I thought I'd comment on this question briefly, after reading a comment from a reader yesterday that Gov. Palin looked heavy and as if she had had a baby in the Philadelphia Zoo photo. First, that commenter mentioned that "it looks as if she had a baby two months earlier." Trig's birth would have three months prior to the date of this picture (4/17 to 7/17) not two. Not that it makes that much difference, but I did want to correct that.
Obviously, I have put on this website a fair amount of weight to photos that exist from December 2007 almost to the time of Trig Palin's birth in which this 43-44 year old woman on her fifth pregnancy doesn't look pregnant at all or looks barely pregnant or, then rather abruptly, looks significantly expectant. I have also, however, made it clear that - if a pregnancy was being "faked" the existence of some photos in which someone appears pregnant would not be that remarkable. It would be hard to fake a pregnancy without looking pregnant at some point.
That having been said, consider the following: Here's a photo probably most of you have not seen before.
It's a look we've seen for Gov. Palin often during March and April 2008. Colorful, full, scarf draped over her midsection, same (I think) black jacket. Is this a previously undiscovered photo from the months "in question" (March and April)? No. In fact this was taken on August 9, 2008 - four full months after Trig's birth. Yet I could have dropped this as a "date unknown" into any of the pregnancy discussions and we would have been dissecting it rigorously.
Now, consider this photo:
This is Gov. Palin on May 15, 2008 - one day shy of four weeks after Trig's birth. I'd say she's pretty slim here... appears far slimmer in fact than she does in the Philadelphia Zoo picture.
One more exhibit:
I show this simply because we have gotten comments here and there about the possibility of Gov. Palin's face "looking full" in some pictures around the time of the birth. These two pictures were taken the same day in August 2008. One is flattering, one is not a particularly flattering angle - and her face does look heavier. But she's not pregnant here, it's just the camera.
The point is simple... photos tell us a lot but they don't tell us everything.