December 28, 2022 · 60 minutes · Episode 319
About this episode
Holiday Rebroadcast: #bestofIPP
Back by popular demand, we are rebroadcasting our conversation with Hilary Duff before the birth of her third child.
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Key quotes
“Yes, just bored to tears looking at the paint dry. Yeah, and we're like we can totally handle this”
“My mom used to snore and I would cry.”
“I don't like eat to live like most people in this town.”
“I am not a yoga type.”
“like all the struggle is all over. And you are changed forever with your baby.”
Related episodes
- Ep. 440 Holiday Top 10 Countdown: Part II
- Ep. 439 Holiday Top 10 Countdown: Part I
- Ep. 417 Hilary Duff: A Birth Story (Part 2)
- Ep. 220 Hilary Duff – BEFORE Baby #3
Transcript
AI-generated transcript with speaker labels — may contain errors, especially names and medical terms. Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC appears in blue; Hilary Duff in orange.
Download PDF of the Transcript
Hilary Duff [1:00] Hello informed pregnancy fans. It is Hillary Duff I am so honored that you voted to bring back my interviews with dr. Berlin for the holiday hiatus Listening to the podcast helped me during my own pregnancies And I hope my episode helps you feel informed and empowered and ready for your own great experience Thank you all for your support and for joining me in this crazy fun wild rewarding and absolutely exhausting club That is parenthood best wishes to you guys and happy holidays. I hope you have an incredible new year
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [2:10] Welcome to the informed pregnancy and parenting podcast I'm your host dr. Elliott Berlin and I'm so excited to welcome back one of my favorite guests to talk about her imminent birth Again, you know what? It's Hillary Duff. Welcome to the podcast Like didn't I just do this? Yeah, you just did Do you mean the podcast or having another baby having another baby which then led to me doing the podcast? Yeah, you're just popping them out. Um, you know, there's my first question Were you planning to have another baby or did another baby choose you?
Hilary Duff [2:43] We actually plan to have another baby, but you know during quarantine so
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [2:48] Everything sound like a good idea in quarantine like anything you could do at home
Hilary Duff [2:53] Yes, just bored to tears looking at the paint dry. Yeah, and we're like we can totally handle this We love our kids so much now. We're like a little too much more than we can chew now that like I mean not that our world is totally back to normal, but You know, I just finished filming up the last season of a show and he's working non-stop so our life has gotten a little less small and Now I'm do any day so excited and scared. Yeah, I'm scared for you
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [3:23] But also excited for you
Hilary Duff [3:26] Pro I don't know what you're talking about. I'm gonna pro but I don't know what's you know, what's in front of me?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [3:31] I know it's in front of you. You do you do too. It's so interesting I just interviewed somebody like four days after she gave birth about her whole birth and she talked about it So like detailed and eloquently and just passionately and then two weeks later She reached out to me. She's like, hey Can I get a recording of what I talked about by birth because somebody just asked me for details and I don't remember anything I was like, oh, I guess you just
Hilary Duff [3:58] Yeah, I kind of feel like that too. To be honest, you could listen to very clear and then yeah, I can Yeah, I probably should have before this there's parts that are very clear and then there's parts that are complete I'm like, oh, I don't I don't remember any of that
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [4:16] We're designed that way right I think so my guess is that that's part of the quote-unquote pregnancy brain where you know Your brain just kind of turns off a little more and more and more so that you're not fully present so you can just surrender to the other part of your brain that just knows what to do and For that reason it's sort of out of body and maybe you don't remember all the details But that's a common theme when we have somebody on the podcast talking about her birth together with somebody else that was there Maybe her midwife her doula her partner and you get both perspectives. That's really cool. Yeah, we could do that for your after-episode
[4:50] all right, and
Hilary Duff [4:53] Well, I could talk about that often though about my I think it seemed like I'm this crazy type a like control But I do like to have control over things and, you know, during the birth process definitely is a time where I feel like I have a lot of fear, like leading up to it. And you often remind me that there's just a moment where you like completely let go and surrender to what's happening and then you don't remember it.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [5:21] Yeah. I think if you literally listen to your own podcast after you gave birth last time, that was something that you said that still resonates in my head. And many, many, many people, thousands and thousands of people have listened to that episode and it's one of the ones that we have the most feedback on where people are just like, wow, that was like, because everyone says you can't do a test run on birth and nobody can tell you what it's going to be like, but kind of when it's different and every single one's different, even for the same person. Their births are different, but your comparison of the two births that you had in the honest and open way that you talked about them, you know, both what was going on in
[5:59] your mind and what was going on in your body has helped a lot of people get as prepared as one might be able to before they go on their own journey. And I know that because they come back afterwards and say, you know, it was helpful that Hilary Duff podcast.
