MacGyvering Pregnancy

My Dad taught me well. I've always been able to fanagle and jerry-rig things to work to make do as I'm not great at actual repairs of certain things. Duct tape, paperclips, rubberbands, you name it. I've used loads of everyday items to get things both at home and at work in psuedo-working order.

This "MacGyvering" (if this is an unfamiliar term to those not US, MacGyver was famous for using bubblegum, paperclips and string to make explosives and planes) has now extended into my pregnancy. Not so much in dealing with symptoms or disguising my burgeoning belly of bloat. More in the context of my wardrobe. Specifically, my pants.

It's been about 2 weeks since I could comfortably button my jeans or even wear my lounge pants across my belly. Until this past week, I've just made do with unbuttoning them when sitting down or at friend's and family's' places. This week, however, the waistline expansion makes this simple option far too obvious.

I've tried the hairband/rubberband trick from the button to the slot. Unfortunately, the gap isn't substantial enough for the band to stay on the button, making it even more obvious than just the protruding flaps. Hi there, you colorful rubber band!

I've gone so far as to purchase a belly band. I even wore it for one full work day. It takes wearing it "just so" as to not wiggle up and around to my belly, leaving my unbuttoned/unzipped fly exposed and my pants shifting their way south. I spent far too much time fixing and readjusting that thing. I think it will be a great option when I have more actual belly sticking out to keep it from wandering up.

So what's a girl to do at this point? I'm not wanting to buy lots of maternity wear, and especially not now when it less "baby" and more just bloating. Que the MacGyvering! This is what I've been rocking most days this week:

Excuse the poor quality. You know how phone pics can be.

That's right! A simple little carabiner! Not only does it nicely slip through the loop, but that little crimped part holds the button perfectly! Plus, I can just slide the button in and out of it like that of overalls. An even greater bonus is that it lays pretty flush with the waistband and there isn't this odd jutting under my shirt. I'm not sure how long this will last, but I'm going to ride it out for as long as I can! Feel free to steal this idea if you'd like.

Anyone else have any great "Wardrobe Wrangling" stories like this?