thanks all for the input. if i weren't preggers, i would stick to the clothing fit and measurements. however, my dr would only allow me to cut my sugars and refined carbs if i promised not to LOSE any weight at all. she wants me to record my weekly weight and if i lose any more than a pound i'm supposed to go back to a higher carb diet. i've already gained a healthy 25 pounds (and was a little overweight to begin with) so i don't want any more weight on or off. so, i really need to monitor my weight pretty closely so that when i go to my checkups i don't get a scolding.

perhaps i will just bite the bullet and be proud of my new stretch marks and cellulite at the gym? hmmm....

Well, hulagirl, I'd be willing to bet that many of the moms on this forum have stretch marks. I remember reading some time ago that the stretchiness of ones skin is inherited, so there may be nothing you can do to prevent stretch marks.

I have heard that Vitamin E oil rubbed on the skin can help lessen them, and I've also heard of women using things such as lanolin to keep the skin soft and supple. I can't swear that either is truly effective, but a couple of my friends seemed to have success with them. Sweet almond oil might be effective, too. Just some suggesitons.

i was pregnancy last year and for the first six months i lost weight...doctor didn't mind until the seventh month and she said she better start seeing some gaining..in the end i gained nine pounds at ten months but right after i had him i lost quite a bit that first week. and i don't even want to go there about stretch marks. i told my dd yesterday, "look mommy's tummy is getting smaller" and she replied "yeah mom, next summer you can wear a bikini" i laughed and told her not likely since i have road marks all over my stomach.

yesterday i was 303 today, weighing myself three times i was 301. had some water, drank a cup of coffee, and looked at suebees site for crustless pizza, get on the scale (after i went to the bathroom thinking i'll be a little lighter) and it says 310, then 309, and finally 307..lol..wth? thanks suebee for showing that site to me, i really can gain just by looking at food...

Congrats on the pregnancy! I have one child, he is going to be 8 soon. I gained alot of weight during my pregnancy, but was very healthy. Proud to say that the weight eventually came off. Your body sometimes will gain what it needs to. The most important thing is a healthy baby. I did get alot of stretch marks on my hips and lower abs. I did use Palmer's cocoa butter and it did help. I just recently had a mini tummy tuck to get rid of some of the stretch marks and my PS told me to use cocoa butter on the incision and old stretch marks day and night while massaging it in. I bought mine at Wal-Mart. I do not have alot of elasticity in my skin, fair skinned strawberry blonde.

Good Luck to you! Give the cocoa butter a try.

hula, i wish i'd talked to my doctor about staying on lowcarb when i was pregnant. i'd just lost 70lbs and swore to myself i wouldn't let pregnancy be an excuse to gain it all back. at 4.5 months i'd only gained about 6lbs and i was on the low end of the chart for weight gain (i was going to limit myself to 20lbs tops). then we found out it was twins and we threw out ALL the rules... my doctors didn't care how much weight i gained, they were just concerned that the babies grew and were healthy. they were fine (6lbs 10oz and 6lbs 5oz), but i ended up 80lbs heavier. i'm still dealing with getting rid of it 5.5 years later.

ok, i DID it!! i stepped onto the scale in my towel at the gym then DROPPED IT and weighed myself naked. i found out my towel added exactly one pound. of course it helps that i was there at 11:30 pm and the place was deserted. i'm not sure why i'm so self-conscious now. i never used to be before. ??? anyway, at least now i'll know exactly what to expect at the doctor's office in a couple weeks.

Ha! Good for you. Accuracy is a good thing

Hulagirl, don't worry about the stretch marks. Things just change after child birth...it is the law. I only put on 25 lbs with my last baby and I wanted more because I was soooo skinny. I wished that I had an accurate understanding about low carbing then. I would have done it without hesitation and my kids probably would have been healthier for it. Wow, KvonM. Your twins were huge. Twins don't usually weigh that much. They usually weigh the size of one baby which would be about 3-4ish lbs. each. If you had had one baby instead of 2 it would have been about 12 lbs. Is a red light going off in your head???

i scared most of the staff in the delivery room (not to mention at my doctor's office) simply because i had a perfect, textbook twin pregnancy, AND they both went naturally. part of the reason they got so big was because i took them to 38 weeks... 36 is considered full-term for twins .

Ohhhh, okay. That is better Ugh, you had them natural. How long were you in labor? C'mon give us all the gory details. Actually I love discussing child birth. It is my long time dream to have to help deliver a baby...that's not my own

ROFL&L&L&L&L&L&L&L&L&L&L&L Tha'ts good!

I already love this board. LOL

Tanita scales are accurate within .5 lb. I weigh myself in the morning, too. I always exhale before getting on because when I inhale; I weigh a lb. more. Crazy maybe but true.
I've had 4 kids and I have tons of stretch marks. I have some on my arms from rapid weight gain. Mustela works. You can buy it online. Works way better than vitamin e. Strivectin works, too but it is way more expensive. Olay regenerist has the same ingredient as Strivectin and is cheaper. Either of those (olay or Mustela) will help you. Good luck!

My helper weighed herself on a beam scale (the kind with the little weights you move) at her doctor's office today, and then weighed herself on my scale. She weighed 9 pounds more on my scale! (ACKKK!) So, I looked at 100 of the scales offered on Amazon, and dutifully read all the customer reviews, but I ended up purchasing this one. It got better reviews than some much fancier models.

I hope I can look forward to my stats going down when I receive the scale, instead of (horrors! ) having to see them go up!

KOHLS is having a sale on al scales this week FYI (30% off).