Isn’t watching your belly grow the most incredible, crazy, wonderful, and frightening thing you’ve ever seen? I remember feeling like an alien had taken over my body, yet marveling incredulously and wondering if my baby could feel my hands rubbing vitamin E oil onto my tummy.

There are so many great lotions and creams to help prevent stretch marks and keep your skin supple during your pregnancy, and choosing products without any parabens is a wise start. Parabens, a class of chemicals used as preservatives, are of particular concern with leave-on products such as cosmetics and lotions because of the long exposure time. As these products migrate through your skin and into your bloodstream, there are worries about the estrogenic-like effects on your endocrine system. Some studies have correlated these effects to breast cancer and reproductive abnormalities. The good news is that the organic options work so well and smell so good that you may continue to use them long after your baby is out and your belly is back to normal (well, almost normal).

To start, you absolutely must check out the goodies from Earth Mama Angel Baby. Their natural pregnancy products combine ancient wisdom and contemporary knowledge to help comfort women through all stages of pregnancy (even the not so pretty ones).

Love Lula’s Pregnancy Pamper Kit is another lovely gift for yourself. The kit includes Bod's Stretchmark Oil, a Rose Geranium Love Candle made with 100% petroleum free plant wax, and Balm Balm Fragrance Free Lip Balm - a super concentrated nourishing lip balm, which can also be used to moisturize your face and cuticles. It even works for cradle cap and baby's bottom!

Natural Belly Balm anti-stretch mark cream with shea butter, wheat germ oil, & tangerine smells really fresh and invigorating for queasy times.

Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter is a widely available and very popular potion. And the Mama Bee Nourishing Baby Oil smells so yummy with vanilla and almond infusions.

Chic Afrique’s shea butter concoctions are a favorite I discovered at the Green Festival three years ago. The smells are so divine that whenever I get one, they seem to miraculously migrate from my cabinet to my sister’s cabinet.

Brown Bag Botanicals, a new line by Christine Trice, is another fabulous option. We love her messaging and I’ve been using her products on my face lately too.

For more information on body and face care, check out the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and their Compact for Cosmetics, which over 600 companies have signed. It is helpful to know if your favorite company is on board with making the products we put on our face and body healthier for us and our environment.