stretch marks

A miracle cream? I think not

If you are pregnant you know that your body goes through a lot of changes. Your stomach stretches like a balloon and other places just aren't the same size that they used to be. But for me it's all worth it to know that soon I will be holding that precious little person, Sean, in my arms. However, you still can't help worrying about developing stretch marks.

From what I've gathered they develop in the middle layer of the skin which is made up of collagen and when the skin is stretched continually past the breakdown point, the body will try to compensate by sending more collagen to the over stretched site. Then it's the excess collagen that causes scar like stretch marks, to develop.

Researchers say that the likelihood of you getting stretch marks during pregnancy will increase if your mother had stretch marks during pregnancy, (my mother had none - YAY!) but there are things that you can do to prevent stretch marks including using a good cream and massage it onto the skin (the massaging action itself can increase blood flow to that area and diminish visible stretch marks).

I have been using a cream regularly that has been recommended to me and it's called Doublebase. It's a cream meant for dry skin conditions, such as eczema and dermatitis and it leaves my skin incredible soft and smooth. But if it's thanks to that, that I don't have any stretchmarks (yet at least), I do not know. I rather believe it's thanks to my genes from my mother, than it being a "miracle cream".