Stretch Marks | Palmers Cocoa Butter Massage Lotion
It seems a little strange writing this post considering I wont be publishing it for a little while now.
I decided to start using stretch mark cream early as I had heard that if you use early enough, it can limit your chances developing stretch marks. I am now 15 weeks and little bump has made a little appearance so I'm starting to prepare my skin for the baby bump. I spent a while browsing the aisle of Boots picking up and reading numerous brands. I have heard lots of people rave about Bio Oil, however comparing the prices and size of bottles I felt that this was slightly overpriced for some oil.
I decided to go for the palmer Cocoa Butter because as well as being a recognised brand I have in the past had excellent results from using Cocoa butter (I burnt my arm very badly a few years back on just boiled water from a kettle, as my skin was healing after the blisters had gone I was using cocoa butter as a moisturiser. I was told it may scar but I have no trace of a scar at all which is surprising for the burn I had) therefore my faith is in palmers to prevent stretch marks.
I'm not sure when stretch marks are meant to appear but I'll give you the rundown of how it goes over the next coming weeks.
24 weeks
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| Excuse the unflattening picture. |
I have since done some research (googling and asking my midwife) and those mummies that do get stretch marks usually appear in the last month of pregnancy so we shall see, for now I'll keep layering it on.
28 Weeks
Looking at week 24 and now, I can see where our little man is growing nicely. My belly is protruding and I no longer look like I have just eaten too much but actually pregnant. Im lucky so far (touch wood) that I'm all out front and right at the bottom of my bump I can still feel my hip bones. I haven't been overeating so I hope to be able to get back into shape as soon as I can (It's not my number 1 priority though), I have a black tie event in November so I have that as an incentive to loose as much baby bump as possible.
Now onto the reason of the post...still no stretch marks as you can see. My skin occasionally feels tight at night so I put an extra layer of cream on it to help and of course to prevent any possibility of marks coming.
35 Weeks
We are in the final weeks now and I cant quite believe how fast its gone. I say that, I bet now I've said that the next few weeks will go the slowest (knowing me)
He's so active and I am convinced he'll be here before his due date but again he could just be messing with me and decide to stay in a little longer.
So back onto the main content of why I am writing this....Have I got any Stretch Marks!?!? Answer... Still No
Now I wouldn't like to put this down purely to using the Cocoa Butter, as I have said before everyone is different and it could just be that my skin is handling it better. However I can say that I have had nights where my skin feels so tight around my belly that it's actually kept me awake because its uncomfortable, so downstairs I go and slap on some more and it relieves the tightness.
I have heard that if your skin is itchy thats the first sign of possible stretch marks, so if my skin is looking red or dry, I put a few layers on. Plus its just nice to be moisturised and those few moments rubbing the cream into my belly is a few minutes interacting with touch with our little boy.
So far so good, lets see how the next 5 weeks go!
We are in the final weeks now and I cant quite believe how fast its gone. I say that, I bet now I've said that the next few weeks will go the slowest (knowing me)
He's so active and I am convinced he'll be here before his due date but again he could just be messing with me and decide to stay in a little longer. So back onto the main content of why I am writing this....Have I got any Stretch Marks!?!? Answer... Still No
Now I wouldn't like to put this down purely to using the Cocoa Butter, as I have said before everyone is different and it could just be that my skin is handling it better. However I can say that I have had nights where my skin feels so tight around my belly that it's actually kept me awake because its uncomfortable, so downstairs I go and slap on some more and it relieves the tightness.
I have heard that if your skin is itchy thats the first sign of possible stretch marks, so if my skin is looking red or dry, I put a few layers on. Plus its just nice to be moisturised and those few moments rubbing the cream into my belly is a few minutes interacting with touch with our little boy.
So far so good, lets see how the next 5 weeks go!
38 weeks
Feeling the size of a whale... cant sit in at the table...can hardly bend down to get something...finding it difficult to get in and out the car...rolling out of bed to get up...
We are on the countdown, just 2 weeks until his due date. Will he be early and organised like his mummy? Or late like his daddy always is (our friends/family know our 7pm for example is more like 7.30pm by the time he's finished changing his tshirt/shirt for the 6th time and we've got in the car to go)
Although I feel the size of a whale, I have been told that I'm looking well for 38 weeks and that's always a bonus especially when you're feeling well not your best. Now onto the skin, no stretchies still. Although a friend of mine has only just informed me that when she was pregnant she had none until her little boy went overdue and then overnight she got them. This is not what I wanted to hear so I would like if he did come early, if not come his due date I'll be slapping on the cream every few hours!
Everyone is different and maybe so far I've just been lucky but this isn't to say I won't get any in the next 2 weeks or even in my next pregnancy (if there is one)
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