What kind of maternity jeans do/did you prefer when pregnant? Low-rise, full panel, semi-panel, etc

I'm 12 1/2 weeks along, and I just bought maternity pants for the first time yesterday from Old Navy. I got a pair of maternity corduroys, low-rise/elastic-waist with BELT LOOPS. They were falling off without a belt on, but with a belt on, they're stay up just fine! The full panel jeans I got are very baggy around the belly, but with all your comments and praises for the full panel, I think I'll keep them.

I love the pants I have with the panel, they're the only ones that stay up. The ones that are low rise (I foolishly bought two pairs early on!!) are the ones I hate to wear and spend all day yanking back up. Stick with the panel!

I liked the low rise with my first pregnancy, but my son was posterior facing, and I read an article saying that the low rise jeans can cause baby to turn backward. So, this time around, I'm rocking the full panel! They're not as bad as I thought, actually. They seem to stay up better than the low rise did.

I wore a small panel during my whole pregnancy and found them very comfortable. So what if you have to pul them up once or twice. Remember that it will be summer here during your 3rd tremester and full panel may be too hot. Also here is important point that you may want to consider. After you deliver your baby you will continue to look pregnant for quite some time. Yep, don't fool yourself that you will not. And full panel jeans will look quite out of place. I remember I wore my low panel jeans for about 4 months after the baby, that was the only pants I could fit my a** in. Wait, hold on, I got pregnant again after that, otherwise I would probably continue to wear them even longer without being pregnant.
Natalja

I have two pairs, one with a blue band that goes just below your belly button, and I HATE them and wore them like twice. They put sooo much pressure on my belly (and yes, they're the right size) that it was just too uncomfortable, and they felt slipping down. I also have a pair of Motherhood Maternity's secret belly panel ones, and I LOVE those. They're way comfy and the panel is super thin. However, they do always feel like they're slipping down, but I've yet to wear a pair of pants since I've been pregnant that haven't slid off my bump! Other then that I live in sweats when I'm in the house and I still have ONE pair of super stretch jeans in a larger size that fit me really well, and that's usually what I wear. I hate maternity clothes, I've bought 4 things, the 2 pairs of jeans and 2 tank tops. They're just not as comfy as my normal clothes, so I suffer with pulling my old clothes OVER my bump and hiking up my pants because they all slide off a sloped bump. lol

I actually hate Old Navy Maternity jeans...they were the worst of all I've owned. My favorite is the secret belly full panel from Motherhood...it's soo comfy and I'm actually still wearing them now that the baby is here. The low rise ones will actually start to dig into your waist and they get difficult to keep up. The mid panel ones tend to leave marks on your belly and can get painful as you grow, plus you can see those through your shirt.

I had 1 pair of maternity jeans and 1 pair work pants that I wore my whole pregnancy. I didn't like the feel of anything on my tummy so they were both low-rise pants. The other times I wore leggings, and I still kept them below my tummy instead of stretching them over my big belly.
I have big hips though, so I had no problem keeping them up.

I actually liked the lowrise kind that the elastic was under the belly. I got some shorts from Target and a couple of pairs from motherhood maternity and loved them all the way through. Basically they helped me feel supported and didn't feel like they were falling down.

I'm with Kristine, the Gap ones with the small band were the BEST! I wore them constantly and they were fabulous after the baby was born too because they just don't look like maternity jeans at all. I hated the Motherhood secret belly ones for the same reason everyone else mentioned - the band just kept slipping down, which then made it feel like my pants were going to fall off since there was nothing else to hold them up!

Full belly all the way. I have 2 pairs of adjustable from ON and I only wore them maybe 3 times because they wouldn't stay up. I was showing crack all the time and they were awful. Now they wouldn't even begin to fit.

I have a full belly pair from ON, but the top of the waist band has started to dig a bit and itch. You can also see the line under shirts. Keep in mind, right now I'm measuring close to 30 weeks. The ones from Motherhood Maternity are awesome, but they do feel like they're falling down a lot. I'm wearing my only pair right now. I'm hoping to make it until hotter weather with only 2 pairs of jeans and 2 pairs of cords since I know I won't want to wear them when I'm HUGE and hot all the time. Target used to have some comfy full panel ones too. I bought a black dress pant pair there while pregnant with Adia. They were by far the most comfortable pair ever. I should probably get them out of the closet, now that I'm thinking about it.

