Samantha Gibson is not one who takes selfies every day or provides consistent pregnancy updates via her social media pages. The wife of actor Tyrese Gibson is keen, however, on trying new things. The mommy-to-be recently went the way of rawness in a maternity photo shoot orchestrated by her husband.

“To go almost completely bare in a lot of photos was an extremely, extremely challenging experience,” Samantha admitted during an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. “But on the bright side, I was really happy because pregnancy is a process. Your body is changing, and to be able to accept that change publicly and really just put it out there like that confidently — I tried to trick myself into thinking I was doing something for women all over the world.”

Samantha had tossed the idea of a maternity photo shoot around to her husband during casual conversations. The mom-to-be did not expect her husband to go all out and bring all of the makings of a good shoot to their home.

“I actually purposely stayed out of a lot of photos,” Tyrese said of the experience. “I told her this is a moment that I really wanted to capture with her and her daughter, [Soraya].”

Pregnancy has been every bit of a life-changing experience for Samantha. “Normally I would work really hard to not have a belly,” she shared with media. “It’s been quite an experience seeing my belly and our baby grow. It’s like having front row seats to watching a miracle occur in my body.”

Tyrese and Samantha Gibson announced their expectancy of a child several months back. Little Soraya has a projected due date of September 2018. The Gibsons are planning to welcome their daughter in the same Georgia home in which they exchanged vows last February. Soraya will join her big sister, Shayla Gibson, at home.

Photo: PEOPLE