The way I figure it, I’ll probably never again have this opportunity. Even if Justin and I end up having more kids later, chances are I won’t be in my third trimester when Halloween rolls around. So this is my one opportunity to design something to show off the belly.

The first decision is whether to go cute, scary or funny. On the “cute” side, there are a lot of painted belly ideas, like painting it as a pumpkin or watermelon and dressing as a farmer or scarecrow. Someone else suggested painting a fishbowl and being a cat. Or a basketball and dressing as a basketball player.

On the scary side, there’s always a little alien from the Alien movies, which would mostly rely on Justin’s ability to make a baby alien from foam and other materials we could find and figuring out how to hook it onto the belly. Another scary Halloween idea for a mom-to-be is as a headless person with the belly painted as the “head” you’re carrying around. (Or a Spooky Hollow type headless person carrying a jack-o-lantern head) There’s also always the idea of turning a traditional scary costume into a pregnant version- like a pregnant vampire, zombie or ghost.

Some funny ideas that have been suggested are the pregnant nun (with Justin dressed as a priest) or a pregnant angel with him as a devil. There are lots of other preggo characters to choose from, too- pregnant cheerleader, redneck couple or famous pregnant celebrities, for example. Also in the funny category are things like dressing as a man with a beer belly or a character like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Other options are plays on words of things people commonly say in pregnancy. If you’re complaining that you feel like a beached whale, why not dress as exactly that- a beached whale? A cow, with belly as the udder, is another idea.

I may, of course, come up with something totally different- or maybe find a way to blend multiple ideas that I like. A pregnant pirate ghost perhaps?

Whatever costume I choose, I’m definitely planning on taking lots of pictures. I want to be able to show my son later in life what he was for his “first” Halloween.