Stretch mark support

[Hezzy]

I could use some reassurance. I didn't expect to feel so bad about getting stretch marks. DP thinks I'm being stupid, and even tells me they're beautiful. But they're huge and red and ugly and everywhere and they itch like crazy sometimes.

I know that on some level I should be proud of them, and that they are a sign of this new part of my life, from which there is no going back. But I hate them and miss my old skin. Someone tell me they will fade and be no big deal. Or that there's something I could be doing. Or that at least I'm not the only one.

I recognize that I'm being a big baby.

[Curlita]

They will fade and become pale and silvery and not nearly as noticeable. They look their worst right now.

Not knowing your age or your relative level of cuteness, my theory is that the younger and cuter you are, the harder it is to cope with the changes that pregnancy can cause your body. I'm 36 and I think it has been easier for me to deal with drooping and stretching and other strange changes than many women because I'm already starting to see age-related changes... and I've always been sort of droopy and stretchy anyway.

[oskie]

I got them for the first time going through puberty (my hips popped out literally overnight!) and they did fade somewhat.

I just tell myself that when Playboy calls me to sit for some centerfold pictures, they'll just have to airbrush a little more.

[Valerieg]

Well, I didn't get any stretchmarks with DD, but in the last few days I've developed a few around my belly button.

Stretch marks DO fade (as evidenced by my two, very large, sisters- one of which had gastric bypass and now you can't tell where the marks were).

I've resigned myself to the fact that I will no longer wear a bikini, but not because of the stretch marks. Last summer I couldn't wear one anyway because DD insisted on unhooking it and exposing me!!! They don't sell practical bikinis anywhere anymore. So between just having kids and now these stretch marks, the bikinis will all be retired!

[marisa]

I'm a stretch mark mess. I got new ones with each pregnancy. No, I'm not proud of them and I don't love them. I miss my skin from before. :

So, I don't think you're being a big baby.

[Undercover Hippie]

I got them on my hips and boobs during puberty, so maybe that made it easier when they showed up on my tummy. I still kind of hoped I wouldn't get them though so I know how you feel. It is a big change to get used to!

They are worst in the beginning when they are so red... after that they do fade and become silvery. The texture never is quite like normal skin though. In between PGs they are rippled silver marks that make my tummy look wrinkly. Then when they stretch out again with subsequent PGs, they are not as noticeable as the first time.

The thing is, my kids love my stretch marks. They both think it is cool to hear about how they made those marks when they grew in me. My daughter loves to cuddle with my tummy and talk about my "stripes." I personally view them as a badge of honor, like getting a tattoo to commemorate something important that happened in my life. I really never wish for smooth, stretch-mark free skin anymore... they are part of me and part of the gift I've been given...

Another interesting thing is that not all stretch marks are the same. I have big wide ones, but my friend has tiny thin ones. The patterns of them are unique for each woman and kind of tell a story... like I can tell you that the ones on the top of my right side are from my DS, but the ones on the top of my left side are from my DD. They each laid in a different spot and left different marks!

One site I love is "The Shape of a Mother" because you can see all the different mama bodies out there, from new to old, and read how everyone feels about their marks and their bodies. You'll notice that even if you don't get stretchmarks, your tummy and belly button are never quite the same!

[monocyte]

This may sound really weird, but, I kind of like them - it took me a while to get to this mental place, but...I got a few late in DS preg, and it really bothered me. They did fade, but were always somewhat visible to me. After TTC and several mc's later, all that remained to remind me of the preg I did have was the great little man I have - but I so longed to feel a baby within. I realized I did have a reminder of him being inside, and it was the stretch marks...

This time around, I really don't care about them. Mine are light, and most people can't notice them, but of course they always look worse to the beholder.

mama.

[pixiesmommy]

I liked mine from Pixie too, after they were faded. They look kind of silver and I thought that was neat. I'm a "scar person" though- I tend to ask people where they got their scars because I love to hear about people's pasts... and I look at them as a very significant part of my past.

Having said that, the ones I have right now are red and gray and ugly with veins popping out and I won't be sad to see them fade! I'm disappointed that I have them on my calves right now as well and hope they fade into silver and I won't continue to look vein-y as time goes on.

[Hezzy]

Thanks ladies. It's nice to just talk about it, hear other people's experience of them, even if it's that they're sad like me. The good news right now is that I can't see them without looking in the mirror - they're all under the horizon. So I can pretend I still have smooth skin. As soon as this baby comes, though, they're going to be visible to me.

Originally Posted by Curlita

Not knowing your age or your relative level of cuteness, my theory is that the younger and cuter you are, the harder it is to cope with the changes that pregnancy can cause your body.

Well, I'm 34, so I wish I was better equipped to handle this. I can't speak to my cuteness, but it is hard I think, to let go of this image of oneself as, I don't know, young and carefree or something. Maybe that's more of it than the actual marks.

Originally Posted by oskie

I got them for the first time going through puberty (my hips popped out literally overnight!) and they did fade somewhat.

I just tell myself that when Playboy calls me to sit for some centerfold pictures, they'll just have to airbrush a little more.

I do have some on my hips from puberty as well, and on the backs of my thighs. I try to remind myself that those have never really bothered me, or kept me from wearing a bikini or whatever. Maybe when these fade a bit and I get back in shape, I'll find a new relationship to them. It's good to know that they look their worst now, and will only get better.

[marisa]

The marks wouldn't bother me so much if my belly skin stayed taut and perky afterwards, but now I have a saggy, shrively paunch that droops over my underwear. So even when I lose weight and get back down to the 130s - this stretchmarked flap is here to stay unless I get a tuck...which isn't going to happen. It's frustrating because for like a year postpartum I have people asking me when I'm due. :

[brooklyn_warbler]

Originally Posted by Hezzy

Well, I'm 34, so I wish I was better equipped to handle this. I can't speak to my cuteness, but it is hard I think, to let go of this image of oneself as, I don't know, young and carefree or something. Maybe that's more of it than the actual marks.

i can vouch for heather's cuteness!

[xelakann]

For my situation, I am suffering from "be careful what you wish for"... I was really hoping I wouldn't get them on my belly... and so far I haven't ... however I have all over my breast, hips, thigh and even around my knee area (huh?!)... I haven't put on a lot of pg weight, about 35-40 lbs with most of that recently and in the form of water (lots of bloating lately).

I now wish I had them on my belly versus all over my legs and hips. I could give up bikini bathing suits and mid-drift showing tops... but shorts and skirts and even regular bathing suits will not mask my stretch marks.

It's good do know they will fade... but they do depress me a bit.:

[Grace24]

I finally had some show up a few weeks ago, and now they're big and red and angry! On my hips, and now... get this... on my KNEES! Why?

But yes, they will fade and will never look as angry as they do now.

And no you're not being a baby. It's very difficult to see the changes that happen to your body... and even worse when you want to vent and all you get from people is, "Well isn't it worth it?" Heck yeah, but does that mean I have to like it? !!

[GinaRae]

You're taking this as badly as I took selling my car to buy my first minivan

After a while, you grow into yourself and they fade (literally and figuratively).

And I LOVED my minivan, by the way.

[chrysalis]

you mamas are gonna hate me for this but i don't have any from megh or this pg either...why IS that, that some mamas don't get these??? what's up w/ that? not that i'm not happy i don't have them...i'd probably be a wreck about them if i did. hmmmmmmm. am i more elastic or something?::