8 Things You Missed in Khloe's Baby Announcement
Although confirmation of Khloé's pregnancy was long-awaited and well received, with more than 7.4 million Instagram likes in less than 24 hours, her post appeared to clarify only two things: that she is, indeed, pregnant, and that her boyfriend, Tristan Thompson, is the father.
"My greatest dream realized! We are having a baby!... I still at times can't believe that our love created life! Tristan, thank you for loving me the way that you do! Thank you for treating me like a Queen! Thank you for making me feel beautiful at all stages! Tristan, most of all, Thank you for making me a MOMMY!!! You have made this experience even more magical than I could have envisioned!... Thank you all for understanding. I am so thankful, excited, nervous, eager, overjoyed and scared all in one! But it's the best bundle of feelings I've ever felt in my life!"
Although her caption is emotive, it's her photo that tells the real story, according to body-language experts Patti Wood and Blanca Cobb who, combined, have nearly 40 years of experience. Here, they explain what their observations reveal about the expectant parents' relationship.
1. The photo is dimly lit.
"It's not that they're trying to hide - [they're] trying to put themselves forward as sensual and provocative," Wood says. "Most baby announcements you see are softly lit with white light, but this is the exact opposite. It sends a message that this couple wants to be special and unique."
2. Khloé and Tristan's heads are MIA.
"To me, it's a nonverbal way of taking the emotion out of the photo," Wood says. "It's less intimate because it's not showing facial expressions or emotions."
3. Tristan's hand is cradling Khloé's baby belly.
"A lot of women touch their bellies as a way to connect with the baby and to reassure themselves the baby is OK in there," Cobb says. "Symbolically, Tristan touching Khloé's belly brings him closer to the baby. The way Tristan’s fingers are open - with his hands taking up a lot of belly space - it's like he's claiming, 'This is my baby and my family.' He may have positioned his hands to feel the baby's movement as a way to connect with [his child]."
4. Khloé's hands are placed over Tristan's.
"You'd think the woman would have her hands on her belly, because she has the most tender connection to her baby, and the man's hands would be on top of hers to show support for both the mother and the baby," Wood says. "In this posed photo, it's clear she wanted her femininity and dominance to be seen first. It says, 'I, as the woman, have the power - I’m the most important."
Cobb says this hand positioning can also reveal who's in control: "When a couple holds hands, the person whose hands are on top tends to take a more dominant role in the relationship," she says. "I'm not talking about Fifty Shades of Grey dominance - rather, someone is more in charge or more likely to take the lead on decision-making."
5. Khloé's right hand is spread wide across Tristan's right hand.
"She's trying to cover his whole hand, mirroring how much space her partner is taking up," Cobb says. "You tend to mimic people you're close to - the same way you pick up their catchphrases. The positioning suggests the couple is in sync with each other emotionally."
6. Khloé and Tristan's fingers appear relaxed.
"When you're physically uncomfortable being around someone, you can usually see tension somewhere - in the fingers, in the arm muscles, or in arm positioning," Cobb says. "In this photo, though, there's no tension in the hands, and they appear very relaxed ... it signifies things are going OK between them."
7. Their fingers aren't intertwined.
"In the photo, it would have been normal for her right fingers to drop between his and partially intertwine," Wood says. "Although this is subtle, because the photo doesn't appear to be spontaneous, it's a choice - like Khloé said, 'I want to be out in front' [instead]."
8. Tristan is blinged out.
"A large watch is a status symbol. That Tristan left it on in a photo in which he was going to have his arms wrapped around his partner shows he wants to emphasize his status," Wood says.
The Bottom Line:
"It’s a very posed photograph, which takes the spontaneity of joy and happiness out of it, so to me, that's the part that's missing," Wood says. "We don’t know if they are different than the images they project."
Cobb is less cynical: "The couple is crazy about each other and very happy about having a baby - she said so herself," Cobb says, referring to the caption of Khloé's Instagram announcement.
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