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It’s a joy carrying a baby around inside of you. Of course, there are certain difficulties and it’s not always the most comfortable experience. But you will definitely fill out your skin. When your baby arrives, you can’t expect to snap straight back to your original, pre-baby figure. It will take a fair amount of exercise to achieve that. However, carrying a baby can have more long term effects that are harder to reverse. Here are a few things that may happen to your body during pregnancy and some coping strategies to ensure that the aesthetic or physical damage to your body is minimal.

Stretchmarks

The all-dreaded stretch marks. This tends to be a major concern for any new or soon-to-be mother. When your baby is growing inside you, your body has to adapt pretty rapidly. It’s not surprising that stretch marks often appear around your baby bump. But it can also happen around your thighs, bum and boobs. If you’re going to get stretch marks, then there’s little that you can do that will completely stop them. People with especially tight skin won’t be able to escape them. But there are a few products which will soften their appearance and help them to fade more rapidly. Palmer’s Cocoa Butter has long been a favourite. Not only does it soften your skin and leave you smelling delicious, but they have recently brought out a special butter especially for pregnant women. Relatively new to the market is Bio-Oil. This silky oil is clinically proven to reduce the appearance of stretch marks.

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Veins

When you’re pregnant there’s a lot of extra weight on your legs. You also won’t be as flexible as usual. It’s surprisingly hard to tie your shoes when there’s a baby between you and your feet. This extra pressure on your legs can cause circulation problems and many pregnant women find that they develop varicose veins. There are easy ways to cover the purple/blue colour of the veins. Concealer and various powders will do a pretty good job. However varicose veins are raised. They aren’t painful so many women can happily live with this. But some find it distressing. To completely change their appearance, you will have to have surgery; the procedure of vascular surgery is fairly simple, but you will need to put your feet up for a little while after it.

Scars

You might have to have a C-section to deliver your baby safely into the world. People often say that this is the easiest way out of labour, but C-section moms are true troopers. It’s not easy at all having a baby pulled from you surgically. You’re likely to be left with a scar following a C-section. It’s important to rest up properly. Don’t do any heavy lifting or try any extreme activity. You don’t want to rupture your scar or cause any infection. The better you heal, the less irritated the scar will be. Bio oil can also be used to further reduce the redness of any scar tissue.

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Disclosure: This is a collaborative post, not all thoughts and opinions expressed on this post are mine.