Mummy Monday - Avoiding stretch marks

It's been ages since my last post, mum life has seriously got in the way of my blogging but I'm planning to get back on track. I thought I'd ease myself back into it with a quick Mummy Monday post and share some tips on how to avoid stretch marks during pregnancy.

Obviously, there is nothing wrong with having stretch marks, they are a normal part of pregnancy and some women even see them as a symbol of what their body has achieved and a reminder that our bodies are strong and powerful. Personally, I didn't feel that way about them and I really wanted to avoid getting any if I could. I do have a few, but really not that many and I think it was down to how I took care of my skin while I was pregnant.

I'd say the three most important things you need are ..

1) Stay hydrated

2) Find a good stretch mark cream

3) Include baby oil in your skin care routine.

I made sure to drink at least 1.5 ltr of water a day (unless I was feeling sick of course, but I'd try my best most days). I'd also apply stretch mark cream twice a day, morning and night. I feel like the thing that made the biggest difference to how my skin felt was using baby oil (I used the regular Johnsons baby oil but they have a baby oil with aloe vera in it as well). A great tip for using baby oil is to apply it when you are fresh out of the shower onto wet skin, this really gives your skin an extra boost, it's really important to do this every day to give your skin the elasticity it needs while your bump grows. Also, I'd say to start your bump skin care routine before your belly pops, start using creams even before your bump starts showing to make sure there's minimal damage to your skin. Obviously, I am no expert on stretch marks or skin care, but this worked for me and I really hope it works for you.

Palmers Stretch Mark Cream - http://www.boots.com/palmers-cocoa-butter-formula-massage-lotion-for-stretch-marks-1-x-250ml-10051840 (I really liked this cream but had to stop using it for a while as I got really sensitive to certain smells during my pregnancy and the Cocoa butter smell is quite strong, but if you don't have that problem this is a great cream.)

Cussons Mum&Me Body Lotion - http://www.mumandme.com/en-gb/bump/soothe-nourish-body-lotion (This smells lovely and fresh, but I decided to try an organic cream so stopped using it)

Dr Organic Virgin Olive Oil Skin Lotion - http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/dr-organic-virgin-olive-oil-skin-lotion-60086360