Glorious, glamorous Beyonce is even more glorious and glamorous now that baby Blue Ivy is here. She's been named "World's Most Beautiful Woman," she's basking in that new mom glow, and she's letting us in on her beauty secrets before delivery and after.
She's a diva, all right, but in the nicest, most honest way possible. The crazy thing is, her pre-birth pampering routine sounds oddly like my own. And I don't have the excuse of being, you know, a mega superstar.
But it got me thinking: Am I a diva mom too? A nice diva mommy like Beyonce?
Just like Bey, I got an eyebrow wax, a pedicure, and a manicure the weekend before my due date. Just like Bey, I got my hair done -- my blond highlights touched up and my bangs trimmed. And I, too, "had my little lip gloss" with me, as she put it when she chatted with People magazine. I also had on some eyeliner and mascara, though by the time I'd had the epidural and was in hard labor, it was a tad bit smudged.
Now mind you, I gave birth to my baby girl more than a month before Beyonce and Jay-Z had Blue Ivy (it's true, I swear ... it was Thanksgiving week). So I didn't steal her ideas and pass them off as my own. I'm not a weird celebstalker, unless we're talking about Matt Damon. If anything, SHE copied ME. Come on -- it's a little too similar-sounding, isn't it? But seriously, even though we both had our babies in New York City, Beyonce doesn't know me from a hole in the sidewalk, so there's a good chance I wasn't her inspiration.
Before you go judging me and Bey for being vain and superficial, let me explain: I did all that for the same sweet reasons Blue Ivy's mom did and then some. I wanted to look and feel fresh for what I knew would a very long haul (I had to be induced, which was a 20-hour process). It was also the most important day of my life. And I can totally relate to what she said about feeling so huge and uncomfortable toward the end of the pregnancy and just wanting to pamper a little for the big event. Plus I knew it would be my last chance in a while to get to do those fun, girly, splurgy things. (Prediction came true -- surprise.)
You know what, though? I also really wanted to make a good first impression on my beautiful new daughter. And I wasn't the only one: My husband did too. When my doctor told us I was 10 centimeters dilated and it was show time, the sweetie pie changed into a clean shirt (we'd been at the hospital all night at that point) and smoothed and combed his hair. He wanted to look nice for our girl for their first meeting, and so did I. It was one of the most touching moments of many, one of those precious memories we shared on our baby's birthday. I still get teary thinking about it.
And in the end, I felt the same way Beyonce did. Once our tiny girl (whom I'll call Belle) was born and in my arms, nothing else mattered. I wasn't thinking about how fresh I felt or how I looked and neither was my husband. We could only think of -- and look at -- the adorable newborn we were blessed to have join our family, the little person whose life had just begun.
But trust Bey and me on the pedicure. If you're about to give birth, get one!
Did you do anything special before your due date, or do you think this is silly?