Stretch Marks

Unfortunately, stretch marks are a natural result of the skin around the abdomen stretching to make room for your little one. It depends on the elasticity of your skin and your genetics whether you will fall victim to these tiger strips or you will be one of the lucky ones. Many mothers i spoke to told me that the creams and oils worked for them, but some said they didn't work at all.

From the day I knew I was pregnant I started using Palmer's coconut cream, twice a day, every day. While on babycentre.com I came across a message board that was taking about bio oil. Seemed like it had  a lot of positive reviews and worked for a lot of women. So, obviously I made a trip to the store to go buy some. On the box, it said to start using it in your second trimester but I wasn't going to wait, the sooner the better that's my philosophy.

There are also other factors that play into getting stretch marks, it's not only genetics. After doing a lot of research I have found some useful tips to reduce the risk of getting stretch marks.

Eat Healthy
 

Eating balanced meals is beneficial to the overall health of your skin and can improve your skin's elasticity. Try to incorporate the following into your daily diet:

• Antioxidants (spinach, blueberries, and strawberry)
• Vitamin E (Nuts, seeds, avocadoes, and collard greens)
• Vitamin A (Carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes, squash, and red peppers)
• Omega 3's (Salmon, fish oil, walnuts, and eggs)

Stay Hydrated

Try to drink eight glasses of water a day, this will help detoxify your body and keeps your skin looking healthy and radiant.

Exercise

 

 

 

 

By extercising your helping your body's circulation which will improve your skins elasticity. Stretch marks happpen when you gain a lot of wain in a short amount of time. What you want to do is slow down this processes, so that your body can keep up with the changes it is going through. Be careful, make sure you practice light extercises like the following:

• Walking
• Swimming
• Low impact aerobics
• Dancing
• Yoga
• Stretching

If you do end up getting stretch marks - even with all these preventative measure - continue treating the stretch marks to minimize their appearance.