Pregnancy is a special time for many women. It’s filled with magical moments. Creating new life. Watching your body grow. Hearing a heartbeat. Seeing the first scan. Preparing to welcome a baby. Wondering what they’ll look like when they’re born. Or what they’ll be like when they grow up. It is said that a woman has a certain glow when she is pregnant. And many expectant moms want the memories to last forever. So, they book maternity shoots, and show off the photos for years to come.

If you think some people look perfect when they’re pregnant, wait until you see moms from the animal kingdom before they’re about to pop. They’re just precious. Bored Panda has compiled a list of unique maternity pics that might just melt your heart. Keep scrolling for a glimpse of bulging bellies and a deep dive into how pregnancies differ from species to species.

#1 Maternity Shoot For My Pregnant Foster Dog

Image credits: caitiesfosterfam

#2 Pregnant Doggo Waits By The Window For Her Husband To Return Home From The War

Image credits: Foolsgold28

#3 I’m Fostering A Very Pregnant Cat. There Are Five Kittens In There

Image credits: reddit.com

If you think nine months is a long time to be pregnant, spare a thought for the elephant mamas out there. They carry their offspring for almost two years before giving birth. The huge animals have the longest pregnancies of all mammals. But the 22 month gestation period is not just because of their size. Baby ellies need to stay in the womb that long for their incredible brains to develop properly.

#4 That Mumma Is Ready To Pop

Image credits: corinnelovesnature

#5 Pregnant Zebra Alert

Image credits: fyahgal

#6 8.5-Week Pregnant Mamma Cat Checking Out What’s Going On Outside

Image credits: HappyJacket3113

Elephants are smart. Some would argue they’re even smarter than a few humans (read: poachers). Their brains have three times as many neurons as humans. And the babies are born really bright. Like really, really bright. Think about human babies for a minute. What can they do? Not much at all. For quite a while. They need help feeding, dressing, bathing, moving around, even burping. An elephant on the other hand is born ready. It’s able to keep up with the herd from the minute it’s born. Scientists say this is all thanks to the extended time in mom’s womb.

#7 My Name Is Somboon. You’ll All Know Me As The Pregnant Elephant That, With Sri Nuan Marched The “Walk To Freedom In May 2019”

Image credits: samuielephanthaven

#8 Olive’s Maternity Shoot

Image credits: keeveedee

#9 Happy Preggy Goat! Amelia Is Going To Be Giving Birth Soon

Image credits: standfirmfarm

Fairly recent research has found that mother elephants don’t miss a beat while pregnant. Or even shortly after. Rest? Ain’t no mommy got time for that. Researchers from Oxford University worked with Save The Elephants to take a closer look at pregnancy and birth among African elephants. They put gps trackers on the giants and were amazed by what they found.

#10 She Must Be Ready For This Baby (Or Babies) To Be Born! She Is So Big, But Seems Unfazed By It

Image credits: glc.cows

#11 Somebody Did A Maternity Shoot For Their Dachshund

Image credits: w0grammer

#12 Poor Rosemary Is Still Pregnant. She Can’t Walk Very Far Anymore But She Is Still Very Active And Babies Are Still Feeling Very Lively. I Don’t Think I Can Watch Her Get Any Bigger Than This

Image credits: strawberryquestions

According to the university, “the average daily speed of the mother did not significantly change during pregnancy, birth and when moving with a newborn calf, except for a small dip in daily speed on the day of birth itself.” It turns out the mother elephants were just as fast the day before giving birth, as they were the day after.

“We speculate that this ability ‘to keep up’ may underpin why elephants have the longest gestation period [pregnancy] of any mammal in order to facilitate an advanced state of foetal physical development, and may have evolved to help elephant herds stay together,” the lead author, Dr Lucy Taylor from the University of Oxford is quoted as saying.

#13 A Veterinarian Specializing In Tiny Animals Purchased The Elite 5600 Last Week, And We Were Delighted To Receive This Picture Over The Weekend Of A Fetal Skull On A Pregnant Guinea Pig

Image credits: scanxultrasound

#14 I Work At A Doggy Daycare And We Foster For A Local Bully Rescue. This Is Our Newest Foster, Sydney. She Was Pulled From The County Shelter And Is Pregnant

We decided to give her a super extra maternity photo shoot.

