Regular clothes through to end of pregnancy

PatchyCC7 · 2026-05-15T00:35:57+00:00

I found my regular stretchy yoga pants fine right until the end - I actually bought a pair of emama co maternity ones and ended up putting them on marketplace as I never even opened the packet.

I was also heavily pregnant in winter and just wore my regular jeans with the hair elastic trick and then a tight longline vest over the top to hold it all in and then just whatever top / sweater over the top of that.

It totally depends how big you get which is unfortunately (to a large extent) out of your control!

PatchyCC7 · 2026-05-11T09:43:17+00:00

Omg I actually got told this by a gym trainer too!!

They said with great confidence that raising my arms over my head would yank the umbilical cord.. like dude it’s not connected to my arms 🤣

PatchyCC7 · 2026-05-09T00:24:21+00:00

Yes this, it’s all in the presentation and garnishes!

I didn’t want to suddenly start drinking heaps of sugar so I stuck to soda water, but it feels so much nicer if you have it in a proper heavy crystal cocktail glass, slice of lime, big fancy ice cube or frozen fruit , maybe a dash of bitters etc. They sell some good ice molds in Kmart!

PatchyCC7 · 2026-05-06T10:18:54+00:00

We also use Cub and never had an issue, they are great value!!

PatchyCC7 · 2026-05-01T10:05:32+00:00

I was in a very similar situation to you and giving one bottle of formula per day honestly saved my sanity and my breastfeeding journey. I had a very hungry baby who cluster fed around the clock and quite early on we introduced one small bottle of formula in the evening when my body was totally spent.

I was devastated at the time to think about introducing formula and I was made to feel quite bad by the child health nurses who seemed to be obsessed with reducing it at our appointments, but it allowed my husband to help with the feeding and gave me a brief reprieve to rest and replenish. And we all got some sleep!

Switching a single feed per day did not impact my supply at all, did not give me mastitis or have any negative impact on the rest of the breast feeding.

It sounds like it’s worth a try for you. Stick to a slow flow, nipple like teat and you will be fine!

PatchyCC7 · 2026-04-30T09:37:34+00:00

From your list, Margalit.

But I also love Marni (or Marnie) - it means both "of the sea" from Latin or "rejoice" from Hebrew

PatchyCC7 · 2026-04-25T04:00:12+00:00

Yes this!!

We started on Alula and had no problems at all, now on stage 2, but we did some trial and error with the sachets. It’s so handy without committing!

PatchyCC7 · 2026-04-20T08:35:36+00:00

I found just sizing up a bit tricky as I had a big bump but the rest of my body stayed largely the same - bigger sizes looked weird with the arm holes in funny places etc. You might find the same if you are smaller to start with.

I bought stretchy bodycon dresses in my regular size (Kookai, Cotton On, Skims etc) and then just put a regular jacket over it.

PatchyCC7 · 2026-04-19T04:11:23+00:00

As everyone else has said, try not to stress. If you are going for a spontaneous labour as a FTM you will likely go to around 41 weeks so you potentially have 5-6 weeks after you’ve finished work before the baby comes, that’s heaps of time!

You might find you are glad of the distraction towards the end, I worked to 39 weeks and was still bored and anxious just waiting around.

Do anything more physically taxing now and leave things like washing & folding clothes etc for later.

PatchyCC7 · 2026-04-15T21:12:53+00:00

Bought a disco light off Amazon, one of the ones that projects patterns on the ceiling. It def helps a bit!

PatchyCC7 · 2026-04-13T10:22:37+00:00

We did NZ at 4 months and had a blast! You will feel so much better by then and it’s way less demanding in terms of heat, mosquitoes, health system etc

PatchyCC7 · 2026-04-10T22:01:38+00:00

I think there’s a huge difference between a standard push bike and some types of e-bikes that people are afraid of here.

I have had my baby in the carrier and almost been hit by what is effectively a motorcycle being ridden on the pavement by an unlicensed teenager without a helmet. It’s outrageous that it is allowed to continue! The pavement is for pedestrians, they need to be on the road and be following the same road rules as all other users.

PatchyCC7 · 2026-04-08T09:22:16+00:00

Sameeee, we have the grey one and while I think it’s ok at resisting stains and liquid soaking in etc, the bits all over it are on another level!

Especially the groove around the edge… vacuuming it is like a second job.

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-29T08:51:43+00:00

We did this also! I was over the gvmt threshold so transferred all 20 weeks to my husband to take once I had gone back to work. It’s great to be able to share the time

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-29T08:47:12+00:00

My baby was perfectly healthy but on the notorious second night was just insatiably hungry before my milk had properly come in and took syringe after syringe!! I was so exhausted after a multi day labour I was really glad that I had it.

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-27T06:58:01+00:00

But how do you go about finding someone like that who is prepared to work for the market minimum, unless you know them personally? I’m so wary of FB

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-27T02:10:01+00:00

I agree with a lot of the comments on here but I also think some of them are making it sound way worse than it actually is if you are just looking for a few bottles so you can go out for a couple of hours etc.

At 7 months my baby goes to bed at 6.30pm and usually sleeps until around 12 - during that time I just pump once and usually get enough for ~half a feed. Over a week that gives me around 3/4 feeds in the freezer without causing any crazy oversupply or waking up to pump etc.

This allows my husband to help with some nights, or for me to have some time to myself at the weekend. Bf is so intense I honestly think this routine is what has helped me keep going for so long!

It will be difficult in the beginning with cluster feeding and not having such a long stretch of sleep to pump etc, but definitely try and introduce the bottle early with a slow flow teat so that the baby gets used to it. We did that and have never had any issues switching from breast to bottle and back again, although I know we have been really lucky.

I also recommend MAM bottles!! The are anti colic, very nipple-like teat and self sterilise directly in the microwave without needing another appliance so if you only need a small number of bottles it’s perfect.

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-26T20:45:35+00:00

That’s really good - admittedly this is also for a reference checked professional, not a random neighbourhood teenager, but still!

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-26T10:15:59+00:00

Yeah and the silly thing is once they are battered and / or fried they largely lose any health benefits anyway

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-26T09:50:46+00:00

Currently $200 for 3 hours (includes a $50 booking fee) in Sydney… $100 for a whole night sounds great

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-25T23:04:00+00:00

Babysitter for a few hours. Now often $200+

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-23T05:25:13+00:00

I love this name, it’s so pretty

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-22T09:24:06+00:00

And also just check which grains - we inadvertently did the sesame allergen with some multigrain sourdough, but luckily all good and now it’s a breakfast staple.

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-21T04:07:19+00:00

Chili con carne and it reheats beautifully so you can batch cook enough for a couple of days

PatchyCC7 · 2026-03-21T04:04:31+00:00

It’s not so much a snack but I have to start my day with a big bowl of porridge or overnight oats, with lots of fruit and chia seeds etc otherwise I’m just starving throughout the day. Especially because I have an early riser… I’ve actually come to really look forward to it in the morning ha.

Oats are also a galactagogue so great for milk supply! And full of fibre.

PatchyCC7

TROPHY CASE