Hilary Duff [6:13] That means so much to me because I spend multiple hours, I mean, not only listening to women on your podcast, but just on Instagram and YouTube and just watching other women's births. So, you know, I've had a good path set for me, or it's nice that people are sharing their stories, normal people, because it makes me feel like, okay, I can do this too.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [6:35] You do say at some point, like my mind was like, this is getting big. This is getting big. This is getting close. And then all of a sudden that part of your mind shut off and you're like, oh, this is totally doable.
Hilary Duff [6:44] Did I say that?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [6:45] Something like that. I'm paraphrasing.
Hilary Duff [6:47] I don't feel like it's doable right now, but I know that that moment is going to happen again, you know, because just like you said, because I watch other women do it and I have done it and I'm going to do it again, you know, but I still feel a little far away from it. Yeah.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [7:02] And you might until the ball gets rolling, which could be anytime. I do have a question for you. The pandemic, just being pregnant and your entire pregnancy was during the pandemic.
Hilary Duff [7:11] Yeah. By the way, we thought like, oh, we're going to nail this timing. The pandemic is going to be over by the time I've made this baby. We're still, we're still going. This is the energizer bunny pandemic. It just keeps going and going and it's kind of crazy. You listen to the news and like, yeah, we'll probably be wearing masks into 20, 29 or whatever, but not really. Maybe not 20, 29, but I still see it happening for a long time.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [7:39] Right. I don't think so. I think Americans, because we're getting close to herd immunity and Americans are so like move onto the next thing as quickly as possible in general, that's just how our cycle works.
Hilary Duff [7:49] I think like we will be happy to wear a mask until the end of time. However, I'm not like, I'm ready to be done with it, but I'm like willing obviously to do what's right for myself and other people. But honestly, like I think that we should adapt to the mask all the time. Like if you're sick, you should wear a mask. If you're feeling like you don't, like if I have to go sing or something, you know, and have to take it on a plane, like I might wear a mask. Yeah.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [8:18] And you know, it's not a bad idea. Logically, especially still in the pandemic. That sounds like a brilliant idea. I don't know. I think the majority of Americans are like once we're free, we're free. They're not going to want to go back to it, but I could be wrong at this point of recording. Several States have already lifted their mandatory mask mandate. So my people in Texas, people, but being pregnant and pandemic, how has that been, are there upsides and downsides?
Hilary Duff [8:44] I would say that of course there's upsides and downsides. And one of the upsides is like extreme bonding with your family, you know, that pairs also with exhaustion. Cause there's just no break, but really good, solid family time, simple. Like, okay, we can't constantly be entertaining. We're not running from this thing to that thing. Like for a while, it was really cool to just be. And with the people that, you know, are my family that I have, that I've built, it's, it was really special. A lot of good creative memories we made. I'm really lucky that I don't have like brutal pregnancies where I'm like sick or anything. And then I'd say the part that's hard is like not sharing it with
[9:30] extended loved ones, like friends. And not like anybody really seeing you grow in person. You know what I mean?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [9:39] Yeah.
Hilary Duff [9:40] It's a beautiful thing to happen to a body. And it's such a exciting thing you want to share or you want to, you know, I wanted to like, on the flip of getting to spend so much time with my family, I've wanted to get away from them and like gab with my girlfriends in person and like talk about everything that's going on with me and with them. And that goes. for like pregnancy and not, but, um, and you find ways, but it's just been a lot harder and there's consequences to it. And you have to think everything through. And it's been a challenge for sure.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [10:12] Towards the middle ish, I guess you were able to go back to work and you spent a lot of time like the bulk of your pregnancy working.
Hilary Duff [10:19] I did at least towards the end. Like, I think I went back to work at five and a half months pregnant. I mean, pandemic work, even in entertainment was sort of on again, off again. And that was brutal. To be honest, working in a mask all day, once I started to get really big is like hard to do.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [10:39] How do you work on a mask when you're on camera?
Hilary Duff [10:42] You take it on, take it off. Do you put it in these like little sanitized boxes and in between every take, they have someone that's coming up to you and like, and you put your mask on and then you take it off and you get to touch it. It's all day long. That cycle on. Yeah. And it's great. Cause you are looking around and everybody has a mask on. So you're like, you're safe, you're protected, you're protected. And then there's like this time where the camera's rolling and you're the only one that can't have a mask on, you know, and there's something floating in the air that nobody can see. So that's scary and I'm pregnant. So definitely like not the easiest of scenarios, but I was really
[11:17] ready to get back to work and that provided an outlet for me that I've had since I was 12 years old and I really was craving.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [11:25] So you had to do it, but you know, like we, I guess we're just talking about ups and downs, you got to do it, but under a new set of roles and you guys were testing all the time.
