When I fell pregnant one of the main things I worried quite a lot about was getting stretch marks, not because I wanted to show off my stomach in tiny tops once baby arrived but because I still wanted to feel comfortable in my own skin and not feel embarrassed to show off my bare baby bump to people.

My obsession started from the second I saw those 2 lines on the test. I was on the ball to prevent them from heading straight to the shop to buy stretch mark oil and then home to set myself a strict regime of applying it as much as possible. Every morning and night the oil would be smothered into my stomach and hips, it was like clockwork. I was over the moon that it seemed to be working...until I got to 25 (ish) weeks when I noticed 4-5 silver stretch marks. I was gutted!
I'd done everything I could to prevent them but it obviously hadn't worked. It got me so down that I often found myself looking at celebrities and other pregnant women's bump pictures to see if anyone else had stretch marks, to my surprise their bumps were flawless and they all seemed so confident to pose in their underwear/bikinis and post them online. Why didn't I feel like that? I was just sat at home in my baggy jumpers and pyjama bottoms. 
It took me a few weeks to feel a little better, the uplift in my mood came after doing a little research about stretch marks. I was quite surprised to learn; over 50% of women get them, oil/creams don't actually prevent them, you're more likely to get them if you're Mum did and they do fade in time. I instantly felt better because I knew no matter how much I smothered myself in oil it was never actually doing to stop them. At the end of the day, I was growing a baby and a few marks on my tummy wasn't going to take that away from me. 

Now 10 weeks on when I think back to how horrified I was when the first stretch mark appeared I find myself feeling quite embarrassed and stupid. In my head I felt horrendous but looking at them in the mirror I've realised that they aren't bad at all, yes some of the lighter ones go from the top of my bump to the bottom and some are getting redder by the day. It was then that it dawned on me that they don't actually look as bad in person as what I've been imagining in my head.  In reality, my body has allowed me to house a human for 9 months, I've grown her from being the size of a poppy seed to butternut squash (at 34 weeks) and I will continue to nurture and grow her until she's ready to arrive. When I think of that I realise that a few stretch marks aren't going to change how I feel about what my body has done because I know in time they will (kind of) fade and become a reminder of the amazing thing my body has done for me!   

So, just remember all those flawless bare bump pictures you see online are probably airbrushed, your weight will fluctuate and there is a good chance you will get stretch marks...but that's okay!