I’ll be sharing more about #VasiMandlerBaby2 over the next days and weeks to come but here are some more details and answers to your most asked questions.

How far along are you? What is your due date?

I’m four months pregnant, and we are due in June 2019.

Are you going to reveal the gender?

Anthony and I are still deciding. With Lennox Mae, we didn’t share her gender with anyone until a few short weeks before her birth (even though we knew she was a girl.) That was fun. Gosh! I do love a good surprise!!

If you don’t mind, did you conceive naturally?

We did, and we recognize what a complete blessing that is.

Were you guys trying to get pregnant?

We definitely weren’t trying not to!

Ha. Ha.

Let’s just say that Jay-Z and Beyonce OTR ll concert was sexy AF.

You mentioned you’ve been sick, is it just morning sickness?

It’s every day, all day long sickness. It feels like I’ve been hanging out on a rocky boat for months now — nausea, vomiting, insane headaches, nosebleeds, insomnia, back issues, pelvic soreness. You name it, I’m suffering from it.

I’m trying to remain positive and praying that it’s going to get better soon. I have more good days now but every day is different. For example, Christmas Day, I felt incredible, but Christmas Eve I was vomiting,  pale, and extremely tired.

Is Lennox Mae excited?

About two weeks before we found out we were expecting, I was picking up Lennox Mae from school, and another mother shared with me that she was pregnant. Lennox Mae turned around and said “When am I going to get a brother or sister? I mean, everyone is getting one!” Ha. Ha. Can you imagine?

She’s over the moon!

Her best friend from school, Valentina, is going to be a big sister very soon and her “boyfriend” Jack just became a big brother about two months ago, so I feel that’s helped influence her excitement.

How did you tell Lennox Mae?

I wanted to save something special to share with MAED Insiders, so if you’re signed up for our newsletter list, then you can expect the exclusive tea on how we told Lennox Mae, how she initially reacted plus some tips on how to prepare your toddler for a new sibling in your inbox tomorrow.

If you haven’t signed up for MAED’s newsletter yet, you can sign up on our homepage or shoot us your email address via the contact page, which you can find here.

We’re rolling out a new newsletter format, and MAED Insiders will be getting exclusive content over the next few months.

What do you do not to get overwhelmed?

I write everything down! I walk around with a small notebook and pen no matter where I’m going. I email and text myself a lot. I’m also not overcrowding my schedule. I try to get through only one to two significant things a day. Conserving my time, energy and attention span for myself, the new baby, Lennox Mae, hubby, family, and only my best friends right now. I’m prioritizing big time!

What are you planning to do differently with this pregnancy?

This pregnancy is calling for a slower version of myself than the last one did. My last pregnancy my body had a ton of energy to burn. I worked out five-six days a week. Yoga, Pilates and I rode in Soulcycle (Angela Davis’ classes) two to three times a week, until right before I delivered (at almost 42 weeks.).

Listening to how your body feels is extremely important during pregnancy and because I’ve been so sick, I haven’t done any rigorous workouts. I’ve been sticking to restorative yoga, stretching, using small light weights and doing some easy exercises at home. I’m hoping to get back to moving around more as soon as I feel my body can take it. 

Are you going to have a home/water birth?

I gave birth to Lennox Mae at home. Anthony and I planned for a homebirth the entire pregnancy and were lucky to have the most life changing and beautiful birth experience. Our midwife was actually stuck in traffic and arrived five minutes after I gave birth to our daughter, who was born en caul. Hubby was grateful for all the hours of birth classes I put him through, and I was thankful my mother and Lisa (who was acting as my doula at the time) were there with us. I didn’t have a water birth, but I did labor in water with Lennox Mae for a little while.

We are also hoping to have a home birth this time around — as long as the baby and I are healthy the whole way through. If for some reason we had to transfer to a hospital there are indeed things I wouldn’t want them to administer to my newborn, but just like our first pregnancy, we are open to the other side of things (a hospital birth). Keeping the baby safe is the top priority.

I can get more into that in a dedicated post if you guys want. Let me know.

Will you stay at home for 40 days after birth, as you did with Lennox Mae?

I’ll get into how I approach the 4th trimester and the whole 40-day ritual in a more detail post later on. But yes! My plan, God willing, if all goes well with delivery and baby is to stay home for 40 days after birth. The only reason I could potentially see us bending that tradition, outside of medical needs, of course, is if Lennox Mae’s “moving on ceremony” at school falls on a day after the baby has arrived.  

How the heck did you make that Thanksgiving dinner pregnant and sick?

LMFAO!!!! It’s amazing what we will do for the ones we love. I have some behind the scenes clips from those days. Do you guys want to see that kind of footage? Let me know!

How did you handle traveling alone with Lennox Mae, while being pregnant?

Honestly, I was worried! She didn’t know I was pregnant. When I woke her up that morning, I got down to her level, looked her deep in the eyes, explained that we were traveling alone, that I wasn’t feeling well. I told her I needed her to be a big girl, behave and help mama out. “We’re a team, right?” She said “yeah!” We gave each other a high five, and we just did it. I brought a ton of toys in her carry-on, and she was a gem! I got lucky!

Do you think having a nanny means taking less care of your children/Are you going to get a nanny?

No, I don’t at all. I have several friends who have nannies and are very involved parents. I honestly just never found the kind of trust it takes to have a nanny. I’ve interviewed probably fifty people over the last almost four years and couldn’t do it, but honestly, I didn’t have to. I wasn’t working so I didn’t need a nanny. All the creative work, planning and dreaming over MAED, I did in the wee hours of the night for about two years. It wasn’t until right before Lennox Mae started school in 2017 that I finally decided to embark on the design process for the site.

The truth is, if I want to keep running MAED, myself, then I’m going to need to find help with the kids. I’m not sure what exactly that looks like for us right now but most likely someone who can act more as a playmate for Lennox Mae for a few hours after school. I think it’s a great time. She’s old enough where she can tell me if something is wrong — that makes me feel secure about it all.

In full transparency, while I haven’t had a nanny, I do have a housekeeper in Los Angeles. No one is good at everything, and I’m a big believer in hiring out your weaknesses!! I can’t clean for sh!t

Did you know you were pregnant during your cleanse?

I was not pregnant during my cleanse. Cleansing while pregnant is never recommend.

I always know for sure (or would check if I had any reason to believe I was pregnant) before starting a cleanse.

Can you tag Lennox Mae’s outfit details?

Everything Lennox Mae and I are wearing in the announcement video (except for my Dior shoes) is from Amazon Fashion. Let me know if you guys ever want me to share clothing picks from Amazon.

You guys had so many fantastic questions… I could go on forever. Let me know if you’re feeling this Q & A format and if so, we can do it again.

Don’t forget to sign up for MAED’s newsletter, for new exclusive content.

MAED Book Club members, we need a major catch up!!! I’m happy to say our secret portal went live a few weeks ago and you can find that here. Save this link to find out what book we’re reading each month. You’ll be getting a separate email from me setting up our first live date for “Becoming” soon. Sorry, I’m behind, but hopefully, now you understand!

Love to you all,

xxDV