Henna tattoo this late?

[Halfasianmomma]

Ok, weird question, but here goes. I got in touch with an artist who does henna designs on pregnant bellies and she'd be willing to see me on Monday afternoon. She said the design would last about 2 to 3 weeks...I'm wondering how it'll look after that long...Then it occurred to me that I could pop any day now and that it might not look so good after baby is born.

Has anyone gotten this done this late? I've only ever gotten a real tattoo so I don't know jack about henna.

[Beverly Thacker]

I do henna. It all depends on how often you was your belly. And please make sure its 100% Henna and only with lemon juice and lavendar oil. are you allergic to anything? if you have a nut allergy i would not go with it. about hte design. I am not sure about what it would look like after birth. I can find some informatioin or you can go to hennapage.com and search there. that is where I have learned all i know. I believe they have a section for henna on preg. woman. IHTH's you. If you need me to find info just pm me.

[franjapany]

Sure, go for it! I mean I have no idea what it'll look like when the baby is out but at least now you could take some nice pictures and in a way it is also a celebration of your belly - maybe it will make it easier to celebrate your postpartum belly too, who knows.

Henna is basically a die that seeps into the first layers of your skin and will fade as the skin renews itself and slowly comes off layer by layer. I used to sell henna tattoos ( a looong while ago ....*sigh*) but I never had the honour to paint a pregnant belly Maybe I should paint mine now...

[Oonah]

go for it! it's fun, beautiful and relaxing. I *think* if you peel/wash off the dried henna early it won't be as dark and won't last as long. When the time comes you'll be too busy adoring your beautiful newborn...you probably won't think twice about your fading henna.

Take pics!!

[BlueMoonBean]

Um, I'm *really* not trying to sound negative here but, speaking as a multipara, the last thing that's going to make your belly look weird postpartum is a fading henna tattoo...

I think that the whole jelly-belly effect was one of the things that shocked me the most after I had my first. It's common sense once you think about it, but I was truly stunned by the amount of skin I had flopping about. I wondered why nobody had warned me about that. Oddly enough, I can think about that stage and grin nostagically now.

ETA - We should start a thread with all the "Nobody told me to expect XYZ...."

ETA 2 - Go for the tattoo! You'll enjoy it while you're still pregnant and you can use it to focus on during labor.... Pregnant henna bellies are so pretty!

[BaMo]

I'd go for it. It sounds like a nice way to celebrate the last few weeks of your pregnancy.

[beanmakes3]

do it! i just got one on my belly a week ago as part of my belly blessing (I'm 37+4 today), and it is stunning! two of my friends who had them done said that they lasted about 2 weeks, then, poof! were gone.

who cares what it looks like after birth? for now your belly will be even more beautiful! And, you have stretch marks like me, right? If I had known about henna w/ DS1 (when I got the suckers), I would have had henna all the time!

the artist who did mine said that once the henna paste peels off, it will take about 24 -48 hours to get as dark as it's going to. This depends on your skin type and texture, but mine is still pretty distinct. (when this is done for say, an east indian wedding, they do the palms b/c coarser, thicker skin takes the dye more readily). Then, it will gradually wear away. moisturizing your skin (what belly doesn't love that?) is supposed to help too.

HTH.

[OpenHanded]

I got mine done, and my hands, a little over a week ago. I love it! It's really fading already though -- I have to wash my hands so much with ds, so... but I'm glad I did it. We got great photos etc. I'd post one here but I don't know how to do that on MDC. Go for it!

[Hokulele]

I'd go for it. How many people are you going to be showing your post partum belly to??

Would you rather have not done it and not have a weird looking henna design after delivery - or have done it and get to enjoy it for the few days/weeks you have left?

[SunnieP]

your pp tummy will look weird henna'd or not, so henna away!