Well the due date came and went, so now I'm just hanging out, waiting, and reflecting on 40 weeks of pregnancy.
The funny thing about being pregnant these days is that I could easily get away with hiding out on zoom without ever letting anyone see my growing belly.
But sometimes people ask to see my belly.... and I love it.* I'm proud of the work I've done to grow this kiddo and delighted for the opportunity to show it off.
In fact, that's generally how I feel about my belly. Even before I got preggo (though it's hard to remember those times). It took a lot of work learning how to trust and listen to my body and to let my belly grow how it wanted to. Our culture usually only celebrates bellies when they get smaller due to diets, or larger due to pregnancy. But I dig my belly at all stages. A 3-year old friend recently whispered to her mama that she loved looking at my belly. "Why do you love her belly?" Her mom asked. "It's just...so big," she said with a grin. I know I'm coming at this from a place of all kinds of body privilege, but in case you wanted permission to be proud of your belly too-- you're in good company. Your belly has been on a journey, and I honor that. Love, Talia * People's experience of pregnancy vary soooo wildly and I in no way want to imply that my experience of my body during pregnancy is in some way the "correct body positive" approach. Not everyone likes being asked to show their pregnant bodies on zoom and that's totally fine. We're all different!