Body Positive Model Ashley Graham And Her Husband Justin Ervin Welcome Their First Child

Ashley's modeling career got jump-started after she became the ambassador of the "real beauty" movement. She's also one of the most popular faces of Revlon. Back in 2019, she created a lip kit for Revlon called the Never Enough Lip Kit, and it literally sold out within three hours. That means she's built up quite the following.

She believes that while people are making a difference to include women of all ages, sizes, and colors in the modeling world, it needs to continue happening. "I have always believed that skin color is not a trend, age is not a trend, and my size is not a trend," she said, per Well+Good. "And that’s why I believe that right now, this can’t be a trend — if our voices are heard loud and clear, it won’t be.”

Ashley gained some more momentum online when she starred in a campaign for Swimsuits for All, which also featured her mom. In the press release, she exclaimed why it was so important for her mom to be there with her. "She promoted body positivity in our household before it was a movement," Ashley wrote. "Her feel-good attitude toward her own body has shaped my ability to remain positive and self-assured. I could not think of anyone better to join me in celebrating beauty of all shapes and sizes in this campaign."

Not only is it important for a mother-daughter relationship to be healthy in terms of body image, but it's also important for young girls to have idols like Ashley Graham to look up to. She's proof that there's no standard definition of pretty. She's also breaking barriers for more curvy models to shine.

When Ashley got pregnant, people were especially interested in hearing about her journey. Reason being, pregnancy can be hard on women's bodies. Even those with a very high sense of self-esteem might falter a bit when their body changes both before and after labor.

As expected, Ashley went over and above to show her body some love during her pregnancy. When you're pregnant, you realize what your body is truly capable of. That's why the lumps and the stretch marks that might appear after the fact should serve more as beautiful reminders of the fact that you literally created life.

While Ashley is usually so great at embracing her body, she admitted in her Pretty Big Deal podcast that, like many women, she went through a roller coaster of emotions when it came to weight gain.
"I have had really terrible days, I've had really good days," Ashley said. "I mean, everybody can tell you how cute your bump is, but when your body is changing so rapidly it's like, you kind of have to succumb to it."

It's just another struggle of pregnancy that a lot of people don't tell you about. Women are truly warriors. They give up so much out of love and become stronger due to the journey. And since every pregnancy is different, so many women go into it blindly, hoping they're not struck with a full trimester's worth of morning sickness.

For example, in December, Ashley shared the fact that her heartburn was becoming unbearable. "The amount of heartburn that I have is … unnatural,” she said on her Instagram story, per Life & Style magazine. "I just ordered papaya extract because, apparently, that’s supposed to help it, but damn, eight months! You gonna come through with the heartburn?!"

Ashley also got real about how pregnancy was affecting her libido. Luckily, she had two friends to help her with all of the questions she had in regard to sex, body changes, and giving birth — Amy Schumer and Serena Williams. Both of them had not-so-pleasant pregnancies themselves.

Amy was hospitalized for extreme morning sickness, and she actually had to cancel some of her tour dates because of it. After her son Gene was born, she went on Instagram to help celebrate women. "Ok here’s my post baby annoying post and my takeaway from pregnancy," Amy said. "Women are the sh**. Men are cool and whatever but women are f***ing warriors and capable of anything."

Serena Williams started falling apart right after giving birth. She had to have an emergency C-section. But due to the procedure, she was unable to take her daily blood-clotting medicine and ended up having clots in her lungs. The hero that she is, Serena was quick to tell her doctors what was going wrong and what needed to be done. Still, she's fascinated by pregnancy in general.

“I text [Ashley] anything that rolls off my mind," Serena told Vogue. "I was one of those people who wanted to know every ugly detail of what happens … down there … what happens everywhere. Like, why are my nipples so big a week into being pregnant? This makes no sense; the baby doesn’t need to eat yet."

Serena also believes that women are quick to share the magical moments of pregnancy, but not the hard parts. "I wanted to know every single thing, and I still love talking about it," she continued. "Because I feel like it’s important to kind of change the narrative and be like, it’s normal to feel scared, and not be one of those women who are like, ‘Oh, it’s so great!’ Just be scared out of your mind. That’s normal."

It's great that Ashley has two dependable friends to count on with any newborn questions she had. Now her fans will patiently wait until she's rested and well enough to give a little more information. Congratulations to her and her husband for bringing a beautiful baby boy into the world!