Blossoming

So I was inspired by my tightening jeans, blossoming bump, and the desire to see a still image of what I look like at 15 weeks along in my pregnancy.  So here I am standing in my bedroom in front of the mirror, taking a photo of myself.  I know, I know.  It is so vain for me to wonder what I’m looking like, but truth be told, I rarely think about the fact that I am pregnant because when I look in the mirror, I don’t see much of a difference.  Yes, my pants are tighter, my shirts are shorter, and I’ve been told by Annabelle that my stomach is larger, but for the last 5 weeks, I haven’t really given it much thought that there’s another little one slow cooking in my bump.

Out of curiosity and a desire to look somewhat fashionable as my clothes shrink and I wait to fit in my maternity clothes, I googled “pregnant celebs” to see what styles the famous preggos are wearing.  What this exercise turned into was my disbelief and I guess repulsion that these pregnant celebs looked pretty much like they did pre-pregnancy with the addition of something of a large stomach.  I won’t name names, but one recently pregnant celeb (who had twins I might add) had rather stick-like arms when she was far into her 3rd trimester.  Hey, I’m open minded.  I like people with stick-like arms and fleshy arms and muscly arms, it’s just that I started to wonder what do real women look like when they’re preggers?

So I went about to google.  I started with “pregnant women” and came across images of lots and lots of  pregnant women (many who were featured on photography sites specializing in maternity and newborn work).  I also came across a real-to-life scaled pregnancy dummy for ob-gyn med students to study.  Several angles and images of this dummy were available for viewing, and while interesting, I felt somewhat disturbed by it all.  But, hey, it’s for sake of science, healthy women, healthy babies, so I think I’m all for it.  For now anyway.

Last, I hit the jackpot.  I came across the Maternity Gallery, which is hosted by Katsoulis Photograph in Boston, MA, and is a week by week gallery of photos submitted by real pregnant women.  Some of the photos are artistic and professional but most are taken by actual pregnant women who submit their images to the site.  As I paged through a gallery of pregnant women, who are as far along as I am, I have to say that I felt much better about my body image, that is, my pregnant body image and realized that yes, I do look pregnant (or as pregnant as many other women look).  Also, seeing the beauty of other pregnant women boosted my confidence and made me feel far more comfortable with my coming expansion during these next 25 weeks.

Given that I have a  2 year old who needs my full attention some 24 hours a day and that my mind doesn’t think far beyond what her needs are, I probably won’t think or worry much about the fact that I am pregnant.  Of course, I will continue to eat healthfully, get daily exercise, and keep positive thoughts with me, but overall, I probably won’t have the time to consider my current and coming expansion.  And, when I do think about my pregnancy and changing body, and I need encouragement, and maybe, just maybe, I’m doubting my outer beauty (pregnancy does not necessarily mean that a woman “glows.”  In my case, my hair gets limp, my skin gets dry, and I break out in rashes), I will happily head on over to the Maternity Gallery and indulge in the beauty of real pregnant women.