Hellobee Boards

@Goldengirl: Some stores make a maternity coat with an interior section that can be flipped upside down for baby wearing or taken out to be a regular coat. I think they call them 3-in-1 coats.

I could wear my normal coat through my winter pregnancy (Feb baby in NYC) it just kept fitting me somehow.

A friend used her dh's extra coat and that worked, not super stylish, but it got her by for a few weeks.

I bought a secondhand Gap maternity coat for my November baby, just in case. I figured I'd rather have it onhand than ha e to rush out and spend $$$ at the last minute. I figure if it doesn't work for the first month or so of baby wearing (and or accommodating a chest that is big from nursing) as well, I'll just resell it, no big deal.

I had a December baby in New England and did not need a maternity coat. Mostly I ran hot anyway and I got an oversized warm fleece best that I could zip
Over my belly, under my regular winter coats that didn't zip anymore. That worked pretty well for baby wearing too since the fleece was a little stretchy.

And yeah everyone loses the belly differently but you would probably be able to fit into your regular coats within a couple weeks as long as they aren't super fitted and structured. I wore mostly yoga pants, nursing tanks, and cardigans or zip up hoodies for the first few weeks.

I have 2 coats that somehow have fit mostly over my belly throughout my 3 pregnancies (one is a Mountain Hardware fleece, one is a Marmot down). I also bought, during my first pregnancy, a nicer heavier wool coat that is more of a "swing" style, so I can just belt it above the bump when pregnant...but it's still cute belted/buttoned normally when not pregnant too.

I've always lost the baby belly fairly early/easily, and even if I'm carrying a bit of extra pudge, my regular coats have always fit fine once the baby is out.

I have a maternity/babywearing coat. I've had three January babies in Toronto. I didn't actually need it in my third pregnancy because the weather was mild enough before her delivery but I used it a lot immediately after she was born.
The coat extenders are great, there are a lot more now than there were when I was pregnant with my first. Makemybellyfit, Kokoala

I would skip the maternity jacket! You can probably get by just fine wearing your regular jacket unzipped/buttoned. I don't thing the cost would be worth it since you'd only need it for a couple of weeks.

I had an early November baby last year in Michigan and it was 70 degrees the day we left the hospital. I didn't need a coat at all. My plan was to wear one of DH's if necessary and I did buy a cheap fleece from the Columbia outlet in a size bigger as well.

I was due in Dec last time, and Jan this time, and did not and will not use a maternity jacket. If it was cold I'd just wear my normal jacket unzipped and add a scarf or something. I live in the suburbs so I normally am not really walking far distances outdoors anyway.