34 Weeks: The first stretch mark

I suppose it was only a matter of time, but we’ve discovered my first stretch mark on my belly. Actually, make that stretch marks. I have two, one on either side of my baby bump, and really, if Y hadn’t pointed them out, I might not even have noticed (that’s how big my bump is becoming).

Sometime towards the end of my first trimester, I was told that in order to prevent stretch marks, I would have to apply stretch-mark cream right from the minute I found out I was pregnant, and not just once a day but several times a day! I thought it was a bit extreme. I mean, who has time to apply cream on their tummy several times throughout the day?

So I went out and got myself a big bottle of Bio-Oil and started applying that every night instead. I’ve kept it up most nights since my second trimester, although I admit to occasionally being too lazy or too tired every once in a while. There are plenty of fantastic stretch-mark creams out there, or so I’ve been told, but I picked Bio-Oil because: 1) Lots of people have told me how good it is; 2) It’s really affordable.

Until recently, I thought I was doing pretty well. Then I found out that the real challenge lies ahead. Apparently, I’m going to absolutely balloon in these last weeks and it’s when you grow really big really fast that stretch marks develop. As if to underline the point, Y discovered these first marks that very night. They’re fairly small but a rather defiant purplish colour, kind of like bruises.

I’m preparing myself for more – as Y put it, “Of course you’re going to get stretch marks, you’re carrying a baby inside you for nine months!” – but in the meantime, I also don’t think I’ll be playing hooky from my nightly Bio-Oil routine anymore.