I wanna talk stretch marks...

[Strong Mama]

Yes, I should be inquiring about nutrition,births and all that jazz but lets face it: Im vain.
I have had two babes, both weighing over 8 pounds and did not get one stretch mark(please dont hate lol)

so I am wondering if I am going to get them with this twin pregnancy? Has anyone not had stretch marks before and got them from their twin pregnancy?? I know my skin is pretty strechable, i weighed 100 pounds before both pregnancies and gained 40 plus pounds with both with not one mark to show for it, but am wondering if this is going to be different since its twins....im hanging on for hope?

[MamaChicken]

I didn't get them in either of my first pg. The first I gained 65 lbs with a 5.5 lb baby. I gained 50 lbs with the twins and had two 6.5 lb-ers. No stretch marks!

[gmvh]

None here, either, with about 75 lb gain.

[Nanasi]

I was stretch mark free until week 34 or 35, when I was measuring more than 50 inches around my waist and had a 42-inch fundal height. Then whammo! I had new stretch marks by the hour. My skin just couldn't take any more stretching (I had a HUGE placenta and 15.5 lbs of baby).

My little guys are my only kids, so I don't have any other pregnancies to compare. But, my mom had a 9lb10oz baby and a 11lb4oz baby with no stretch marks. I think if I'd been pregnant with one, I would have made it without any stretch marks, too. Alas.

But, on a brighter note, my belly doesn't look nearly as horrible as I imagined it would. Seven months later, it's not great, but it's not terrible either. I put emu oil on it every night for the first four months and the skin is looking pretty good. I don't have what you'd call twin skin. My sister-in-law had twins 12 years ago and she said her stretch marks have disappeared entirely. You never know!

[Avocado]

No stretch marks with my first 2 pregnancies. Zero. I gained 45 with the 1st (7 lb 14 oz baby)and 65 with the 2nd (9 lb 5 oz baby), I'm normally 120 lbs, 5'9" and bounced right back both times. With the twins, I gained 75 (6 lb, 5 oz. and 6 lb. 11 oz babies)and my stomach was covered in stretch marks and destroyed! It looks like an elephants ass. It is wrinkly and gross, wtf? I see a tummy tuck in my future Good luck!

[hergrace]

I got a few stretch marks with my singleton and got a massive belly of stretch wrinkles carrying triplets to 33 weeks.

To me, the most interesting thing is how they make me feel. Before my first pregnancy, I always thought I would wear stretch marks as a badge of pride in what my body could accomplish. That didn't happen at all with my singleton. I just hated them. Now, though, I see the saggy mess the triplets left and I am in awe that my body carried three babies for as long as it did.

[~Adorkable~]

From what i understand and have read they are way more a result of genes rather than size. Some get them when they gain 10 pounds, others don't when they gain 70.

[mauri456]

I'm glad you asked! I'm 27 weeks so far and have been wondering this too. With my daughter I did not get any although she wasn't huge (6 10)

So far I don't have any.... but I do check every day.

It is reassuring to hear that some did not get any.... I do expect I will likely get some, but can hold onto a glimmer of hope that maybe I will be lucky!!

[littlest birds]

I have a few barely noticeably stretch marks, my first baby was 10 lbs and the twins were under 11lbs together born at 35wks. So they were little and I might not count in the group.

I am not sure when I got the stretch marks, I have had fourth child as well, and they are so hard to even see I might have missed them at any time. My sister got massive stretchmarks with her first--a singleton-- and my mom has lots as well so IDK. Neither had twins and all of their babes were smaller than our first.

Hard telling.

[lindsay t]

i am holding out hope as well. i am almost 26 wk and none yet but who knows. better to have some stretch marks than to have early twins in the nicu, right?

[herdingkittens]

Originally Posted by hergrace

To me, the most interesting thing is how they make me feel. Before my first pregnancy, I always thought I would wear stretch marks as a badge of pride in what my body could accomplish. That didn't happen at all with my singleton. I just hated them. Now, though, I see the saggy mess the triplets left and I am in awe that my body carried three babies for as long as it did.

I have to wholly agree! I did not get them with my singletons, but got a few with the twins - not that much, but they do not bother me one bit. Kindof a sweet reminder of that pregnancy, which was so special.

[Llyra]

I get them---- bad. With my singleton, I didn't get belly marks, but I got them all over my backside and my inner thighs. I gained a lot with her, though-- more than 60 pounds-- although I lost it very slowly afterwards.

