1. When the California mom blogger who "invented" gender reveal parties said her perspective on them has shifted after raising her nonbinary daughter:
"Who cares what gender the baby is? I did at the time because we didn't live in 2019 and didn't know what we know now - that assigning focus on gender at birth leaves out so much of their potential and talents" -the inventor of the gender reveal party
In 2008, Jenna Karvunidis become famous in parenting blog circles as the person who "invented" gender-reveal parties. Her daughter, who inspired the gender-reveal cake with pink icing inside, is now exploring nonbinary expressions of herself. Karvunidis said, "Who cares what gender the baby is? I did at the time because we didn't live in 2019 and didn't know what we know now — that assigning focus on gender at birth leaves out so much of their potential and talents that have nothing to do with what's between their legs."
2. When this pole dancer showed off her pole dancing routine while pregnant:
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In March of 2016, Australian pole dancer Jill McLean (aka Cleo the Hurricane) shared a video of her pole dancing routine on Facebook. "I take my pregnancy VERY seriously and would never put on a pair of 7 or 8" heels if I wasn't completely comfortable and confident in them," she wrote. She gave birth to a healthy boy named John.
3. When this Kansas mom gave birth in the hallway of an emergency room:
In Februaury of 2018, Jes Hogan delivered her and her husband Travis' sixth child in the hallway of a hospital ER. The couple's birth photographer, Tammy Karin of Little Leapling Photography, arrived at the hospital just in time to capture these once-in-a-lifetime photos.
4. When this pregnant news anchor read the hate mail she got about her maternity clothes on air:
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Kristi Gordon, chief meteorologist for Global BC News in Canada, was criticized for the outfits she wore on air during her first pregnancy, so when she got pregnant with her second child in 2015, she asked viewers to be nice about what she wore. Her request backfired, though, and she received even more hate mail than before, so she read the messages on air. You can watch the video here.
5. When a mom from Copenhagen documented this week-by-week progression of her pregnancy with triplets:
Maria's triplets (Iben, Agnes, and Filip) were born healthy at 35 weeks in September of 2018. She has since been documenting her postpartum body struggles and life with her 1-year-old triplets and 3-year-old son. You can follow the triplets_of_copenhagen on Instagram.
6. When a Virginia woman told her husband she was 19 weeks pregnant after suffering four miscarriages and a stillbirth:
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Dana Griffin-Graves' husband, Arkell, broke down in tears after learning his wife was five months pregnant with their son.
7. When these two mommas – whose due dates were only four weeks apart – showed that healthy pregnancies come in all different shapes and sizes:
Chontel Duncan (left) is a fitness model and former Miss Universe contestant from Australia who posted the now-viral photo with her friend, Natalie Smith (right), on her Instagram. She captioned, “Each woman carries differently and this most certainly doesn’t mean one is doing something wrong or not healthy. We both have healthy growing babies and we both have had incredible pregnancies so far.” The two both had healthy baby boys in March of 2016.
8. When this award-winning birth photographer captured a baby being born "en caul," or still fully inside the amniotic sac:
En caul is so rare that it occurs in less than one of 80,000 births. The parents of the twins in the above photo had a home birth and the second baby came out still in the amniotic sac. In August of 2017, another rare event happened: a mom gave birth to an en caul baby in her car.
9. When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their pregnancy:
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019.
The announcement came on October 15, 2018 and, let's just say, people freaked out. Meghan gave birth to Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor on May 6, 2019.
10. And when Meghan Markle didn't try to hide or cover her post-baby pregnancy bump:
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In May of 2019, people praised her for helping "normalize" what postpartum bodies really look like.
11. When this Georgia mom had her maternity photoshoot during the solar eclipse and got some unforgettable photos:
The 2017 shoot was during the US’s first total eclipse in nearly 100 years. Nichole Carver's mother-in-law, Lisa Cruikshank of Still Pearl Photography, perfectly captured the shots. “It was hard trying to hold my eclipse glasses over the lens,” Cruikshank told BuzzFeed, “but I closed my eyes and held the shutter down for about 20 frames and got lucky one was in focus.”
12. When the internet freaked out over the official news of Kylie Jenner being pregnant with Travis Scott's baby:
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In September of 2017, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed Kylie's pregnancy to BuzzFeed. Kylie only posted old photos of herself on her Instagram during her pregnancy.
13. And then when Kylie explained why she kept her pregnancy a secret from the world after the birth of her daughter, Stormi:
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Stormi Webster was born on February 1, 2018. Kylie dedicated this video to her on her YouTube channel. It shows behind-the-scenes footage from throughout her pregnancy.
14. When this cancer-surviving mom hung a "no breastfeeding zone" sign in her delivery room:
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Meghan Koziel survived cancer in 2015 after undergoing a double mastectomy. She had her daughter, Kendra Jane, in 2018 and said, "I wanted a subtle way to tell them why I wouldn't be breastfeeding, but also direct enough to get my point across."
15. And, finally, when this dog had her own pregnancy photoshoot:
Brazilian photographer Ana Paula Grillo took the photos of Lilica a day before she gave birth to a litter of five puppies. She had a healthy litter of four boys and one girl.
There you have it – a decade of pregnant moms who got us all talking in the best way!
