Bellycasting is an art form that is long overdue.

"It's just a testament to the most wonderful part of a woman's life," said Heather Hilton, a HypnoBirthing Childbirth Educator.

"It's your pregnant form, which you never get to see from the outside anyway, and it's preserved in three dimensions and it's like your baby's first home,” said mom Liz Vazquez.

The women are talking about bellycasting, a way for moms to preserve their body's shape when baby's inside.

"Moms are really becoming proud of the way their body is changing during pregnancy rather than hiding that body, they're really celebrating it,” Hilton said.

Hilton said making the mold isn't nearly as hard as it looks. She demonstrated the technique on a balloon. You start with a couple of rolls of plaster cloth, gloves, and Vaseline. First, you coat the balloon, or belly, with a layer of Vaseline.

"What you get to make a bellycast is rolls of plaster cloth, which you cut into strips and you put in water,” Hilton said. "And then you put the plasters trips over mom's belly and her breasts if she likes and you can put dad's hand on mom's belly which is really neat - or if mom has younger children, you can put the younger children's hands on mom's belly.”

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"Mom will feel it begin to release from her body, and then you take it off,” Hilton said.

What you do from there is up to you.

"Some moms definitely put it out there, some moms just hide it away with other sentimental things,” Vazquez said.

"Some women I've even seen have really finished it out nicely where it's nice and sturdy and they put a blanket inside and when the baby is born, they'll nestle baby up right inside the bellycast and you can really see how your baby laid inside your body, which is pretty amazing,” Hilton said.

The bellycast is a souvenir that was 9 months in the making -- that lasts a lifetime.

You can buy a kit, or do it yourself. A home-made bellycast costs well under $20. If you have any questions about bellycasting, you can call HypnoBirthing of Central Texas at (512) 736-2122. Ask about next month's Expectant Mom's Club brunch on Saturday, April 17 at 10:30 a.m. It’s free to the public.