The 32-year-old model and her husband, Justin Ervin, are expecting a baby boy in January.
Ashley Graham is showing off her baby bump!
The 32-year-old model covers the January issue of Vogue and stuns in her portraits for the mag. While she certainly wows in a gold Oscar de la Renta caftan on the cover, it's the inside image that really stands out.
In the pic, Graham, who's nude save for a white shirt covering her breasts, and her husband, Justin Ervin, pose together on the beach. The couple looks peaceful as a shirtless Ervin, 31, wraps his arm's around his wife's bare belly, which is holding their first child, a baby boy, who's due Jan. 11.
"I don’t know anything about boys, so I’m so excited," Graham says in the interview.
"She owed me a boy," Ervin quips in response. "What with all of this wonderful, divine, feminine energy she has around her 24/7, I want a little sidekick."
Throughout her pregnancy, things have changed sexually for her and Ervin, something that, Graham reasons, is normal for every couple.
"I feel like every relationship goes in waves of sex," she says. "You’re like, 'Hey, do we need to plan this?'"
"And now, with pregnancy, things have been real-ly diff-er-ent. Because there’s this huge bulge that can be sensitive if you lay on it or go into a new position," Graham continues. "I’ve been literally asking every single one of my friends who have had babies or who’re pregnant, like, 'What positions do you guys do?' This has to be a normal conversation among mothers."
Among the friends she turns to for advice are Kim Kardashian West, Serena Williams and Amy Schumer.
"I’m just taking in advice from everyone and not putting too much pressure on myself," she says. "... Kim immediately started telling me, 'Ashley, the pregnancy may be the hardest part, but the birth is the easiest'... Serena was like, 'Call me; we should talk.'"
During their communication, Williams tells Vogue, she texts Graham "anything that rolls off my mind" in an effort to "change the narrative and be like, it’s normal to feel scared."
Meanwhile Schumer invited Graham over to see her nursery and let her know she'd be available for any and all questions.
"I was like, 'And the nicest thing I can do for you is tell you that you won’t hear from me again, but you can call me anytime,'" Schumer tells the mag. "'Cause it’s a lot. People are so in your face when you’re pregnant because they’re so f**king excited for you. And you don’t get it. You can’t possibly get it. And then after you’ve had a baby you’re like, 'Oh, I get it!'"
While fielding all the pregnancy advice, Graham has learned to come to terms with the fact that all people want to discuss is her impending bundle of joy.
"There’s just this camaraderie. It’s a secret society that I didn’t know about," she says. "I was hiding my pregnancy for the first four months. I’ve always had control over my body -- when everyone else wanted to dictate what it should be, I took full control over it -- but I had this life inside of me saying, 'It’s not yours anymore, it’s mine.' And you have to just succumb."
"I felt like I didn’t have anyone to talk to. I was gaining weight rapidly. And I felt alone," Graham continues. "And the one piece of advice that my stylist, Jordan Foster, gave me was, Make pregnant friends. None of my friends were in relationships, let alone pregnant. And now I have nine pregnant friends."
Amid her pregnancy, as well as throughout every aspect of her life, Graham focuses on one thing above all else -- being authentic.
"I think in this generation, authenticity is everything. It’s gold," she says. "There’s nothing sexier than being your true, honest self. And the more you are, the more accepted you are, and the easier it is to navigate through success. I don’t have a persona. This is it. Just be yourself!"
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