Image credits: RenardRoux13

#15 So The Male Carries The Baby In The Sea Horse World

Image credits: life_at_sundial

On the other end of the preggie spectrum (for mammals) is an animal called the Virginia opossum, found in North America. And the rare water opossum, found in South America. According to Guinness World Records, “On rare occasions, gestation periods of as low as eight days have been recorded for some of these species.”

#16 A Vision Of Beauty

Image credits: vishnu_ks_photography

#17 How Many Are Here? I’m Already Scared

Image credits: rats_kennel_charuy_zaria

#18 Connie’s Maternity Photos Look Great

Image credits: thunderheart26

The marsupial moms can have up to 13 babies at a time. Unlike elephants, the babies are far from ready for life when they’re born. After birth, they crawl straight into their mother’s pouch. They stay there for at least two months. They keep cozy, nursing and feeding until they’re ready to face the big, wide world.

According to the the Wildlife Center of Virginia, “after two months, baby opossums open their eyes, and after a couple more weeks, start to emerge from the pouch and ride around on their mother’s back.” Opossums are only independent when they reach about four months old.

#19 We Did A Maternity Shoot Today For My Very Pregnant Donkey

Image credits: dowdspooka

#20 Juno’s Piglets Are On Their Way A Little Sooner Than Expected! Any Day Now, She’ll Be Ready

Image credits: houstonspca

#21 My Best Friend’s Dog Is Pregnant So I Did A Maternity Shoot

Image credits: okolem

While elephants are born ready, aphids are born pregnant! The bugs reproduce at a rapid rate, and don’t even need a mate. The females can birth up to twelve live babies at a time. Most of which are also already pregnant. They’re considered pests to many farmers and gardeners. And it’s no surprise why. “Because each adult aphid can produce up to 80 offspring in a matter of a week, aphid populations can increase with great speed,” warned the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

#22 Arwen Is A Sassy Little Blob Mama To Be. Amazing How Much She’s Changed In A Week. Already Getting Chubbier, And She Barely Moves From Her Favorite Stick All Day. I Don’t Blame Her

Image credits: ly.fe.studio

#23 Tiny Stray, Very Pregnant. This Girl Came Up To My Son In The Street Distressed Yesterday. She Is Maybe 1 Year Old Per Vet

X-ray showed at least 6 babies in her belly and she's due to give birth within the next week. She's safe now at our home.

Image credits: Ger8nium

#24 Still Pregnant

Image credits: vossemeerse.hertjes

Here’s another fun fact from the progressive world of animal pregnancies: Male seahorses are the ones tasked with falling pregnant and giving birth. Researchers from the University of Sydney studied seahorses to see just how they do it. “Fathers incubate their developing embryos in a pouch located on their tail. The pouch is the equivalent of the uterus of female mammals. It contains a placenta, supporting the growth and development of baby seahorses,” they revealed in this research paper.

The researchers described seahorse courtship as an elaborate process. “Males open and fill their pouch with water by bending forward and contracting their bodies to force water into the pouch, before ‘dancing’ with the female. Similarly, during labour, male seahorses bend their body towards the tail, pressing and then relaxing. This ‘pressing’ behaviour is accompanied by brief gaping of the pouch opening, with a series of whole-body jerks.” All of this allows seawater to flush through the pouch. And boom! Up to two thousand babies are born.

#25 80% Sure This Chunky Chipmunk Is An Expecting Momma! She Was So Swol And Ran Oh So Slow. Have You Ever Seen A Pregnant Chipmunk?

Image credits: wildwoltersphotography

#26 Just A Normal Day In My Life! Maternity Photo Shoot For One Of My Babies

Image credits: camfoss1995

#27 I Made Friends With A Pregnant Possum

Image credits: just-a-visitor-here

Animals are pretty impressive. Totally diverse in the way they carry and birth their babies. And most of the time, they do all of it without any help from a medical professional or midwife. Although, elephants are known to get by with a little help from their friends. The females sometimes form a circle around a mom while she’s giving birth. After such a long pregnancy, who can blame a girl for needing as much protection and encouragement as possible?

