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.
- Posted on May 19, 08 at 10:38AM
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- 28 Comments
May 19th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Yay for hypnobirthing! I read and studied it for my latest birth. Although I ended up with a section, the things I learned from hypnobirthing helped me with recovery too.
I’m quite surprised at what I read. She’s a lot more down to earth than I had her pegged.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Way to work in the Revlon endorsement Jess! LOL! She seems to have def. mellowed out with her pregnancy. I agree with her that 27 isn’t too young to have your first baby!
Also, hasn’t She been kinda MIA the last week or so? I was beginning to wonder if she secretly had her baby!!
May 19th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I can’t wait to see this new baby! Jessica and Cash are going to be great parents. This was a great interview.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I hope Jessica has better luck “not being [her] child’s friend” than me and my mom. My mom told me she wasn’t my friend when I was 13…she never wanted to know anything about what my friends and I talked about, who I liked, how my dates went, what I was interested in; nothing. And now I’m 24, and she doesn’t even know me. And since her mother died, I’ve tried to get closer to my mom, but she either changes the subject or gets impatient, so I’ve just given up. Maybe it’ll change if I become a mom, although at this point, I doubt it.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:54 am
I think she’s going to be a terrific mom. She seems so centered and knows what her values as a woman are towards her future children.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I love her line “I don’t want to be my child’s friend; I want to be a mom.” Also about treading that line. A child can have many friends, but only one mom. She seems very level headed. Sure, your life changes as it should, but a baby can be incorporated into your life. A child is not prepared to be in charge.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I’m not sure if I like the idea of ‘i don’t want to be my child’s friend’ as I have a son and it’s just him and me living together in Paris. But my son and I are so close, he knows that I’m his mummy and that he is my child- but we’re best friends. I play with him, ask him questions about his life, support him when he needs me, dress his injuries, tell him off when he’s naughty, and I have his love and respect because he trusts me with all his heart. I think it’s a great idea being a friend to your child, as long as you know where the boundaries lie.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
It sounds like she had really prepared to be a mother and discussed parenting with Cash. Good luck to them.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I believe that when Jessica said “I don’t want to be my child’s friend; I want to be a mom” she didn’t meant not interesting in her child’s issues or not knowing her daughter, in fact she states later: “I do want my child to come to me when they have problems and need to talk”. I believe she said it because nowadays alot of parents prioritize being friends without drawing a line or establishing rules, so later it’s harder to discipline the kids. When she says “I look at that closely.” I think she’s talking about finding a place to draw a line between being friends and parenting. I believe that’s the whole purpose of being a mom.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I agree very much with Jessica. I love my children dearly. But I have no interest in “being friends” with a 19 and 17 year old. My job is to be a good mother, a good role model, and a good provider. I hope that once they are adults we would develop something that could be defined as friendship, but if not, they know for sure that they have mom who has their back.
Not being some party-girl like Dina Lohan or losing complete control over your children like Lynn Spears or being some “stage mom” like Sonja Norwood and ending up having one child get pregnant then lie about being married to protect “an image” and another one making a sex tape to sell albums.
It’s out of hand all these permissive moms. You got moms telling there 9 years olds the type of sex they have with their husbands then saying…we are very open about talking about sex in our family…puh-leeze.
Everything has a place and a time. Even developing a friendship between a child and their parents which I think should happen with the children are adults. Children need to understand boundaries and they need the comfort of knowing their parents are in charge and willing to take the lead and help them make good decisions. Not willing to party in nightclubs with them or go on double dates with them or play Halo 2 with them for 10 hours straight.
I watch SuperNanny and some of these parents really turn my stomach. Ugh. I don’t blame the kids for being discipline problems. I blame the parents, because these people clearly have not set up any rules of behavior, come up with any effective discipline, and have basically given up and let the kids run things because they want their kids to “like them”. Give me a break.
My kids have yelled “I hate you” many times…and you know what I do. I “brush my shoulders off”. They want be hating me when that new movie comes out, or they need a new outfit for the dance, or when the principal calls me in to school….suddenly it’s “I love you mommmy, soooooooooooooooooo much”. Hmm.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
She seems like she’s been pregnant FOREVER! Some celebrities seems to only be pregnant momentarily, but I hardly remember her not pregnant!
I’m sure the baby will be beautiful…can’t wait to see her!
