My Belly Cast Experience with Mimsy Jundis (Part 2 of 2)

The Belly Cast Experience In Retrospect:

I made the draft of my belly cast experience long before I gave birth to baby N.  Now reading it, I couldn’t help but cry and be amazed at how things have been seemingly laid out before us and the love and support we visualized for baby N have all become so real.  Looking through my pics of the belly cast and the design both BDW and I chose, I never realized how self-fulfilling the process would be.  Baby N as of this writing is still in the NICU. He’s been there for close to 4 weeks now — weeks that couldn’t end so soon. We’re all waiting for baby N to come home and by We it includes our relatives and closest friends. To everyone who have been rooting for baby N and  to everyone who have been praying with our family for his full healing, THANK YOU SO MUCH. The hands on the belly BDW and I drew all represent you and your love. We are grateful and humbled.

–o–

To read the first part of my casting experience please click here

The second part of the belly cast is the decoration of the cast.  However, it was already late in the day and I wanted to rest already so I asked Mimsy if we could meet again for the painting and drawing. I also asked if she could take home the cast with her as I didn’t have a safe place in our house to keep the cast in.

One rainy Sunday evening, DW, BDW and I went to Mimsy’s house. While DW played with Mimsy’s  kids, BDW and I undertook a creative exercise with Mimsy.  In her studio, Mimsy asked us to close our eyes and imagine what we wanted to convey to the baby inside me and what do we want reflected on the cast. I already had an idea what the design is but this activity is supposed to unleash other feelings or emotions that may help you with the creative process.

So BDW and I closed our eyes and thought about what we wanted to tell our baby. BDW  and I drew what we saw on pieces of paper. I drew swirls and rays conveying love radiating and circling our baby and our family.  The colors I used were bright, happy and cheerful.

 

BDW’s drawing involved a lot of hands. Our initial idea for the design of my belly was to draw a lot of hands to symbolize that our family and friends are all involved with the new baby and that this kid is loved by so many.  So, for my belly cast, we incorporated my scribbles with the hands. We traced our hands, including DW’s who also colored some parts of the cast by himself.  We used bright and vivid colors to represent happiness, excitement and how baby N would add so much to our lives.

 

Here’s the finished cast with Mimsy’s professional touch 😀 I also asked her to write the words love, infinity, life, warmth, gift, blessed, family across the top of the belly.

And my cast, proudly on display 🙂

 

The other bellies in the exhibit  and how the moms  executed their visions were really wonderful. I saw one cast that had a lot of post-it notes on it.  Well wishes and love notes from friends and family members were scribbled onto the post-it notes and were stuck on the belly. It was wonderful and heartwarming to see how these kids and their moms were celebrated.

I have to say that this part of the process is much more spiritual and meaningful  for me since we worked on capturing our family’s wishes, emotions, hopes, and dreams for the bun that was growing in my oven. The creative exercise with Mimsy was emotional as well because I imagined myself talking to baby N and telling him how we are so happy and excited to meet him.

The belly cast experience was amazing to say the least. It was absolutely awesome to have gone through something new and surreal.  DW, BDW and I were all able to express the  love and excitement we all felt to Baby N in such a unique way.

The belly cast is a wonderful, collaborative activity that you can share with your husband, partner, your family and/or your friends. Some casts have been done during baby showers while some moms have opted to create a private bonding moment while their bellies were being cast. Mimsy is a great guide of the process and infuses the session with a lot of great and positive vibes. The casts are preserved using a sealant so that they’d last a long time too.

If you’re interested in talking to Mimsy, you can contact her via 0917.811.8923 or via email at mamasteart@gmail.com Mimsy has just launched her business, Mamaste Art and you can like the facebook page here.