With the twins-- forget it. All bets were off. My stretch marks even have stretch marks, and my belly skin never really retreated back to its former size, either, so I have loose folds of skin that hang. The skin in my inner thighs and groin is also all loose and creased. I didn't even gain that much with them, either-- only 45 pounds. I did lose weight very rapidly afterwards, though, because I was so sick after they were born-- I dropped 60 pounds in two months, more than I'd gained even. So obviously that must have a lot to do with it.

I agree that genetic factors must play a huge role in this. I know a mama of triplets who went to 37 weeks, and she has none at all. But my mom only had singletons, in the days when smoking during pregnancy was encouraged as a way to avoid gaining too much weight. She only gained about 15 pounds with each of us, and still got loads of stretch marks. All the women in my family seem prone to them.

[dividedsky]

i had mine early also, at 32 weeks, so take it for what you will, but i barely have any stretch marks. a couple of barely-visible, very pale ones on my stomach that you really have to look for to see. and the skin on my stomach is fine, though now i seem to carry a bit of weight there whereas before the twins it was pretty flat. but it's really not bad at all. i gained 50lbs and am now 5lbs over what i was before i had my boys (18mos later).

[RSG]

I didn't get them until the very end, probably around 35 weeks - then look out! didn't get any with my first singleton, and my mom didn't get any either. I was pretty bummed, they also hurt a lot! But now, they are looking okay. I'm using some mederma about every other day and am hoping they'll fade. I'm a two-piece bathing suit kind of lady; but not this year. I'm still about 12 pounds more than I want to be, it'll be interesting to see what things look like when I'm back to my normal weight.

[Marisgirl]

Originally Posted by •Adorkable•

From what i understand and have read they are way more a result of genes rather than size. Some get them when they gain 10 pounds, others don't when they gain 70.

This is what I have heard also. I have two children and didn't get any at all. With my first child I gained 80 pounds - YIKES - and with my second I lost weight but was ALL belly. So far, I don't see any with the twins either. I'm a bit vain, well a whole lot of vain, so I'm crossing my fingers on not getting them either. However, if I do, I guess I will just wear them as a badge of motherhood like I do my hernia incision and big(ger) butt.

[Strong Mama]

Thanks so much for your replies...some hopeful, some...not so much lol! I guess I will just have to weight(haha) and see what happens...until then I am religiously rubbing bio oil.....just in case.

[poppan]

I agree it's more about the genetics than size. My mom has stretch marks (not angry red ones, but silvery ones) and I have the same. I didn't even go to full term with my twins--just 34.5 weeks. They weighed in at 5#4 and 5#7 and I had gained just over 50 pounds (I was 140# to start). My stretch marks didn't appear until around the 33rd week and I was actually losing weight by then from being on hospital bedrest. Bam they just all appeared overnight like a map on my belly, and I have more on one side than the other. DD was on the side with more--she was wigglier and moved around more than her brother. I had PUPPS too (the itchy thing--it was horrible) I don't know if that and the dry hospital air contributed. I tend to think it was just my lot in life with my genes

[midwestmom]

Not a one. I had two singles and then term twins. Not a stretchmark in sight. I gained a ton too....over 60 lbs with all of the extra fluid from pre-e.

[OGirlieMama]

Only made it to 29 weeks, about 40 pounds gained, and no stretch marks. Pretty sure it's all about genetics, as my Mom didn't have any with me or my brother. I'd probably have traded a roadmap of stretchmarks for the NICU time, but I suppose since I didn't have a choice in the matter, I guess I'm glad I didn't end up with both. :-/

[medicinemansgirl]

After 6 single pregnancies and 1 full term twin pregnancy I don't have 1 stretch mark. I don't figure I'll show up with any this time around either since it's already been stretched to full term twin capacity once before and they didn't show up. Varicose veins are, on the other hand, a whole different story. I never had one until my twin pregnancy and have had them with every pregnancy since. THey always disappear after birth but during pregnancy they look horrific. Thankfully they are only bad on the back of my right leg and minimally from my knee to my ankle on my right leg but it still is enough to avoid shorts. My sister, on the other hand, who has never had a set of twins, has varicose veins also and her's do not ever go away even after birth. And they are scarier than mine!! It looks like a tumor mass sitting on her ankle. But she doesn't have any stretch marks either after 9 single pregnancies for her so I'm thinking it's just all genetic...stretch marks and veins alike.

DEspite the lack of stretch marks I do have the "twin skin" left to prove I definitely carried twins to 40 wks. I have gotten back down to my goal weight after each pregnancy even after twins and teh ones after ut the skin thing just never goes away. I can do 200 situps a day and it just doesn't even phase it. It's just sheer skin. It's kind of depressing to me but my husband loves it and says it's a badge of honor. He's finally convinced me he really is telling the truth! LOL!