Jessica Alba talks pregnancy, birth, and maternity favorites in Fit Pregnancy
Appearing on the cover of the June/July issue of Fit Pregnancy, actress Jessica Alba spoke with the magazine about preparations for her baby girl, due in the next few weeks. The 27-year-old chatted about how she’s been feeling, cravings and aversions, her delivery plan, the kind of mother she wants to be, changes she’s made, and more.
Jessica also revealed her favorite pregnancy items, along with a few fashion and gear pieces she thinks will be important once her and fiancé Cash Warren‘s daughter arrives.
Click below for the interview highlights!
On how she’s feeling:
At the end of the dayI am so tired I can’t function or speak and my eyes glaze over; butthis pregnancy has seriously mellowed me out, which is nice. I’ve beengoing, going, going for so long, it feels nice not to take things soseriously.
On cravings and aversions:
Isuddenly love citrus stuff, oranges and lemonade; I can’t get enough ofit, and I didn’t really care for any of that before. And I can’t dealwith things that are too pungent. I used to love truffles; now I can’t.I also have a hard time eating a big steak.
On her delivery plans:
I want to spend asmuch of my labor as possible at home, and I’m taking a HypnoBirthingclass. It’s a relaxation technique that allows you to avoid going intopanic mode and tightening up. If you are calm and relaxed, your bodywill just do what it has to do.
On becoming a mom at 27:
Ithink I’m the perfect age — young enough to be a young mom but oldenough to be prepared and totally ready for it. My parents were 19 whenthey had me, and that is different from being 27. And I’ve lived manydifferent lives, so I’m excited and happy to be a mom right now.
On the kind of mom she wants to be:
I don’t want to be my child’s friend; I want to be a mom. But I do wantmy child to come to me when they have problems and need to talk, soit’s going to be about treading that line.
I watch the TV show Supernanny with Jo Frost, and it is soobvious, of course, when you are not in the situation yourself to go,"The kid is jacked on sugar all day long and you are arguing with them?Send them to a time-out chair or to their room!" But because theparents never established those rules, the kids are doing anything theywant, and I look at that closely.
On how she thinks Cash will be as a father:
Weare pretty similar in our views on parenting. But I really don’t wantmy kids eating McDonald’s, and Cash will probably be the kind of dadwho’ll sneak off and get McDonald’s for them and tell them not to tellmom!
On changes she’s made:
Wehad to get a baby-friendly house because my home was four stories witha big spiral staircase — so not a baby house! It’s a big project, withpainting and decorating.
The crib and other baby furniture I’m gettingis through the charity Step Up Womens’ Network.I’ve been working with them since I was about 20 helping to serviceunderprivileged women. They started a modern baby furniture collectionwith simple lines. I think often the baby’s room doesn’t fit in withthe rest of the house, but this line does. Plus, the crib is made ofsustainable wood, and the other furniture has low-VOC paint.
On her heritage and traditions she’ll pass on:
Mostlyit will be the Mexican traditions that will be important. At Christmaswe sing Las Posadas, which is like a Christmas play, and we sing all ofthe Christmas carols in Spanish and English. My grandmother hastraditions I will definitely be exposing my kid to.
As far as food goes, we are pretty diverse. Cash grew up with soulfood, I grew up with Mexican, but we both love sushi and lots of otherkinds of food, so we will be able to expose our kid to so manydifferent things.
Jessica also sat down with writer Jenny Cooney Carrillo to discuss her favorite pregnancy and infant items — thus far anyway! Here’s her list:
Maternity clothes:
Maternity Spanx are my favorite right now. The stomach is cut out so its fantastic when I’m wearing a nice dress because there is no chafing! I am wearing a lot of Juicy right now also, long dresses with extra room in the bust so everything is in a bigger size, but if I go for maternity clothes, I like Pea in the Pod.
Shoes:
Flip-flops, of course. I just don’t want to wear anything else on my feet at this point!
Items for baby:
I love Petit Bateau, they have some really nice baby clothes, but my favorite clothing item for the baby are vintage clothes. I went to France to a vintage flea market and they had little outfits that the baby goes home in, made out of this cotton from the late 1800s and it was so beautiful! I am going to have my stylist put little buttons on it because they used to use safety pins back then, but it feels so special because it’s not made anymore.
Baby gear:
Orbit is my favorite. It’s a hybrid stroller that looks like half an egg. You can use it as a car seat and a stroller so you never have to take the baby out of it. Then when the baby gets bigger you can put a toddler seat in so it’s really practical. It’s also eco-friendly so that’s another nice thing; I’ve been trying to get a lot of eco-friendly products.
Makeup:
There is a line from Revlon called New Complexion Oil-Free Makeup. It blends into your skin tone, so whether you are a couple of skin tones lighter or darker, it works with you. I find my skin is not the same day to day; sometimes I’m really pale and other days I’m flushed. I used to like Revlon Colorstay because it didn’t move, but now that I’m pregnant, I want something lighter on my face, so I really like the New Complexion Concealer.
Jessica’s new film, The Love Guru, will be in theaters June 20th.
Source: Fit Pregnancy, June/July issue. Cover courtesy Fit Pregnancy. See photoshoot images of Jessica here, here and here.
