Let's Talk Tats...

I dunno if you noticed, but I've got a big old tattoo going down my side.  If you didn't you should probably get your eyes checked since it's front and center in every one of my weekly update belly pictures (all of which can be seen here)!

The orchid is actually one of six tattoos that I have, but it's the only one that really raises any concern when it comes to my growing midsection.  Let's face it, the odds of it surviving the 40 weeks of belly growth are pretty slim.  But it's doing pretty well so far:

Personal Photos

Oh how I miss my body....


The left picture was taken at 5 weeks pregnant, the right side at 20 weeks (or halfway through the pregnancy).  The two flowers closest to my belly are still completely unchanged, all that has happened is my vine has grown.  But I was very fortunate to have a very skilled tattoo artist do this piece.

For that middle section, he didn't use a stencil.  He actually drew the vine directly on to my body.  On top of that he kept having me push out my stomach (I have always been able to push my stomach out to even bigger than it is now, at 21 weeks pregnant) and suck in my stomach so he could place it in an area that would have the least amount of damage.  I'm not so naive to believe that the art will hold up for the next 20 weeks, but I'm really astounded by how well it's holding up so far!

On top of having an awesome artist do the work, I'm also super lucky in that I have really elastic skin.  I may have the crappiest pregnancy acne ever but I have never had a stretch mark in my life.  Even on my ever expanding hooters (seriously, my E-cup bras are getting snug - someone please make it stop), there isn't one stretch mark.  It's one of the few things I can thank my Mom for; even after 3 babies (and gaining about 60 pounds when she was pregnant with me) she never got a stretch mark.  So that should actually help my beloved tat hold up.  I've also never had cellulite, something both of my sisters are super jealous of since they've both had cellulite on their asses since they were teens.  I still don't have any cellulite, but I have developed a few spider veins on my butt!  Not varicose veins (they aren't raised at all) though, so I guess I really can't complain.

Do you have any tattoos that were affected by your pregnancy?  What about stretch marks/vein changes?

Until next time...