Twice the Luck

With all the other changes going on with your body, skincare might seem like a very minor issue to spend any time or energy worrying about but, even as someone with zero skincare routine, I found it to be increasingly important.  Pregnancy is a game of trying to find ways to make yourself slightly less uncomfortable. There are going to be enough things that you can’t do anything about so my approach was to seize any chance I could find to make myself feel even a little bit better.

What’s going on?

There’s a good chance that your skin is going to be more sensitive. As usual, it’s most likely our old friends, who we’re not really sure why we’re still friends with, hormones. Throw some stretching into the mix and your skin is going through some stuff.  I found that mine got more sensitive so my advice would be to assume the worst and prepare accordingly. 

Some of the changes I felt prepared for – in the sense that I knew they were coming, not that they were any easier to swallow. I knew stretching skin was coming. I was not prepared to have to completely learn how to shave again because my old, trusty razor started giving me terrible razor burn. We roll with the punches and do the best we can. This is the mantra of twin-dom.

Sun Care

With my newly sensitive skin, minor sunburns became major problems so I became pretty diligent about sun protection especially since I spend so much time outside.  Here are a few things that I found worked for me.

It’s probably a good idea to switch from conventional chemical sunscreens to a mineral sunblock.  Chemical sunscreen use compounds to prevent the cells of your skin from absorbing and so being damaged by the sun’s UV radiation while a mineral sunblock, commonly using zinc oxide or something similar, creates a physical barrier between your skin and the sun’s rays.  There was been some troubling research about the effects of those compounds your body is absorbing from conventional sunscreens and while the now known carcinogens are no longer used, there’s a great deal of murky gray area. 

There are a few tips that make mineral sunscreens a little easier to work with. First, and most importantly, REAPPLY. Read the label and put more on when it recommends. Don’t ask me how I know. Yes, mineral sunscreen can make you look a bit like a ghost, that’s the point. It’s a physical barrier between your skin and the sun. There’s some nice tinted varieties out there that will keep your face from being white as a sheet but otherwise, I just accepted it and carried on.

Most mineral sunscreens are not very water soluble so I found using an oil first before washing worked best. I rubbed the oil wherever I had used sunscreen and then washed everything off with soap and water. Any oil works, I used coconut or sweet almond oil mostly. Oil facial cleansers work really well to get it off your face.

The one that everyone wants to talk about – stretch marks

This is the big, flashing neon elephant in the room and probably the source of at least one eye roll inducing comment from that relative that you could see less of.  I find it to be a hard thing to talk about because while stretch marks are benign, they can weigh heavily on self image. Everyone wants to avoid them but ultimately, there is only so much we can do.

I would be cautious before buying into anything outright claiming to cure or prevent stretch marks.  It can be very challenging to sort out the gimmicks from products that might have some basis in research and science.  I just decided to steer clear of anything with those claims in general.  I didn’t have the bandwidth to filter it all out.

My approach to belly skincare was to try not to think about stretch marks, actually.  I figured they were inevitable – I mean, I got stretch marks from the summer when puberty realized that it had forgotten to give me hips and so built them entirely from scratch in a few months.  I tried to shape my mindset that regardless of whether or not it gets stretch marks, my skin is still worthy of being cared for.  Its job is not to avoid stretch marks, it’s to make room for two babies.  My job is to take care of it so it can do just that.

I know it sounds good and simple but it’s not easy.  It does take work to maintain this mindset and slip ups are bound to happen.  Be kind to yourself.

Ok, so I focused on taking care of the skin on my belly and for me, that meant zeroing in hydration.  Drinking enough water is pivotal for all aspects of pregnancy and healthy skin is one of them.  My other advice is to put an oil or balm on your belly morning and night.  I don’t know if it entirely matters which one you use, just as long as your skin feels good afterwards.  Again, because pregnancy and smells, be careful what scents you choose. Sometimes scented is better because it masks the natural scent of the product (looking at you, mineral sunscreen).  I found an oil – here again I used either coconut or sweet almond – worked best in the warm months but when the weather turned colder, I found I had to switch to a balm with cocoa or Shea butter to get any lasting moisture.  Use whatever feels good because keeping your skin feeling good will help keep you comfortable for longer. 

The Rundown on Running

One word – chafing. Before pregnancy, I occasionally would get chafing on my inner thighs during very long or particularly sweaty runs.  It happened infrequently enough that I never bothered to do anything about it.  During pregnancy, however, it happened during every run.  My underarms would also join the chafing party which was entirely new to me.  Since my usual shorts still fit at this point, I didn’t want to spend the money on a bunch of new shorts with long inseams to protect my skin so I just used an anti-chafe stick. There are a bunch of different brands on the market so just find what works for you and your skin.