Stretch Marks

The Palmers stretch mark cream don't work for me. It's very waxy and hard to apply. The tummy feels 'waxed upon' and feels itchy too.

I went back to my good old trusty Skin Labs Vitamin E cream - 10,000iu , from Guardian Pharmacy.

So much easier to apply and feels lighter on the skin too. I can't assure myself of it's effectiveness though but we'll do what we can do. Stretch marks are partly genetic and also depends on the fetal growth rate. I hardly had any stretch marks with Amber even though she was a whopping 3.57kg but now, I can feel the skin cracking..literally... especially when I stand or lie down on my side. The marks are more defined on the left side of tummy because I tend to sleep on the left side more, as advised.

Well, I'll just do what I can.  A little bit of stretch marks is nothing to grouch over when baby arrives, healthy and pink !

Pou Pan

Do you believe in traditional supplements ?  When I was pregnant with Amber, I took lots of cordyceps, and double boiled chicken essence. I had a very bad bout of cough and it was the cordyceps/ginger concoction that cured my cough.  I also took birds nest (against my obgyn's advise) as a treat for myself.

Hubs for one, is against me taking birds nest and such for pregnancy. My first obgyn advised me against it as birds nest do contain a lot of bleaching chemicals and there's lots of faked/reconstituted birds nest in the market too.

One of our colleagues owns a birds nest house in Pahang and she's assured me her birds nest were preservative free. Moreover the recent scare in China caused the price to drop and I took half a kilo from her, at a very reasonable price.The birds nest was of consumption quality with very little 'feather stains'  and does not require much picking. There's a method to cook .. or not to overcook the birds nest to preserve the proteins.

I've been taking it diligently since 4 or 5 months pregnancy. If I follow the correct method of consumption, that is just 3 tablespoon everyday, half a kilo goes a long way. My friend taught me to presoak the birds nest for 15 minutes and then double boil for not more than 45 minutes. Easy peasy. Previously I double boiled for hours and that, apparently overcooks and damages the protein structure of birds nest. 

I also took some cordyceps - toong choong chou. MIL gave me a box and I double boiled only once. I shall save the balance for confinement..

Hubs packs my USANA vitamins 3x daily and reminds me to take them diligently.  I took the multivits, calcium and Omega oils. Occasionally, I'll take the Nutrimeal meal replacement when I don't have much appetite.

 I have gained no more than 10kg till todate. Most of the weight gain went to baby and in fact, I have lost some weight. I didn't have much appetite and morning sickness lasted until beyond 7 months.

With these nourishment, I hope baby will arrive healthy and nourished.

Treats

I have a whole loads of creams I use for my tummy area. Roskens Vit E, Vit E Concentrate, Palmers Cocoa butter, Palmers body balm and few others but nothing could stop me from getting this new cream, specifically labelled 'Tummy Butter for stretch marks. The name hit spot on.. ... I just had to get it as a reason to treat myself, to be more rajin, an excuse to rub it on more frequently.

Instructions says to rub on at least 3 times a day. I keep it iny handbag and the tub comes in handy when I'm in the car, idling away time.

Verdict : Smells delish, like Yakult !! Yet to show results but like any other stretch mark creams, prevention or reduction is severity is what we look for. This definitely smells and feels smoother than the L'occitane Shea butter I slathered (while pinching my nose with the other hand) when I was pregs with #1 .