Anyone else have some crazy pregnancy phobias? Tell me I’m not alone! I had a huge fear with my first pregnancy, and I’m sharing with y’all how I managed to prevent that fear from coming true.

Let me start by saying I’m not a medical professional or a scientist, nor am I being compensated to review the products mentioned (unless you are nice enough to use my affiliate links to order through and help a mama out a bit). I’m just a mom with my own experiences to share in hopes that it will help someone else. I know that they say there is nothing you can do to avoid or treat them. I’m also aware that they say it’s all genetics. Who knows? They may be right. I don’t think that is entirely true, based on my aforementioned experiences, but I’ll get to that. There, now that I have that out of the way, I can share my trick for a smooth mommy tummy… 😉

Something many women seriously dread is stretch marks. With my first pregnancy, I was absolutely horrified at the thought of getting stretch marks. I started out my journey into motherhood with defined abs and zero stretch marks, and wanted to at least keep the latter part of that statement true. While I know many women have them, and are still beautiful, it was just a phobia of mine, and something I’d rather avoid if I could even now. Lucky for me, I had heard from my stretch mark free Mom and Nana about how they helped their tummies appear unscathed!

From the moment each of them found out that they were pregnant, they lathered their bellies down with oil every day. They mentioned coconut oil, vitamin E and olive oil, varied, as well as cocoa butter layered over it. They did this religiously throughout pregnancy, increasing the frequency as their tummies got fuller and their skin grew tighter. Since they both had beautiful skin of completely different types (Nana’s skin is quite dry, while my mom’s was like her dad’s & very oily), I thought there was a good chance of their regimen working for me, since I fall somewhere in between on the skin type scale. My biggest concern was that it might not work for me because they were both in their teens and very early 20s during their pregnancies, while I brought my first child home from the hospital on my 28th birthday. I was concerned that my skin might not have the same resilience theirs did.

I’ve been pregnant four times (once ended in an early miscarriage). Each time, I started immediately oiling my as-yet-unchanged pregnant belly with Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E Skin Therapy Oil — 5.1 fl oz
. This is a little embarassing to admit, but the first pregnancy I neglected to start oiling my breasts until they were swelling and itchy, since noone warned me about that, and got some mild stretch marks on them. This is where I was convinced that the oil works! I still have zero stretch marks on my stomach or sides over six months into this pregnancy, which I ALWAYS oiled. You can see that from the current belly pictures I took to prove it. Excuse the selfies. I don’t have a photographer on staff here. 🙂 (The bruise is because I’m a klutzy pregnant woman and never seem to adjust to having a tummy blown up like a hot air ballooon. LOL) Those mild ones came up on my breasts before I realized I should be oiling them, too. Time and the continued use of the oils throughout pregnancy and the first several months of breastfeeding each time seems to have faded them to nearly undetectable, though. You’ll just have to take my word on that one. Modesty prevents me from sharing proof of that one! 😉

I can’t say enough good things about this Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E Skin Therapy Oil — 5.1 fl oz
! I’m not sure if other methods work as well as this has worked for me, since I’m not messing with the tried and true. Before my belly starts to noticeably swell, but starts to itch or feel dry, I layer on some cocoa butter or the Palmer’s Skin Therapy Lotion, 7 fl oz
for extra moisture and protection.

Will this work for you? Honestly, I don’t know. It isn’t likely to hurt, and is sure to relieve the dryness and itchiness that comes along with pregnant skin. I have definitely had positive results. I don’t know if the genetics thing is part of it, since my mom and my nana don’t have stretch marks, or if it’s to be credited to the skin care regimen we’ve all used, or a little bit of both.

If you choose to try the Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E Skin Therapy Oil — 5.1 fl oz
and Palmer’s Skin Therapy Lotion, 7 fl oz
, or your alternative product, don’t forget to get ALL of the stretch mark prone areas. Breasts, stomach, sides, hips and upper thighs are especially prone to stretch marks, and you’re safer to not neglect those areas while caring for your pregnant skin.

Does anyone else have any tried and true tricks for preventing or treating stretch marks?
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