Pregnant Women's Clothing?

[Strand]

I cross posted this over on Rokslide, but remembered the Women Hunters forum here and wanted some more opinions. This is a long post, but bear with me. Has anyone here dealt with trying to find good base layers and insulating layers for a 6 month pregnant woman? My wife drew a mule deer tag this year that is a 6-8 year draw, and she'll be 6 months pregnant on season opener Nov 4th. She’s dead set on hunting, so we’re going for it and I’ll be her dedicated spotter/sherpa. We had a lengthy talk with her doctor, and she gave us the green light to hunt and shoot and all of that so long as I keep her off the steep/nasty stuff to avoid any falls. She won't be carrying a pack, and I'll have her using trekking poles the entire time. We'll be hunting the badlands in western ND, so the weather could be anything from wind chills of -50 (2014 season) to 60+ above zero and sunny (2015 season). I'm planning on freezing cold conditions, and going from there. Her measurements pre-pregnancy based on the First Lite measuring chart are: sleeve – 28.5”, bust – 35”, waist – 29”, hip – 38.5”, IS – 26”. Current measurements are: sleeve – 28.5”, bust – 37.5”, waist – 31”, hip – 38.5”. She’s 5’2”, about 120 lbs pre-pregnancy. She has a few good mountain hardwear fleeces, and some good Columbia snow pants she’s used snowmobiling so I think we’re set there. I’m mainly looking for good quality merino baselayers, good puffy jacket, and possibly some good cold weather pants with some stretch built in. The pants are probably a long shot, and we might wind up with whatever we can find to fit her last minute. I’d like to find something like the Kuiu Guide pants with the fleece liner and weather resistant outer. Our best guess, her waist will be growing another 4-6” in the next 4 weeks (or more, this is baby #2 and carrying lower). A few specific questions now:
Do the women’s First Lite pieces have any extra length and stretch to accommodate a little extra growth? Mainly looking at the lupine crew, artemis hoody, and larkspur bottoms.
Can anyone recommend a puffy with some extra room? I might try a men’s small on her if the measurements are right. All of the women’s puffy’s I see on the market now have a form fitting look that don’t seem very accommodating for a baby bump. The Lost Parka from Kifaru seems like it actually has some extra room based on pictures…any thoughts on this? Would it swallow her up in the shoulders and sleeve length?
Any other base layer brands I should be looking at? I’m leaning towards merino because that’s what has worked well for me. She runs cold and really doesn’t like being cold, so that’s my challenge to overcome right now. I don’t mind carrying some extra weight to keep her comfy on longer glassing sits. I’ve been looking at a woobie/doobie for her, is the doobie worth the extra $40/11 oz weight penalty?
Any other ideas? I’m all ears.

 

[wolfpup]

Here is what my wife recommends ( also 6 months pregnant). Use the normal pants she would always use or slightly bigger if necessary and take a hair band and loop through the button hole and the other end loop over the button. This gives flexibility and breathing room .. Then get a "belly band" (they sell these everywhere ) to put over that setup. For the tops she said you just get a bigger size of use yours and tie the backs so she is not swimming. Not sure if this is helpful but I that's what worked for us. Good luck!

 

[Gerald Martin]

Good luck to you and your wife. My wife drew a Missouri Breaks bull permit when she was pregnant with our second to youngest. She was 7 months along when the season opened. Thankfully she killed a nice bull on opening day.