Stretch marks - is there anything you can do to prevent and/ or cure them?

[justiner]

Hi all,
Am approaching the depressing subject of stretchmarks for the forthcoming Mums on Pregnancy with a weary heart and a laddered belly. Anyone got any prevention, cure or cover up tips and if not can anyone tell me how to live with them?

If it's any consolation, men who put on weight and/or lose weight very quickly get stretch marks too.

I've got them. As I was never really one for showing my belly if at all possible beforehand, they don't really bother me. I've never had a nicely toned tummy, but if I had and the only thing stopping me from showing it off on holiday was my stretch marks, I would totally be upset by them.
I don't think there's anything you can do to prevent them or get rid of them sadly.

For me, it's not just the stretch marks themselves though, now that I am 10 weeks I can actually see how pale they are and as I have a tattoo that covers most of my belly you can barely see them anyway... It's the texture of the skin - soft and crumpled, like a scrunched up piece of linen. My belly button has folds in it. And... It looks worse the slimmer I am as the skin has nowhere to go! Even at my regular size 6/8 I have a crinkled up belly! I actually prefer the texture of it now, expanded, rounded and pregnant!