Now I’m not usually one to preach, but hear me out. I’m 37 weeks pregnant. I have stretch marks on the sides of my waist, but never in my life thought I’d get them on my stomach. I was told it’s genetic. Well, I got hopeful. My mom didn’t have stretch marks with me or my sister, and my sister didn’t get them with her daughter. Then one day, I was 29 weeks with NO stretch marks. 30 weeks comes around and I got a ton of them. I kept my belly ring in just to feel more secure about my body, no matter how sore it was. I felt so much better about my belly with it in. Then, around 33 weeks I decide to take it out. It got too sore for me to possibly handle for another few weeks until I have my son. The hole was stretched, I got stretch marks coming from the hole itself, and it was super red and irritated. Now, being 37 weeks pregnant I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter what my body looks like at this point. I know I’ll never NOT have them again, I know they’re just a part of my body now, and I’m starting to love the fact that I have them. Why? Because my boyfriend loves my body, my son is growing inside of my body and depending on me right now to stretch just for him and protect him. I’ve tried bio oil, coconut oil, you name it. But these “remedies” for stretch marks don’t actually work. Maybe they do for some women, but personally for me they haven’t worked. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I refuse to let myself get depressed over something different about my body that I cannot control. And I’ll be damned if I even second guess buying a cute bikini, or wearing crop tops, or spending hours trying to find ways to get rid of them, all over some marks that I CANNOT CONTROL.