Belly Casting
Pregnancy is never static; your body and your emotions are constantly changing. One thing that is certain is that pregnancy is amazing, particularly when you think about how hard your body must work to grow a human being and make room for it inside you. Because that pregnant belly will disappear (well, most of it!) when your baby is born, a lot of moms get their bellies cast as a way to preserve the beautiful shape and curves pregnancy creates so fleetingly.
A belly cast is a plaster mold of your belly and sometimes your breasts. These casts are simple to make, if a bit messy. You can do it yourself at home with a kit (available for under $40 at maternity stores and Web sites), or you can hire a local artist to do the casting for you. It's a quick process, not unlike those plaster-of-Paris art projects you may have done in art class in elementary school. First you cover your belly with Vaseline, and then you place strips of wet plaster over your belly and allow them to harden. When the cast is dry, you pull it off.
Some women like to wear special pregnancy jewelry to announce their condition and offer them inspiration throughout their nine months. You can also find jewelry specifically for home birth, fertility, and nursing. Additionally there is jewelry to commemorate a miscarriage. Once your baby is born, there are many jewelry options, including mother rings, birthstone booties, or boy/girl charms.
Once you have your cast, you can paint it or decorate it in any way you like. You can mount it to a board, or attach a wire to it so that it can hang, or you can buy a special box to store it in. No matter what you do with it, you'll find the experience fun and the cast a treasured memory of your pregnancy.
