[Koalamom]

I got a few stretch marks with my first pregnancy, and this time around, I am determined not to get any more. I only like to use natural skin care products, so I decided to make some lotion. It worked so well. It is full of cocoa butter and is so creamy!
I just wanted to shout yippy that the cream turned out great!

Now to ask, what are you doing to prevent stretch marks? If you have been pregnant before, did you get stretch marks and what did you do/ not do?

 

[Jilian]

The first time I used Palmer's lotion and was psyched to see that I did not get one stretch mark the day I went into labor. Then after the baby was born and my belly started shrinking they all magically appeared

:

The second time I used whatever I had on hand at the time and even though I only gained half the weight that I gained with DS1 all sorts of new stretch marks appeared.

This time I'm throwing in the towel and buring all of my bikins.

 

[BeagleMommy]

I have a few from dd, but the worst ones are on my breasts. I guess 6 cup sizes in a few months is too much for the body to handle.
This time, I plan on being more vigilant about taking at least a gram of vitamin C a day and I want to order some rose hip seed oil. But I haven't gotten the oil yet. Mountain Rose Herbs seems to have the best price though.

 

[wombatclay]

Yeah, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but while keeping your skin moisturized goes a long way to keeping the itchies away... stretch marks are actually more or less a genetic thing. There isn't much you can do one way or the other.

With dd1 I didn't get any stretch marks till after she was born, and those were mosly on my hips. Then with dd2 I started showing stretch marks around the third trimester (even though I gained a lot less weight). This time round I already have new marks! I told dh that I think my body just gave up.

 

[spiritedmama]

Well, I vigilantly used creams with DD1 and then after she was born I don't know if they are stretch marks but my tummy looks like a shriveled up little raisin. We call it the raisin belly. Just kind of wrinkly. Sorry, hope I am not scaring you. Maybe because I gained 70 pounds, or because she was 9.2? Luckily, the ones on my thighs just turn light and you really can't see them when you wear a full piece bathing suit....I lovingly refer to them as my rite of passage

You never know, I know lots of women who have made it through the whole ordeal with nothing.

Would you be willing to give out the lotion recipe? I would love to try my hand at it.

 

[Grumpy72_ga]

Oh heck, I give up. Stretch marks are just part of my genetic make-up. I lost about 20 lbs before I got pregnant with dd1. At the time the 3 FAT stretch marks I had are what prompted that weight loss! A year after losing that weight I got pregnant with DD#1 and only gained 30 lbs... I ended up with 5 total stretchmarks. They disappeared pretty quickly when I lost the weight after her.... well pregnancy #2 and 3 I gained like 40 lbs lost 20, gained 40 more and lost 10... so my stretchies look like a road map or racing stripes.

I'm allergic to cocoa and shea butter - and almost any lotion I try has made me break out in hives... so if I need something, I used olive oil or apple cider vinegar to get rid of my itchies. (yup I smell and taste just like a salad!)

 

[wombatclay]

The balms I used to sell were basically 1 part beeswax/3 parts olive oil. Add a little vit e or eo if you want to be fancy but the beeswax/olive blend is really nice. The texture is similar to the Badger Balm in a tin.

 

[Abraisme]

Welp, from my experience stretch marks are mostly genetic. I did everything a person could do to prevent them the first time around and I'm still covered. I ate super healthy food, including fresh pressed organic veggie juice (daily), tons of omega 3 eggs, grass fed meat, and I didn't eat ANY junk food. I took fish oils of all sorts and many other vitamins and whole food suppliments. I rubbed lotion/coco-butter on daily.. Perhaps if I had eaten tons of junk food and zero omega fats they would have been worse? Who knows..

The only way to prevent stretch marks is to not gain too much weight (not that this is possible either). If I hadn't gained 45lbs I wouldn't have stretch marks on my legs, etc. But then, how could I have gained less weight eating such a healthy diet and working out? I really don't know the answer here... Shug

 

[Mamabeakley]

Bluebird Mama, would you share your lotion recipe?

I have lots of stretch marks. I like them. I got my first stretch marks in puberty, and after my last pregnancy my brother asked how my belly was and I said it was "corrugated" because that's how it looks in the short term postpartum.

But I'm itchy and would like to make some lotion so I know what's in it.

 

[Talula Fairie]

Sorry to break this to you, but there is no lotion, potion, vitamin, or supplement that will prevent stretch marks. Many lotions will help them heal quicker once you have them, but the only thing any lotion will do is make your skin soft and prevent itching. The only reason you haven't gotten a stretch mark yet is probably becuase you're only 20something weeks and haven't gotten big enough yet.