How I did it: preventing stretch marks

About a week or 2 ago, I posted some pictures on Facebook (and made a blog entry here) marking my 36 month (9 month mark) of pregnancy. I got a lot of questions regarding not having ANY marks on my tummy this late in my pregnancy. I've always been told that there's nothing you can do it about it (especially if you already had them in other places prior; which I did). Well, I refused to believe that. I found out I was pregnant at 4 to 5 weeks. The moment I did, I got on the phone with my sister and had her send me 100% sticks and raw chunks of cocoa butter.

If you allow your skin to dry out while it's stretching that's what causes the marks. Years ago I watched another sister of mine go threw pregnancy. Her tummy would itch a lot but before she'd scratch it, she'd lather her hands and tummy in cocoa butter, so essentially her scratching had become a moisturizing technique. After her pregnancy, she had no marks. That was one of the major reasons that I adopted this technique. I keep one of the sticks shown above in my purse, another in my home & I carry little chunks with me to work. I also follow application with my regular body lotion (Keri, Original).

I know that there are hundreds of products out there and they all may vary in result in one way or another; the only suggestion that I have is this: IF YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE THE INGREDIENTS, DO NOT USE IT. How can a product claim to be 100% cocoa butter if you have 17 other chemicals mixed with it?! Keep in mind, you don't have to do it the way I did, but this is what worked for me. I hope everyone else has great results!

ps: I only gained 20 pounds during the course of my pregnancy. Normal weight gain should not exceed 35lbs. Not gaining 80lbs could also help in snapping back to your pre-pregnancy body postpartum.