Lauren Burnham Luyendyk Gives Hints About Her Twin Baby Names
Lauren Burnham Luyendyk has grown very used to living her life on camera, having met husband Arie Luyendyk Jr. on The Bachelor and segued into a career as an influencer. The couple have continued letting viewers in on all the ups and downs of their lives via Instagram and YouTube, as they welcomed daughter Alessi in 2019, suffered a miscarriage last spring, and now await the arrival of twins, due this summer.
Related story
Channing Tatum Shares the 'Heartbreaking' Moment He Realized What Daughter Everly Needed From Him
But despite having such a public persona, Burnham Luyendyk is also experiencing what so many other mothers are right now: the isolation of parenting in a pandemic. As she and Arie raise 2-year-old Alessi in their home near his family in Arizona, she is missing her own back on the East Coast. So when SheKnows caught up with her, she was doing something special to connect with fellow pandemic moms. She worked with Schick Intuition razors to send three new moms a “Mommy Shower” in a box — self-care products like bath salts, candles, and snacks. It’s not quite the same as being surrounded by friends and family for a baby shower, but treats like this should help remind a mom-to-be to celebrate herself in this moment.
Here, Lauren shared with us how they’re bracing themselves for twins — and a move to their new summer home in Hawaii — and even shared a few hints about their baby names choices.
SheKnows: Hi! How are you feeling? What’s been the biggest difference between this pregnancy and your pregnancy with Alessi?
Lauren Burnham Luyendyk: I’m actually surprised by how well I feel, because at this point with my first pregnancy, I was pretty miserable. So I definitely expected to feel worse with twins this time, but I’m doing OK! It’s interesting having two babies in your belly at one time because there’s constant action happening in there. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, and they’re having a kung fu fight in my stomach.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CN01ICJBG3L/
A post shared by Lauren Burnham Luyendyk (@laurenluyendyk)
SK: Are you just so impressed with your body right now?
LBL: Yeah, honestly, I’m so grateful. I think that’s been like my common theme through my whole pregnancy, just because I went through a miscarriage last year. This is such a magical time, and it’s been even more magical for me because of that this time around.
SK: What do you feel like you’re missing out on, being pregnant in the pandemic?
LBL: The biggest thing is that Arie came to every single one of my appointments with Alessi. This time, he’s not really allowed to come to any of them. But then also something I related to the moms that I Zoomed with for the Schick campaign was that all of us are isolating ourselves more now because we’re pregnant during COVID. And it’s hard because we’re not allowed to be around family as much, or we’re not comfortable being around family as much. And I know a lot of those moms are not having baby showers because they don’t want a lot of people around. There’s a lot more stress around being pregnant during this time.
A post shared by Lauren Burnham Luyendyk (@laurenluyendyk)
SK: What are you doing to help with that stress?
LBL: I’ve been putting a lot of emphasis on self-care and just making sure I’m staying relaxed and taking care of my mental health and my body as well. That’s the reason why I was very excited to partner with Schick Intuition, because we are throwing these three first-time moms Mommy Showers. We created these experiences and sent them boxes — Baby Moon Bath, Craving Cure, and Shower Soiree. I wanted to encourage those moms to take care of themselves and make sure that that’s of the utmost importance during their pregnancy. And that’s something I’ve been doing too.
SK: I love the idea that more people are talking about the birth of a mother as well as of her child. What surprised you most about how you changed when you became a mother?
LBL: When I was not a mother, I felt like I never had time for anything. And I was constantly like, “Oh, my gosh, I’m so stressed! There’s no time for this or that.” And then as soon as I had my daughter, I became so much more efficient with my time. And I feel like I have much less time, but I get much more done now, which is shocking.
SK: What is some advice that you wish that you had gotten about the postpartum period before you had Alessi?
LBL: I think the biggest thing for me was that I went through this period of self-rediscovery, and I felt like I was losing my identity as an individual. There is this transitional period that I don’t think anyone really mentioned to me beforehand. It would probably have been helpful, while I was going through that period, to know that this is normal and you’re going to feel like you’re losing yourself, but you’re going to find yourself in a new way.
SK: Do you and Arie have a plan for your division of labor once you’re going to be outnumbered?
LBL: I’m thinking the twins are going to be kind of attached to me in the beginning because I’m going to try to breastfeed them. So I think Arie’s probably going to be with Alessi during the day when she’s awake, for the most part, especially because I don’t know if I’m going to have a C-section or natural birth, and I might not be able to pick her up and all that. … We have Arie’s parents here, and then I’m definitely looking for childcare help of some kind, probably just in the mornings during the week, when we’re trying to work. But we really like to be hands-on.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLzYDGrAfbN/
A post shared by Lauren Burnham Luyendyk (@laurenluyendyk)
SK: Do you have their names picked out?
LBL: We have, and it’s really interesting because we picked their names before Alessi was even born. We came across these two names [right after] we had named her.
SK: Did anything inspire them?
LBL: Without giving too much away, one of them, the inspiration came from someone that Arie really admires. And then another name, one of our European friends inspired us. That’s all I will say!
SK: I know you guys just bought a house in Hawaii! Are you ready for that flight with three little ones?
LBL: The flight is what’s scaring me the most about moving. We’re actually only moving for summers because we want to keep our house here in Arizona. But, you know, I’m terrified for that flight. We just simply don’t have enough hands to hold all three of them.
SK: But for Hawaii, I bet you’ll be able to find some volunteers to go with you!
Source: Read Full Article