#28 My Pregnant Guppy Named Peggy Is Preparing To Give Birth, And Her Tank Mate Tina Is Standing Guard Over Her

Image credits: clj02

#29 Babies On The Way, Warm And Dry On The Hay

Image credits: mtbeckworthfreerange

#30 Pregnant Squirrel

Image credits: plmagdalena

#31 Definitely The Most Lovely Maternity Paw-Toshoot. Say Hi To Mommy Luna

Image credits: scytheschaefer

#32 My Mother’s Dog Is Pregnant, So I Took Some Maternity Photos

Image credits: icouldbeconvinced

#33 He Turned Out To Be A She, And Now An Unexpected Family Extension

Image credits: wendy_leyten

#34 My Mom Is Fostering Two Pregnant Cats. This Is How One Of Them Always Sits

Image credits: Alexy92

#35 This Pregnant Mouse

Image credits: jstupack

#36 I Present To You – Vanelope’s Maternity Shoot. Please Enjoy – She Is A Special Momma

Image credits: buttercupisarabbit

#37 Maternity Shoot

Image credits: daamiets

#38 Two Years Ago I Rescued This Pregnant Stray In Texas. We Saw Her In A Parking Lot And Lured Her Into The Car With Chicken From Panda Express. This Is How She Slept The Whole Way To The Vet

Image credits: thesmallone7726

#39 My Dog Is Pregnant So We Took Maternity Pictures

Image credits: ViewsFromAveT

#40 When A Very Pregnant Deer Shows Up In Your Yard, You Gotta Do A Mini Maternity Shoot

Image credits: theshellyschwartz

#41 Found This Pregnant Cat Outside A Mexican Restaurant 1 Hour Ago, And She Won’t Leave My Side

Image credits: Chickenuwuu

#42 It Looks Like Somebody Might Be A Little Pregnant Again

Image credits: Animals_lolcows

#43 She’s Wild, But I’ve Known Her And Fed Her For 2.5 Years. She’s Pregnant Again, Likely The Matriarch Of The Dozens Of Sage Lizards That Grace My Yard

I believe the word is gravid, as in with eggs.

Image credits: Treezle737

#44 Mare In Foal At The Watering Hole. I Was Happy To Take Pictures Of The Horses At A Watering Hole At Sunset. For A Few Moments, I Forgot Everything. My Heart Sinks When I See Such Beauty

Image credits: sasha_lynx

#45 I Took Maternity Photos Of My Cat, Zelda

Image credits: catstastic13

#46 Domino Is Pregnant With At Least Two Pups! I’m So Excited And Nervous At The Same Time

Image credits: andthepigs

#47 I Caught A Friendly Pregnant Kitty On Monday. She’s Getting Used To Being Inside. Here’s Some Pics Of Her Outside And Then Inside

I named her Honey. I had been feeding her for a few months then noticed her belly getting bigger. She’s very friendly and she’d let me pet her and purr when I was around. I managed to catch her Monday, I didn’t want her to have babies in the dirt, or get FIV like my one kitty Joe. We took him in as a stray and he lived only 3 years with us, and he was the sweetest boy, but his active FIV was too much for him. Honey was also being bullied and chased away from the food I would take out, so I vowed to catch her and bring her inside.

She’s settling down but won’t go on any blankets or towels, she’s afraid of them! I hope I can get her used to something soft so she can have her babies on something other than the hard floor.

She’s leaking milk so she’ll have them soon! I’m so nervous for her, she’s just a baby having babies. I’ll get her fixed then find the best homes for her babies.

She’s so so sweet.

Image credits: reddit.com

#48 I Think My “Fixed” Cat Is Pregnant

I feel silly even typing this, but here is some context: My spouse and I became fosters to this adorable, abandoned cat that was hanging around my parent’s backyard in freezing weather (Feb 29). We fostered her through an official program that took care of all her medical needs. They told us she was not chipped, but confirmed she was already spayed. We both knew nothing about cats, but we ended up falling in love with her and we officially adopted her a few weeks ago.

She always had big nipples (we were told she may have had a litter before) so it was not a red flag. That is, until now. She has put on some healthy weight (she was emaciated when we first found her), but a lot of it seems to be in her belly area. I know it sounds ridiculous but we can’t help but think she is pregnant.

I have an appointment with the vet in 3 days (the earliest they could get me in), but I’m a little anxious thinking about the possibility she may seriously be expecting. I am wondering if this has ever happened before (an allegedly spayed cat being pregnant). I am also wondering if there could be any other reason my cat looks like this?

Image credits: uglyandbored

#49 Bought Some Ghost Shrimp For My Fish Tank And One Of Them Turned Out To Be Pregnant

Image credits: l0te

#50 1st Picture Was Taken 2 Weeks Ago, 2nd Taken Today. Would You Say She’s Got Eggs In Her? I Really Don’t Know What I’m Looking For When It Comes To Gecko Breeding

Image credits: matildaboa