Stretch marks

[lily91]

I'm nearly 16 weeks and I'm pretty sure I'm already starting to get tiny stretch marks? When did everyone else get stretch marks? What did they do to help them? I know I'm probably sounding really selfish worrying about this as all I should want is a happy healthy baby, but my body is changing before my eyes so quickly and as selfish as it may seem I'm really struggling to deal with it?! Please no nastiness - I'm already feeling guilty enough for feeling this way

Mine came out awful all of a sudden but they do fade. Hardly notice them now and I've had 2 children

Didnt have one till 27 weeks and then they appeared! They're mainly underneath in the middle third of my bump and quite red at the bottom but not so much at the top. I've now got more coming out of my belly button coming upwards.

I have bio oiled twice daily since j found out and have baby oil in the bath. They're still here! However I don't hate them at all; I'm growing a person so it was always going to stretch.

Moisturise daily to calm their appearance but just remember they will fade. I think they're inevitable for most women, you're lucky if you don't get any. I've embraced mine and feel proud of what my body has done. I'm 39 weeks now and I only had a couple at 27 and have more now, but just one of those things.

I had a plethora of stretchmarks in my early 20s (I went from a skinny teen to a curvy adult) they were on my hips, thighs, stomach, even my upper arms... at the time I hated them. But over the course of years they just turned into thin silvery lines, hardly noticeable.

When I was about 20 weeks pregnant my old stretchmarks seemed to become more visible again and at 28 weeks new ones started to appear. I now have four or five new ones, either side of my belly. Though I don't love them, I accept them as part and parcel of my body stretching to accommodate a new life - and know from experience that they will fade into my skin until they are all but invisible.

I'm using Neal's Yard Mother's Balm (www.nealsyardremedies.com/mother-and-baby/mother-and-baby-care/1663.html#start=3) I have no idea if it's doing any good (I only started once the new marks appeared) - but it feels nice, and it's nice to think I'm doing something to help.

No need to feel guilty, it's a big change, and I hate to say it but there is more to come so try to go easy on yourself. It is a very strange time, and it's totally understandable that you might feel like your body is not your own right now and struggle to keep track of the changes. It think it will get easier when you get some of the nicer side-effects too, I'm guessing you haven't felt the baby move just yet?

I had DTs first time 'round and got big very quickly so for me I got quite a few stretchmarks on my hips and breasts between 12 and 20 weeks, it then calmed down a bit until they started popping out on my belly after 30 weeks.

This time (1 baby due in December) the existing ones have grown a bit more obvious again but I don't think I have any new ones yet.

I didn't notice any stretch marks in my first pregnancy until I got to the end. After I gave birth is when I saw them all. I used bio-oil and palmer's cocoa butter everyday, twice a day. Stretch marks are now unnoticable, faint silver lines, when they were angry red/purple things for a few months after birth! I'm 17 weeks and so far it seems to be the same.

If you are using any of the stretch mark cream or oils make sure to use it on your thighs, bum, boobs and back as well. I sometimes forgot about those places when I was pregnant.

Stretch marks are a genetic lottery rather than something you can help with lotions or oils (although they feel nice which is also important). Really just drink lots of water and hope for the best.

I didn't get a lot with DS1 and they're barely visible when not pregnant.

21 weeks with twins so I'm massive and no stretch marks yet- I use bio oil twice daily and to be honest I'm just waiting for them to appear as I have stretch marked bum, hips and thighs from puberty so I know they are coming!

I think they're genetic. I did nothing to prevent them and didn't get them at all. Sorry, not much help. But they will fade I'm sure.

how much I learnt from my first pregnancy.... the day one you know that you are pregnant... start moisturizing your belly .. boobs and thigh area.. at least 2 times a day.... and that made a huge difference... it gives skin elasticity

My mum and sister have dark stretch marks...they didnt know/used the trick...but I managed to have just faded little tiny marks..

I used .. bio oil.. coconut oil ... sometimes.. just body lotion ... just keep skin hydrated

And yes dont scratch your belly because it darkens stretch marks..

hope it will help :)

Hi all,

I used nearly from a first month: morning: cocoa butter + apricot kernel oil and evening : coconut oil. I don’t have stretch marks.

You can’t prevent them but you can help the redness with various products

I've tried bio oil and all the other creams you can think of. Nothing can stop them I've found anyway. I got loads from my first but not many more with this pregnancy

I've had stretch marks since the age of 12 when I had a growth spurt. They're on my hips and the backs of my knees (I grew tall very quickly). So they aren't just a result of pregnancy and neither are they a signifier of middle age. Moisturiser can't prevent them as it doesn't penetrate to the lower layers of the skin. However they do eventually fade to be virtually invisible.

Is it perhaps more about the feeling that your body is being "ruined" and you don't want it to change? Or that you feel like a stranger in your own body? Becoming a mum is a transformative experience and stretch marks will be the least of the changes in your life. Perhaps the key is to work on accepting all of those changes and learning who you're becoming instead of focusing on who you used to be?

@user1498070168 this is wonderful advice, and I truly wish somebody had put it to me like this when I was younger and had my first child