May 19th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
YAY! A celeb talking about Hypnobirthing. When I tell people about it, they tell me it sounds hokey, but it really does work! Go Jessica! About time a celeb tried that instead of scheduling a cosmetic C-section for thier “convenience”.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I absolutely love Jessica and her views. I told my daughter a long time ago…when she was about 9 or 10 and we started experiencing some attitude problems..”I am NOT you friend…I am your mother” and I am in charge! That does not in any way mean she couldn’t come to me for any reason and I wouldn’t be there. Just the opposite happened…she came to me with everything…boys, dating, anything and everything. We are VERY close and I asked her the other day if she would rather have had it the other way around with my being her friend more than a mother and disciplinarian…she said absolutely not! She is glad I raised her the way I have and plans to do the same with her own children in a few years. That made me so proud. You can be your child’s mother and make the hard decisions and lay down the rules and still have them be open and honest with you about their lives. I think that is all Jessica was trying to say.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I do understand your point of views- I want to make it very clear that I discipline my son when needed, I am very firm with him and he knows exactly who’s boss. However, there are times when I get lost in this mad, crazy, fun world that my son creates and we have a lot of fun together, and we tell eachother everything, and support eachother. Of course I want to protect him, especially from the horrors that lie out there, but I think it’s important to be honest with him and to treat him as a friend, because I have so much respect and love from him- my son knows I value his opinion even though he is only 4. He will grow up with his own self-worth, opinions, values and knowledge of the world and also having his mother always there for him. I want Pierre to be my best friend as well as my son and one day, when he is a man, he will be able to have so much respect for him and others as a person.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
I’m surprised she does this many interviews, because she seems to dislike the media and paparazzi so much in general. But I guess since she has a movie coming out, plus a revlon deal, it’s part of the job. I wanna hear what she names her daughter, I think it will be different. I think 27 is a perfect age for having kids, not too young but not too old either.
May 20th, 2008 at 1:19 am
She didn’t call her baby “her” or “him” at any point, she just said “my kid” – has she confirmed that she’s having a girl?
May 20th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Yes, she did. Click the ‘crib and other baby furniture’ link and you can see the nursery spread she did with US Weekly a few weeks ago.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Ah, now I remember. Thanks Sarah.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
She looks beautiful.
People is reporting that Jessica and Cash got married on Monday.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
I just read a little while ago at surebaby that the expectant couple are newly-weds, that they were married yesterday! Congrats to them! They are so cute together & their baby’s going to be simply beautiful.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:35 am
Jessica Alba is so down to earth. That is probably why she has such appeal to such a wide range of audiences. She certainly seems prepared and excited about becoming a mother and her quiet wedding to Cash Warren sets the perfect stage for welcoming a new baby.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:45 pm
She will be a good mother i guess…to bad the paparazzi will hunt her for pics
May 21st, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I disagree a little bit with the moms who say it’s best not to be friends with our kids. Like a previous poster said, sometimes that can backfire and hurt the mom/daughter relationship. My mom was never my friend, and it’s taken a long time for us to develop a “friendship” now that we are adults. I felt uncomfortable talking to her about things, because everytime I would go to her looking for a friend, she acted like a “mother” only, in a very yes/no/right/wrong kind of way.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:06 am
Honestly, I somewhat disagree with the friend thing. Because had my mom been more of a friend to me, I probably would have gone to her about a LOT more.
I’m going off to college this fall, and I feel like I’m leaving something that hasn’t been finished. And even though I know this isn’t the end, it feels like there should have been more there than what is.
I agree, you can’t only be your child’s friend, but I wish my mom had somehow given me the comfort of knowing that I could talk to her about anything, instead of making me feel afraid to approach her because she gave the impression that she wasn’t there to discuss things like boyfriends, sex, or even my fears or goals.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:58 am
About the mother/friend bit. I agree with Jessica. My mom, for one, never really stressed about being my friend, just the best mother she could be: caring, involved, open, fun, but also in charge, never afraid to set the rules and discipline. As a teenager, I never thought of her as my “friend” (I had a lot of friends…), but always went to her as my only “mom”. I’m 27 now and looking back, I recognize that although we weren’t always “friendly”, she never let me down as mother, and for that I’m grateful. We became best friends with time, but I know that for being such an amazing mother, she was already my best friend long before we both realize this…
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:20 am
That’s a lovely interview. She has her head on straight.
That dress is beautiful and looks comfortable. I saw Angelina in a grey one in New Orleans(March). Anyone know who designed it? How much?
May 29th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Just wow, that’s all i can say right about now. With Jessica looks and Beautiful body and Cash handsome charm, this couple is going to have one beautiful and intelligence baby. no doubt about that.
Cash and Jessica you’re going to be good parents. Just have the faith to deal with all the trouble that you’re about to experience in your life.
good Luck!
May 29th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I’m glad that she is happy about the pregnancy. But I hate when people say that they are going to be great parents, they have no idea. They don’t even know them!
I don’t agree with being either a Mom or a friend. You can be both. I’m great friends with my mom and she is also my mother. That is what you call a good parent to begin with. Good Luck to her she is going to need it!