While some women prefer tent-ish tops during pregnancy to hide "the bump," other moms-to-be don't mind the expanding waistline in the least -- and in some cases, even celebrate it.

In April, when Jesi Laughlin was 36 weeks pregnant with her second child, friends and family celebrated the upcoming birth with a blessingway -- a baby shower with a spiritual twist.

During a portion of the ceremony, 10 women decorated Laughlin's belly with henna, or mehendi, as a way to adorn the belly, celebrate the child in utero (who turned out to be a baby boy named Max, now eight weeks old) and as a creative and fun alternative to baby games like tasting labelless jars of baby food.

"My belly was a group effort. It was so darn big at that point it took lots of hands," says Laughlin, who lives in West Allis.

Laughlin's henna piece was primarily a lotus flower, and all of the women got to add their signature designs around it.

"It was fun and nice to look down and think about each woman who was a part of that design and how they all wished me well," she says.

Henna is a temporary dye, extracted from the henna plant, and put into "cones" so artists can draw designs or "tattoos" on the skin. Henna is visible for seven to 14 days, and is darkest when applied to the hands or feet. It also works well when applied on the belly.

Traditionally, henna is used in Northern Africa, the Middle East, Southern Asia, and Europe for special celebrations such as betrothals, weddings, the eighth month of pregnancy, birth, the 40th day after a woman gives birth, naming ceremonies, healing ceremonies and circumcisions.

It became a coveted form of body adornment in the United States in the late '90s and was slang-named "henna tattoos." Today, parenting styles leaning towards a more primal, natural approach to child care have become mainstream, popularizing practices from cloth diapering to henna application during pregnancy.

"I thought my big belly was beautiful and having mehendi was a way to show it off," says Laughlin. "My husband said it made me more powerful."

Want to get your belly henna-ed? Milwaukee henna artist Renee Simone has been in the biz for eight years. Contact her at (414) 840-5465.