Woman with child- thou art beautiful

Two of my female colleagues are pregnant. One at 8 months, looking like she could pop any day. Big big beautiful belly carrying a baby all day. The other, at 4 months, usually a very flat stomached woman, now you can see the baby bump. Ever so slight but still obvious, growing a little every day.

And everyday as I see these women, I realise how absolutely beautiful a pregnant woman's body is. There is something so organic, so raw about that body- the breasts that start to fill in, the skin that begins to glow or on days look weathered, the belly that expands slowly at first and then as if the child just seems to want to burst forth. The confidence of the that body, as the woman walks around all day, working like the rest, doing things as normal as ever at the same time accomodating the creation of a human life within.

What makes it even more beautfiful is that for those 9 months, the female body must reject every other stigma, every other rule, every other stereotype that sets all these rules around the female anatomy. Stick thin, dieting, eat like a mouse, avoid all carbs, thin arms, flat stomach, perfect boobs , photoshopped bodies and on and on and on. For those nine months, you eat for two and them some more, you get on that weighing scale, hoping to see the extra pounds, you eat what you crave withoutt worrying about the calories and  you let the belly grow. For once, your body is yours and that of your child growing within.

And the confidence that comes with that body. I can almost see it on the faces. I mean, you are creating a human life within you- would you need another reason to feel more empowered? Bootcamps don't even come close.