Belly Bandit

"From the moment a woman learns she's expecting, she starts to nurture her baby-to-be. But who's there to nurture the mother?" The answer to that question is what led to Belly Bandit - a diverse collection of maternity and post-pregnancy essentials specifically created to make women look and feel their absolute best, with designs that help to speed recovery, to aid in healing, and to provide much-needed support for over stressed muscles and joints.

I don't wear leggings every day, but they are a part of my wardrobe. I had a few pairs of leggings pre-pregnancy that I wore, but I'd think I found a great pair...and then they'd pill, or rip, or whatever. Needless to say I could've used a good/trustworthy pair of leggings. Enter the B.D.A Leggings. I love these leggings! I love that they don't pill or snag, but what I love most is I can wear them whenever - before, during and after pregnancy. I could wear them over belly for light support or roll the top down for a snug and comfy fit at every stage.

The Flawless Belly was probably the item I didn't really need, but it did come in handy. It's made out of this material they call "WonderWeave" which keeps lotions and creams on your skin, not all over your clothes and gives your belly a deep moisturizing treatment around the clock. I wore it mostly at night to keep my lotion from rubbing all over my sheets. It also works great as a layering piece under shirts.

Eventually the time came that I needed a new bra and comfort was top priority. I new I'd probably need a bra for nursing as well, so I killed two birds with one stone and got the B.D.A Bra. It's lightweight, wireless and gently supportive. It's also designed to grow and shrink with your changing body, which is great because I didn't need to buy more bras in different sizes. When it comes to nursing with this bra there are no clasps, snaps or buttons, just a simple slide-over design for easy nursing access and anytime wear.

When you are pregnant and looking up things you stumble upon many things some good, some bad. I stumbled upon diastasis recti. Diastasis Recti is a gap in between your right and left abdominal wall muscles that can result in a rounded, protruding belly "pooch". So if your tummy still looks pregnant months after delivery, diastasis recti might be to blame. Anyways, I immediately started searching for ways to help prevent or lessen this. I found that using something to help keep your abs closer together throughout pregnancy can help. I was debating between the Upsie Belly and the 2-in-1 Bandit and ultimately chose the 2-in-1 because it could be used during and after pregnancy (and it was cheaper). During pregnancy it lifts and supports you and helps put that bit of push on your abs to help keep them closer together. After, it can be used as a hip wrap to help restore your pre-baby shape more quickly. That's a win win for me! I used the 2-in-1 Bandit daily. It helped ease back pain and helped lift baby off my bladder a bit so I didn't have to pee every 5 seconds.

I knew when I started looking on Pinterest for maternity outfits that I wanted to get some formfitting dresses, but of course the problem (even before pregnancy) is not letting your undergarments show. During pregnancy comfort is everything so I loved Thighs Disguise. I've never needed to use spanx before, but from what I've seen these are basically spanx for pregnancy, and oh my goodness are they comfortable. This maternity shapewear lifts your belly and smoothes your tummy, thighs and tush. Like the Flawless Belly these also use "WonderWeave" material to keep lotions and creams where they're supposed to be. It grows with your belly, creates a smooth silhouette, and can be worn as underwear (hallelujah)!

This last Belly Bandit item I didn't use until after Claire was born: B.F.F. Belly Wrap.

BFF actually stands for body formulated fit (but you'll probably consider it your bff). This wrap helps your body get back to it's pre-pregnancy shape more quickly and compresses areas that your body normally can't on its own. It shrinks with you as you apply it and applies gentle pressure and compression to your abdomen and uterus to help shrink your uterus internally and tighten your lower belly back up. I started wearing mine in the hospital the day after Claire was born. I probably would have put it on the day she was born, but she came 2 weeks early and I hadn't ordered it yet, so when I was in labor I ordered it and did next day shipping to get to me as fast as possible. When I tried to put it on the first time I could hardly close it (I had to have Chris help me), which is what you want. You don't want to get it too big because it defeats the whole purpose of it shrinking with you and compressing your tummy. Belly Bandit has a sizing chart on their site that is very helpful when you go to buy, but when in doubt go smaller. I wore mine for about 6 weeks postpartum and I had it on pretty much all the time. You want to keep it on until the hormone Relaxin is out of your system which can take about 6-8 weeks.

I really liked all my Belly Bandit products and will definitely use them again whenever it's time for pregnancy round 2.