Thankfully I was one of the lucky ones and escaped pregnancy with only 1 stretch mark on my belly that I didnt get till I went into labor, and even then it was only because my daughter dropped into position REALLY fast. But before you get out the torch and pitch forks, I didnt escape entirely untouched. My poor girls (the boobs) went from a B to DD when my milk came in. Other moms told me the girls would get big, but big was an understatement. My breasts were reaching Dolly Parton proportions and with how much it hurt I contemplated cutting them off more than once. And beleive me when I say your breasts dont get that big that fast without getting at least a little torn up. I count myself incredibly blessed that my stretch marks are easily covered and are never seen by anyone but my husband
and myself... but honestly, I'd rather not look like I was nursing an alligator.


See, Im all for accepting and loving your body the way it is, and some women even learn to celebrate their stretch marks by calling them tiger stripes or battle scars. But why have we begun glorifying these scars? Well, its partly because they remind us of when we were pregnant, the sacrifices we made to bring new life into this world... for some women, despite all the discomfort, pregnancy is a truly magical and spiritual time in their lives and it
drums up images of awesome power and responsibility. I'd be lying if I said thinking back on my pregnancy didnt make me a little misty eyed. But mostly it's because there's not a damn thing most of us can afford to do to get rid of them. Some women are just blessed with stretch mark free pregnancies, and some of us get screwed and end up looking like God put our belly through a paper shredder then let a 2 year old glue it back together. And there is nothing more agrivating than having some sweet little old lady tell us that it's because we rubbed our belly too much, or that we shouldnt scratch it (lets face it, pregnant belly skin is mega itchy!), or that we just didnt use enough Cocoa Butter. Some of us get stretch marks no matter how much we slathered on the Jojoba oil, Vaseline, Shea or Cocoa Butter, or how seldomly we scratched or rubbed our bellies (that was one of my favorite parts!).

So IS there anything that can be done about stretch marks?

Yes.

Some women do actually notice a difference in how bad their stretch marks get when they use rich emollients like Cocoa or Shea Butter, or oils like Sweet Almond and Jojoba. These creams and oils are high in vitamin E, the one primarily responsible for maintaining skin elasticity and promoting healing. Other emollients or oils you can use are Marygold ointment and Lavender oil. These too promote healing and may be effective for you, but not all of these seem to work for everyone and they often take a LONG time to see results.

There are literally thousands of different commercially available stretch mark creams out there and there are just as many ingredients that they claim to have restorative properties, and some of them may actually work. But along with their grand claims comes a grand price tag. You're a mom, not a movie star! (though that would be totally awesome to have movie stars reading my blog :P ) Some of us can barely afford new bras let alone some $90 cream that takes 3 months to start showing any results. Some brands that seem to be particularly popular are Mederma, Trilastin, Celatrix and Algodermia.

Your other option is cosmetic surgery, but if we balk at the thought of a $90 cream then surgery's high price tag and weeks of recovery time hardly seem worth it. No wonder so many women are settling for the mommy belly!
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So you're probably still wondering if there is anything affordable that will ACTUALLY reduce or eliminate your stretch marks? And the answer is a resounding yes. I recently learned about a company called It Works! Global. They carry a stretch mark cream that is nothing short of amazing, and even at its full price its is pretty reasonable especially when you consider how fast and how well it works.

The It Works! Stretch Mark Moisturizing Body Cream not only reduces the appearance of stretch marks but it works on ANY scar tissue to minimize the scar tissue and even out skin tone to make them less visible.

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Now, I know most people who have shelled out for the more exspensive creams have said that they saw noticeable results in weeks rather than months, but what if I told you this stuff could dramatically reduce the appearance of stretch marks in just one week? Well its true! Here's a before and after picture of a woman who used the cream once a day for 1 week. The difference is pretty amazing. Click the image for a larger view. This cream is a whopping $54 full price, but an affordable $39 if you sign up for the Loyal Customer program.

This product is even safe to be used during pregnancy and while breast feeding. I cant wait to get my hands on some :)