The Shape of a Mother

I took some pictures yesterday of my 26-week pregnant belly and began to feel self-conscious about my body and how it looks. I feel huge right now and have so long to go! Yet, I have gained less than I did with Ben's pregnancy at this point. Its just vanity that I am self-conscious and I need to get over it. I normally actually like being pregnant and generally feel good about my body when I am pregnant. I am thankful to be carrying a baby at all, so I hope I don't come across as selfish and vain. I probably do.
A friend today sent me a link to a site called "The Shape of a Mother" which is a beautiful site about how women REALLY look during pregnancy and postpartum (as opposed to how media/magazines, etc make us think we should look). It is beautiful. There is some nudity on the site, so it is not for everyone. It helps me (and reminds me as I see women that look like this every week in my practice) and reminds me that we are all beautiful in our own way, created in the image of God. He sees us as lovely no matter what we look like on the outside. And we all have some beauty to offer, even if we don't look like Reese Witherspoon or Gweneth Paltrow...and really they probably don't look like we think they look anyway.
If you're brave enough to look at the site, here is the link .