Belly bands

[Pecas282]

I am looking to purchase maternity support wear. I figure certain belly bands can lift the twins up and lesson the risk for a weakened cervix and pelvic pain. Does anyone know the best ones? ( I am only 8 weeks but I live in South America. I want to make the purchase so my friends can bring them over here.)

[hannahthompson]

You can try paige jeans.Paige is famous for making jeans with amazing fit. So pg-fusionists rejoiced when their maternity line debuted. You get the same 10-pounds-thinner look of the original, except for the soft nylon mid-belly panel.

[mommom2]

Oh, your welcome :)  I got your note and what I did during summer was wear t-shirt type shirts and v-neck, sleeveless shirts. I have a few short sleeved dresses that work with it. But the cute spaghetti strap one is a definate no-no! Thin strapped tank tops were out too, but the wider strapped ribbed tanks weren't too terrible if I wasn't going anywhere too nice!  Good luck!

[Pecas282]

Thank you so much! Im going to look this up now. The hell with fashion, I want to keep these babies safe and not feel too terrible in the process. But jeeze...I am in South America and will be in the midst of summer in my third trimester. Oh well! Ill have my mother bring it when she comes from the states. Thanks again!

[mommom2]

I'm glad I got on here today and saw this, I am 32 weeks pregnant with twins, at about 15 weeks I started having a lot of pulled muscles and ligaments and cramping so my midwife recommended the "Baby Hugger" to me. The Baby Hugger works differently than the belly bands and actually does lift the babies up. It's made to help with keeping the babies in longer, back pain, ligament stretching, with bladder inconsistancy post pardum, other things too I just can't think of it right now, just look it up.  I bought mine new on ebay, they're about $55 with shipping and if you have any problems with it, there's a tag on the inside of it, you just call the number and they replace it for free, no questions asked (except for what went wrong with it!)  I wear mine from the time I get up from the time I go to bed. It is a pain in the butt sometimes!  You can't wear just anything with it, it does come with extra straps to help pull it off your neck if you have a shirt with a more open neckline. This is how it looks, I call it "the contraption":  think of a big pair of granny panties that almost covers your whole belly with a wide soft velcro strip down the front . Next you have these strong, wide straps, they start out as one and velcro to the top of the granny panties, then they split so you have a strap over each shoulder, then you criss cross the straps at your lower back and bring them underneath your belly.  There's also another strap that you can use for underneath your belly for later in pregnancy for extra support, it just goes from side to side, it doesn't wrap around you.  So now.... you see why I call it "the contraption"!  ha ha!  It DOES work, absolutely, if I go without it I pay the price, as soon as I put it on, I feel better!  If we're just going out to dinner with no other stops, I don't wear it so that I can wear a nicer shirt, because where the straps velcro to the granny panties, it does show through shirts and because it "picks up" on the panties you really don't have a definition between boobs and belly either so the shirts that tie in the back don't really work.
Oh, and there's a velcro strap at your crotch for bathroom time, and yes I wear underwear underneath it.  They do have a type of pregnancy support that you're supposed to use their panties as your panties but that's not what I have.  It's a pain sometimes, but you do kind of get used to it and it does help - ALOT! I don't know how big you are but I'm normally 5'7" and 104 pounds.  I didn't know what size to get since I knew I would get huge with twins so I went with a medium and because of the design of it I'm glad I went with the medium, it works even if the panties were a little big in the beginning it was no big deal, they're definately not big anymore!
And my midwife did not suggest the regular belly bands that you can pick up in stores, she said definately check out the Baby Hugger.  
I hope this helps!  Any other questions, just ask me!
Good luck with your little ones!!!

[Pecas282]

Actually there is a new kind that is not the typical belly band that let's you wear smaller pants longer  or simply gives you added support like the ones you mentioned at Target. Granted the ones I'm talking about  may not help an incompetent cervix, but at the very least I've heard of many women who these bands have helped their pelvic and back pain tremendously. And since women with cervix problems are given bed rest and are told to lay on their sides so the gravity doesn't add more stress to their pelvic region, I would say that certain belly bands with straps couldn't hurt the situation.  (bellyband by Cabea for instance). I was just looking to see which of these types are the most comfortable.

[nj_mom]

Belly bands have absolutely no role in decreasing the risk of a weakened cervix or pelvic pain. That being said, Target sells belly bands that work nicely and help decrease discomfort.

If you have been diagnosed with an incompentent cervix, there are several medical interventions that may be recommended by your doctor (although some are controversial), including a cervical cerclage, injections of 17p and/or bed rest.

If you are concerned about retaining fluid and swelling during pregnancy, support hose works way better than a belly band and may enable you to be on your feet longer and delay any prescribed bed rest. Not very sexy, but definitely effective!

Otherwise...twins are high risk, and unfortunately, belly bands don't resolve that (otherwise, they'd be flying off the shelves and the statistics for multiple gestation and pregnancy loss would be a lot lower). But I'm sure you'll be fine! Best of luck to you for a healthy and happy pregnancy!!