Oh wow, so many great comments and ideas! As for the discussions about baths/no baths and lavender/no lavender, I will have to read up on it, and whatever I make I'll be sure to tell the mother what I have used.

@disquieting: I really like the idea of making a body butter, but I have no idea what I would need since I'm so new to this whole thing... Do you (or anyone else reading this) know any recipes or tutorials about making body butter? It might be tricky to find ingredients too, as I don't live in the US, so the simpler the recipe the better! 

@maremare312: I love your bath bomb belly idea! I'll have to try that. Also, I don't know why I didn't think of a foot soak, that would be perfect! I have a language related question though (my English isn't the best, I'm from Sweden): What is epsom salts? I remember making bath salts when I was little but I think we used normal sea salt. Hmm...

Keep the ideas coming! 

easy-peasy body butter:
2 parts cocoa butter (you can also use shea butter if thats easier to get ahold of)
1 part oil (soybean oil is fairly easy to get ahold of, sunflower oil, and almond oil are usually in grocery stores next to the olive oil)
a smidge of vitamin E (optional)
fragrance

melt the cocoa butter, oil, and vitamin E in a microwavable bowl, add the fragrance oil, pour into container and let cool. voila!

actually, lavender is great for a pregnant woman, its relaxing and soothing, and it has natural skin healing properties

there are oils you want to avoid, peppermint and orange being 2 of them...

essential oils are actually probrably your best way to go, because they are all natural, and barring any pre-existing sensitivies to the plant, you will be not only adding aroma, you will have different healing properties added too

there are some schools of thought that believe that the calming and relaxing effects of lavender can induce premature pregnancy. so though its not "dangerous", adding too much lavender to a product could be not the best idea. of course, the chances are low but if you're new to b&b i would say its best to avoid it.

Thanks for your advice!

@ disquieting: Thanks! I was just thinking about lavender, but I won't use it then... I'm worried about essential oils in general, they might be a bit "too much"... I'll have to do some research. And thanks for your tip on the cocoa butter, I knew I read about that somewhere on here! I wonder what I could make with it...

@ Skellerz: Your post got me worried, so I went to some pregnancy sites and it seems that as long as the water is warm, and not HOT, it's ok... (here's an article I found on the subject: http://www.amazingpregnancy.com/pregnancy-articles/34.html) And anyway, if she doesn't want to use it right away she can always keep them and use once she's had the baby!

Any other ideas?

cocoa butter goes great in most stuff! id recommend a body butter with cocoa butter and an oil in it or a soap with cocoa butter if you're feeling adventurous You can also make a balm with cocoa butter, beeswax, and oil. good luck!

I can't help you with specifics but to say that the stretch mark ingredient is cocoa butter and ive heard bad things about lavender for preggo moms so be careful with that.

good luck! 

thanks! I didnt design it, my tattoo guy (Travis from In the Blood for those Pittsburghians out there!) drew it. I couldnt draw a stick figure to save my life, much less a tattoo like that 

last stanza of the poem "somewhere i have never travelled"


its a little scrunched because i was so swollen from getting it filled in

theoretically it could work if you did more oil than soap base so it was a liquid to begin with...theres a recipe on here somewhere for a liquid soap that might be helpful to you. sorry if i wasnt much help...good luck!

yay! thanks for the recipe

do you think i could substitute shea butter for the cocoa butter?

Maybe its just beyond me...but how do you split scrubs in the same jar? Like half of the jar is one color scrub, the other half is another color.

thanks

if you did add beeswax you could turn it into a solid lotion bar, too! those are always fun