CREATING Life

I remember when I was pregnant, some days I felt like a goddess - beautiful, strong, amazing, powerful, curvacious, and sexy... other times, the swelling, backache, heartburn, and nausea was too much to be able to revel in my beautifully voluptuous body! 

Nearly daily, though, I tried to remind myself how sensual and amazing I was! I was creating life! My body was perfectly growing this amazing little person - and I looked good doing it! It can be difficult celebrating yourself and your body when you feel so different - but changing your outlook can change your heart and attitude - which can be a saving grace in those last months of pregnancy! 

Some women have begun pregnancy photography - whether it be sensual, silly, cozy, or abstract. If you choose pregnancy photography, choose a photographer that can capture how you want or do feel during pregnancy. This memento is a literal keepsake of your beautiful form! 

 

Some women have taken to belly casting, a beautiful memento of your pregnant form. A belly cast is a plaster cast of your belly and/or full torso. It can be 'nude' or you can decorate it/have it decorated. It can be hung on a wall, bronzed and used as a centerpiece/bowl or even lined with soft wool and used as a cozy for babies first week of life outside the womb. 

 

http://littlelumpkin.blogspot.com/2008/06/birthing-quilt.html

Some women paint, create pottery, or sketch, reveling in their form and this season of life. Some add words or prose, but all are beautiful works of art that allow women to unfold their innermost self. This artwork can be on full canvas, in sketch books, in clay, or, as the case of the center piece of artwork, on a quilt. 

And others create pieces of wearable art. Pregnancy jewelry is a powerful way to carry your 'talisman of power and beauty' with you at all times. Some women wear jewelry that is pregnancy specific, while others wear jewelry with a saying or a symbol that is meaningful to only them, such as a bead or phrase.

organicmothers.com

No matter how you celebrate your pregnancy, do it!  I know that people have probably told you over and over again to cherish this time, you can never reclaim it, but from one who has BTDT, I can attest that these sentiments are very true. 

If you need ideas for how to start, consider reading a book on celebrating self. A perfect one for pregnancy is called Sacred Pregnancy. Another great benefit of pregnancy art and celebration through creative works is that it translates beautifully into birth art.

http://talkbirth.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/birth-altar-wisdom/

Birth art is a wonderful way to express your needs, desires, delights, and yes, even fears, regarding birth; but art allows it to be done in a positive way that can help carry you through your birth journey.

Blessingway beads are oftentimes held, carried, rubbed, kissed, and worn during birth. It gives mom a sense of centering, and is a beautiful reminder of all of the women holding her space in their own ways.

Other women will make collages or posterboards of phrases of strength, beauty, power, and joy for their birthing time. These posters and collages can be used as a focal point for labor and birth, providing women with affirmations and strength.

No matter how you celebrate yourself - both your pregnant and birthing form, do it! After all, at no other time in her life is a woman more in touch with creation than when she is creating a human life within herself!