could wear later since they only have a 2 week exchange only policy. I used rubber bands on my pants when they first got too tight, with longer tops. That is the great thing about it being winter-longer sweaters. I would go to the store and try the pants-bending andstretching every which way to see if you think they are confortable before you buy. And try again when you get home if you do buy them.

I LOVE, LOVE the Bella Band! Used it during both of my pregnancies. During the first pregnancy, I wore my normal pants with the band up to about 24 weeks! Second pregnancy i used it too, but did transition to maternity pants a bit earlier. The Bella band comes in a couple of colors, black for sure, so you could definitely get one to wear with your black pants. IMO it is a very economical solution to a temporary issue! Good luck and congrats on #3!!

I used something like the bella band, but it was a handmade version that was cheaper (found on ebay in lots of colors) and the only pair of jeans I had that fit from "barely showing" to "huge" was a pair I got a Kohl's. I haven't heard of the ones you mention.

There's a big maternity section at the Goodwill in Elgin, and sometimes you can find a good thing or two at the Community Thrift in Dundee. I got some nice things from Freecycle as well.

Congrats!
M.

Secret fit belly is so awesome and really comfortable. I had two pairs of jeans from Mimi with that belly and they were my favorite and most comfortable pants - I wore them until the very end and post partum too. With not much belly post partum, they stayed up pretty good, but still fell down a little. It helps them stay up if the jeans/pants part fit you a little snugly or just right. If they are too loose, they will fall down.

I also did not have much luck with the bella band - it doesn't stay in place and you end up looking a little lumpy with pants underneath. You need a top that covers all that to look decent. But, I recall my pants still falling down. For the early stages I found a pair of jeans at the Gap that had the roll top that rolled down over my hips and fit really good. Once you get a belly though, these are not comfortable as they cut into your lower belly. I got them on clearance last january - this is the best time to shop for clothes on sale!! Frankly though, at some point or another, ALL your maternity pants fall down, I found no perfect solution. There are some little suspenders I have seen that clip to your bra and your pants that are supposed to help, but I never tried them. Good luck and congrats!

I loved the bella band, for early pregnancy and after you have the baby until you feel comfortable in real clothes again. I'd recommend getting a couple, then just wash and wear constantly! Congrats and good luck!

Congrats to you! I just had my 3rd baby in September and it is wonderful...he fits right in! I found the Belly Band that they sell at Motherhood worked wonderfully! It was perfect at the beginning over my regular pants and it even worked really great over old maternity pants that were too big to start. It also helps after the baby until the jeans fit again! Good luck!!

I had the same situation with my third pregnancy as well :) I went ahead and bought the Bella Band to help with the in between time. I also just bought a nice 2 piece set of dress pants and top on clearance, which I did use only a few times, but was able to sell it when I was done with it. Check eBay or craigslist for some cheaper options for maternity.
Best of luck!

I had the same situation as you. My second and third pregnancies caused me to outgrow my normal clothes very quickly. I'm a big fan of Chico's pants for early pregnancy and post-pardum. They all have elastic waistbands and are fairly stylish for what they are--elastic pants! Chico's often has sales and you can find some good deals. I wore those elastic pants until my maternity pants would stay up better. Then during that first month or so post-pardum, I wore the Chico's pants again. It was too upsetting to wear maternity clothes when I was no longer pregnant, so I felt better just wearing elastic pants until I could fit into my normal clothes again. Good luck with your pregnancy!!

Congrats! I used the Belly Band throughout my first two trimesters. Same idea as the Bella Band but about a third of the price. They were really great! I was able to wear my own pants with them and they helped hold up maternity pants that I wasn't quite big enough for. They also helped me get out of full blown maternity stuff as soon as I got home from the hospital, that may have been my favorite part of them!

I LOVED the Bella Band - I bought white, nude, and black. They are great because you can continue to wear them with your pants completely unbuttoned and unzipped and then when you're so big that shirts won't cover your full belly. They also come in handy after the baby until you fit back into your clothes. While you're wearing them they just look like another layer of shirt. BTW, congrats on your pregnancy!!

I found something similar to a bella band on ebay-cheaper. Purchased 3 and used them early on in my pregnancy. I now use them just to lengthen tops (I'm tall).

The secret belly is wonderful for further along in the pregnancy. My third pregnancy was a twin pregnancy and the secret belly was the ONLY belly that worked for me. It's much more comfortable than the others because there isn't one spot with an elastic band, the entire thing is elastic. I found a pair of capris on sale at Kohls (they carry motherhood brand).

I did not use them in my first trimester and don't know if they would work, I recommend trying them on.

Good luck!

Hey Suzanne...I feel your pain. I am 6 months pregnant with my second child and my pants still don't stay up-lol. I did try the bella band with my first son and I wound up returning it because it actually gave me a stomach ache when I wore it! Lame-o! Don't waster your money. It was like $40. I have seen the secret fit jeans at Motherhood and wasn't imppressed. I did get a few pairs of jeans from gap.com and I LOVE them. One pair is called secret fit or something like it. The other two are the roll panel jeans and although sometimes the panel is a pain they are the best maternity jeans I have ever owned and they are sooo cute! Hope this helps and good luck with the baby :)

K. C

Hi Suzanne,

When I was pregnant I bought all of my work and dressy clothes at Chicos. They have a line they call the travel collection that's made from a fabric that doesn't wrinkle. The waist bands are elastic and I found that I could wear them thru out my entire pregnancy, seriously, up until my due dates and then afterwards. They stretched out and bounced right back to normal. I still wear them now. I just couldn't stand the thought of spending money on maternity clothes and this did the trick, plus I wasn't getting bigger and bigger clothes along the way, they just got bigger for me as needed.

I wore a Bella Band for quite some time with my jeans and pants with great success. With jeans you might want to try the old-fashioned safety pin/rubber band trick. Take a safety pin and thread it through the button-hole. Put the rubber band through the safety pin then loop it around the button.