stretch marks after pregnancy...anyone?

blackEyes_2

Hi, i feel a bit silly posting this when other people have major problems, but this is something it really affects me, and it will never go away, or so they say, learn to live with them.

I was pregnant 3 years ago, i put very little weight on during the pregnancy until the last month, i craved cakes like mad, and ended up with 2 1/2 stones at the end, then i saw lots of round red marks around my belly button, i did nothing, i hated them, after giving birth these became white, silvery, whatever...

i was before all this a very healthy 8 stone , thin and had lovely tan skin, tan skin does not mix with stretch marks !! my self esteem was very down, 3 years down the line, i kinda accepted them, but still dislike looking at myself in the mirror or undressing in the dressing rooms in the shops to try clothes on, let's just say, iam loosing weight, i never cared before cos in my eyes it was all ruined anyway,i am very self conscious, it is hard to accept that bikini days are over,i apply oil every day in the hope it will fade, it is getting me so down, more when i have friends or my mum !!! with 4 children and not even 1 stretch mark.

I feel unsexy, my oh does not mind them, but i do, i cover up as much as i can.

How other women cope with this?

pinkclouds

You typically acquire stretchmarks in the same locations as your mom. (I can't remember off-hand exactly where I read this - I think it was one of my Dr Sears pregnancy books.) So, it's just a matter of luck and genetics.

Stretchmarks do gradually fade over time. Like scars, really. After a few years, you'll notice them less and less. I believe Bio-Oil does help but time will also help on its own.

I don't care about my stretchmarks. The only way to not have them is to not have had my kids.

euronorris

I don't know about stretch marks in pregnancy (haven't had a baby yet), but I did get stretch marks during puberty, on my b oobs, bu m, and upper thigh area as I grew so quickly.

I must say I haven't applied oil or moisturising cream, but they have just subsided on their own over the years and I've just come to get to used to them as a part of me.

I expect that yours will also subside over time, but I have heard that moisturising lotion/oil helps.

I'm sorry I don't have anything more helpful to add. Big ((HUGS)).

Oh, what I will say though is stop comparing yourself to others. You are not them, and they are not you. You will have positive points that they don't and vice versa, so comparing yourself to others is pointless and will only cause you more pain.

xx

Mupette

DS us 16 and i still see the silver lines on me.

It's me, it's my body, and believe it or not blokes know this too.

They will fade over time, there is no magic potion, yes bio oil might help, but it won't get rid of them,


Start by learning to love your body

i never cared before cos in my eyes it was all ruined anyway

LJM

luckily i didnt have any but try bio oil i know some people swear by it it doesnt remove stretch marks but can help to reduce them i think the cocoa butter formula by palmers also says it can be used to help reduce appearance of stretch marks

jcr16

i got them with my first pregnancy. i didn't get any till the last week i was gutted. they have slowly gone silvery and hardly visable. but with 4 pregnancies in under 7 years, i've found they do show up more towards the end of the pregnancies.

i used a fab cream from avon for a while, but then had a reaction to it. i've not used anything else on them. kinda figured until i'm done having my family i'm not gonna worry.the only ones i can really see now are the ones on my sides by my hips. i had loads on my boobs as my boobs got huge, but they have gone now also.

but they will fade hun, so try not to worry. just think those lines are there becuase your body has produced the most amazing little human, be proud .

pigpen

You can get camouflage makeup which would cover them so they are the same colour as the rest of your skin but why bother?

many hundreds of people get stretch marks during puberty, others from being overweight, others from having a baby.

My friends sister had a baby at 15 and is covered in huge red marks from her boobs to her knees.. they are the most awful ones I have ever seen.. she puts on the camouflage make up and wears short skirts, she has 3 children now and gets on with life.. a few on your tummy are nothing compared with what some people live with.. burns, disfigurement, birth marks, scars..

I have 9 children and have loads on my boobs (C-G cup doesn't do well) my thighs and bum.. I have 1 on my tummy just below my navel. They fade, they are part of me and my badge of parenthood.

if at 40 we all looked like we did at 18 cosmetic surgeons would never have any work.. we aren't meant to stay the same, our bodies evolve and change over our lifetime.. we move from a baby to an adult to an elderly person.. it is normal, it is what we are meant to do and stretch marks are part of that change for many many people.

Look at all the fabulous things you have not at the one negative thing and be pleased that is the least of your worries!

blackEyes_2

Thank you everyone for your comments, i appreciate them really, i need to focus in the good things i have, i will try the cocoa butter, thanks.

i think what it gets to me it is people reactions when i say i have them, my mum in the summer can use small tops and the like, and she has no stretch marks at all, not in arms not in her legs, her genetic is absolutely amazing, she does not look 43 yo. Me, i am only 26, iam being so stupid over this, i guess it's the fact that i have very low self esteem.. funny i say my bikini days are over, when i have never in my life wore a bikini !! always being very thin, but my chest was quite small, so always felt self conscious !.. i have more of a curvy body now, i guess i should be thankful for that.

mum2twinsx2

Ekk stretchmarks are such a pain in the bottom....
Im lucky, i got few on my sides and couple insides of my legs, enough for me. i think if i had gone to term it would have been a different story.
I used bio oil. They are still there, Ive come to conclusion they will never go away.
I do find a tan hides mine a bit better though. Bikinis are overrated anyway:p

esio_trot

I got loads when I was pregnant - huge wide ones too. I don't like them, I'm really self conscious about them, but they do serve as a reminder of the amazing thing I, and my body, have done. If I was told to choose between my son, and having a perfect body (which I didn't have before I was pregnant I might add!), I know what I would choose

mum2twinsx2

esio_trot wrote: »

I got loads when I was pregnant - huge wide ones too. I don't like them, I'm really self conscious about them, but they do serve as a reminder of the amazing thing I, and my body, have done. If I was told to choose between my son, and having a perfect body (which I didn't have before I was pregnant I might add!), I know what I would choose

SO true, my daughters call them my tiger stripes:rotfl: