Body after pregnancy

[Mickey23]

Hi, I'm 35 weeks pregnant and have a lot of big stretch marks over my belly, mostly on the lower part of my belly... I just wondered if this meant that I will have a lot of loose skin after the baby is here, or will it tighten back up, but have scars everywhere? Please don't be cruel and say I'm being vain, I just want to prepare myself for what my body will look like afterwards as how it looks right now is really getting to me! Please let me know your experiences with this...

You’re not being vain!
No-one can really confidently tell you how you’ll recover after being pregnant. Everyone is different and it depends on lots of different factors.
If you have stretch marks, they aren’t going to go away but it’s not a given you’ll have a lot of loose skin. My belly skin pretty much went back to normal.

I think this is a really good question. I hadn't stopped to think about this part and then after I had my daughter I was very shocked. Be prepared for a belly that will still look pregnant for some tine and your skin will be loose but it does kinda tighten up over time and the stretch marks do fade. It's just part of us women making an actual person, it's got to stretch for that to happen but yes I won't lie it doesn't snap right back to normal after a week but just keep wearing your maternity pants as they'll be more comfy for you initially and all the running around after your new born and you'll soon be back to your normal self xx

For me personally I've not had a flat tum since my first son and the stretch marks have faded so I'm expecting the same this time. Everyone's different. Some of my friends shrunk back down straight away! Genetics plays some part in it. I know my body is pretty much like my mum's side of the family. Exercise and good diet can help x

The minute my babies have been out my stomach has gone, out of hospital in size 8 jeans so you might get lucky! I didn't get any stretch marks of my stomach, have a few on my thighs - not sure how long they've been there but they aren't very noticeable.

I am covered in stretch marks on my lower stomach, I'm 5 months pp.

I do have lose saggy stomach, I don't know if this was because I've had a C-Section?

I ate so healthily throughout my pregnancy, I had too much water and baby was 10lb. I gained 2st and lost it within 2 weeks, just the skin on my stomach sags though it's still fitting in my size 10s

I was devestated when I got stretch marks tab, I cried for days. I don't care if that sounds vain, my baby was much wanted but stretch marks aren't!!

That said, they look a lot fainter already and yes my stomach is "loose and wrinkly" but a lot better then I thought it was going to be!!

The stretch marks do fade in time, my stomach is riddled with them so they'll always be visible but I've learned to accept them. I never used to show my stomach much anyway and now they remind me that I somehow grew a 10lb chunk in there and how big my stomach grew and it amazes me

I had stretch marks all over my stomach and thighs. I continued to use bio oil after I gave birth, and over time they faded. It's not gone but they're very faint they it's not even noticeable in photos. I breastfed for 2 years and my weight dropped because of this (within months). I ended up a size 6, but was previously size 8 per pregnancy. After I stopped breastfeeding my body naturally gained the weight again back to a size 8 x