I personally love the Motherhood Maternity jeans. they are super comfortable (more so than the Old Navy jeans). they do fall down a little & maybe it is because i am only 20 weeks but i love the comfort of them (and the design is updated). i can't stand the low rise pants--i am wearing a pair from Gap right now & i feel that everything is hanging out (and grossing my co-workers out!).

I bought 2 pairs of secret panel jeans in the 2nd trimester and wear them almost everyday. I feel nice and "tucked" in. For a long time into my pregnancy people said, " I can't believe you're still in your old jeans!" LOL

I had half panel and they flipped down everytime I sat down. I was constantly yanking them up, and they made a line that showed through my shirts. Blech.

I agree with everyone else who wrote low rise - low band with low rise ideally, but not the full belly band - it's uncomfortable and doesn't stay up!

I, too, thought I might like the low-rise mat jeans from Old Navy. I couldn't have been more wrong. I resisted the full-panel until the very end and was soooo sorry I didn't make the switch earlier. Those low-rise bands start simply falling down whenever you bend or sit as soon as you're like 18 weeks or so . . .

Motherhood sells a stretchy, full-panel (secret something?) that is the most comfortable thing I owned. I spent $40 on one pair of those jeans and wore them for the entire last two months of my pregnancy (and the following month). In fact, I might pull them out now - they are THAT comfortable. And the panel is so smooth you can't see it under your clothes PLUS it hides your gross outie :)

Elastic waistband low rise, so that the elastic bit sits under your bump is the only kind I like, now that I'm in my 3rd Tri. The ones which come up and over the bump made me really itchy and feel like the top bit is 'digging in' to my belly, even if its loose. Having said that, stretchy sweatpants, or pyjama pants are really the only totally comfy option!!

I had a pair like those "low rise" ones from Target's Liz Lange line for the first half of my pregnancy, but as the bump got bigger, the little elastic band kept flipping down, causing my pants to slip. Bugged the crap out of me. Plus, even though they were nice and stretchy, eventually everything else got bigger too and they stopped fitting so well. I am currently sporting a pair of the Motherhood secret fit belly style. The only complaints I have about them is that the jean material doesn't come up far enough on my butt to make me feel like it's covered (even though the panel starts where the jean stops), and the belly panel feels more like tights than a soft cotton panel, so my shirt catches and rubs on it all the time and it is kind of itchy. If your bump is sitting high, I'd say get a pair of those low rise kind, as it should last you a lot longer than you think. If you're like me and just ginormous all over, the full belly panel ones are the way to go. Just be sure you try them on before you buy them! :)

A hard topic! I had a pair of those Motherhood maternity jeans only because they were "cuter" and more normal looking. They always felt like they were falling down. My favorite pair was from Old Navy had just had an elastic waistband. I see now they were called the low rise. My only complaint about them is that my legs are reeeeealllly long and they didn't come in longer lengths. I haven't tried GAP, but ON worked (it was also summer and I LIVED in their maternity gaucho pants and skirts).

I like polyester of course!

I was going to type essentially EXACTLY what kristine just wrote. Gap maternity were the only ones that mostly stayed up...I did like my Target "faux Juicy Couture" sweats too...to say that I liked or preferred any maternity pants would be a stretch (pun!) but those seemed to work out best. And my two girls are 18 months apart so I spent a LOT of time in them. :)

Gap with the small band all the way baby! I tried them ALL. I still wear these...they are THAT comfortable. And if you're laughing, thinking, I'd never wear them if I don't have to...just wait! :)

I found that the low rise ones (the ones with a stretchy waistband) always felt like they were falling down. I was constantly hiking my pants up! Same with the secret belly fit jeans from Motherhood. I hated those even more than the low rise jeans - the belly panel would slip down. I loved full belly ones, and a pair I had from old navy that had an actual waistband with a button and everything and an adjustable waist - a piece of elastic that had holes along it that you buttoned to make it tighter or looser. That's a bad explanation, but they were some great jeans! I wore them through two pregnancies! Good luck finding some!