Streeeetch

Striae gravidarum. Do you know what they are? You probably do, but just by a different name. It is the medical terminology for stretch marks caused by pregnancy. And guess who has them, baby? Yep, me.

I expected to get stretch marks because around 75-90% of pregnant women get them to some degree during pregnancy, because I already have a few tiny little ones from growing fast during puberty, and because my mum got them. It doesn't matter how much vitamin E cream or Bio Oil you rub in to your belly, because it's much more dependant on your genetic makeup than any external magic potion.

I've got about a dozen stretch marks that started to pop up around the six month mark and I'm whilst I will stop short of saying I like them, I don't mind them as much as I thought I would. I've heard people refer to them as a badge of honour – I'd prefer an actual badge (a big, shiny, silver one) if I had my way, but I get what they're trying to say.

My own stretch marks have a strange significance to me because they centre around three spots on my lower abdomen – coinciding with three scars I have from laproscopic surgery this time last year. The point of least resistance has been found and exploited! At the moment I look at them and because I don't yet have Tricky in my arms to associate them with, I automatically think of the surgery and it doesn't have the nicest memories attached to it.

You see, the surgery was to remove an ectopic pregnancy. So whenever I see them (actually it is more like whenever I feel them, because I can't see over my bump!) I'm reminded of the scary times spent at the hospital waiting - because at times like that waiting is all you seem to do. Wait for a doctor, wait for test results, wait to be wheeled in to the operating theatre while laying there in a really unattractive hospital gown, wait to find out just how much of your insides they have to remove and wait to find out if you can ever have kids...

Moving away from being melodramatic, it is pretty obvious that the last question was answered with a resounding YES otherwise this blog would not exist. I am one of the lucky ones – even though my fertility has been halved (there was too much damage to the tube and it had to be removed), there is obviously still something working in there! So it turns out my now lopsided-some-bits-missing reproductive system can manage a baby after all, it just took a couple of goes to get the hang of it. Practice makes perfect, apparently.