Hilary Duff [11:34] Also just to, we're testing all the time. We had a lot of like little incidences on set. Well, luckily no one ever had to be like hospitalized or whatever, but there was definitely COVID on set and I had to quarantine four times for being exposed.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [11:48] Holy cow.
Hilary Duff [11:49] I know. And not all of those times lasted like the full 10 days because some of them were like false positives. And after, you know, you do so many tests after a certain amount of days, they're like, okay, you know, the odds are 90%, you don't have it or whatever, but it was a lot of time spent away from my kids, which really sucked and kind of isolated from my husband. And totally quarantined. Oh yeah. My husband, are you kidding me? I got the phone call. I walked in the door the very first time it happened. I walked in the door from work and I hadn't seen Luca for two weeks. He had been in LA. He had just flown to New York to be with us for two weeks.
[12:24] And I hung with them for like maybe an hour. Banks was already in bed and I got the phone call. They were like, you've had maximum exposure. You should probably quarantine from your family. Literally like the basement door opened and Matt like shoved me down the stair, throwing items at me, like stay away from us. So yeah, he wasn't down for the whole like, well, if one of us has it, we're all going to get it kind of thing. No, that wasn't your thing.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [12:51] No, I don't.
Hilary Duff [12:53] I feel like in retrospect, some people wish like now they had just done that. Hey, why don't we just get it out of the way? I've said that many times. Like there was times where I was so frustrated. It was like, I wish I just could get it, but it doesn't seem great either. Cause so many people have had, you know, different side effects and we still don't know long-term side effects and all of that.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [13:12] We don't know long-term side effects and just random people at this point. What seems random is people get the virus and some people don't even know they had it, they're so asymptomatic. And some people like me just about die from it and some people succumb to it. And you know, it's just been a crazy, crazy time. A lot of people had a lot of loss of life or businesses and a lot of illness and you know, I can't wait for it to be behind us, but at the same time, when these things happen and the shift makes you think about things in a different way and you get to, not only do you get to spend time with your family in a different way, like you said, but you actually
[13:49] appreciate them in a different way. So you don't want to like, you know, kick each other out. Like that's something that I didn't think about that often before all of this.
Hilary Duff [13:59] Yeah.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [14:00] All right. I want to get into this pregnancy. Let's take a quick break. We will be right back with Hillary Duff.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [15:26] Welcome back to the informed pregnancy podcast. We're talking to Hilary Duff. How did you find out you were pregnant?
Hilary Duff [15:36] Oh, I knew. I knew. I just have the feeling every time. I know.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [15:42] What do you feel?
Hilary Duff [15:43] I always say this. No one is like, yeah, me too. I feel like a tiny tug in my lower, lower, lower, lower belly.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [15:52] I feel that sometimes pregnant. I don't think. Wait, and then you do a test or do you just trust the tug? You're like, no, that's it. I don't even need a test.
Hilary Duff [16:02] Of course I do a test. I'm like testing like crazy. We tried. So I knew I was going to get pregnant. We had a lot of luck with banks and I always test way too soon, but like I'm so symptomatic. Like my boobs are sore. I'm bloated. You know, I have all the telltale signs before your test. And then I always test too soon and it always says no. And then eventually it says, yes, like I told you so. Yeah. Matt finally this time around was like, no, no, no. I trust that you are last time too. And he was really bummed out. It was actually with banks. It was right before Valentine's day and he flew into New York to surprise me and we knew we had tried.
[16:46] And so it was like right around that time where I could test. And we took a test right before we went out on a date for Valentine's day and it said no. And he was super bummed. Oh, I know. And I was kind of like, it got in my head a little bit. I was like, no, no, I know. Something's going on with me. You know? Yeah. Yes. It's a yes. And then a couple of days later I tested again and it was positive. So this time around he was like, I believe
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [17:10] you. In your third pregnancy, is there symptomatically, I mean, do you feel, Hey, I'm used to it. So I know what to expect. Or is it totally different?
Hilary Duff [17:22] Honestly, the first trimester is so brutal for me, like outside of not being sick, which I can't even pretend to act like I know what that's like. I'm so uncomfortable. I'm so bloated. I'm so tired. I feel like a shell of a human low energy, like just can't, I'm like, you know how I am.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [17:43] Oh, energy wise. Yes. When I get to hang out with you, I usually just put my phone next to you so you can charge it up with your energy.
Hilary Duff [17:51] I like that one. Thank you very much. Yeah, I'm zonked. I'm so tired. And you know, it's no wonder your body's doing a lot of work, but I don't like anything that can like slow me down, which is why I usually am great in the middle of pregnancy. And then towards the end, when I'm just worthless again, I, when it's over, you know,
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [18:13] did you have that? Cause you had an epidural with your first baby. I find that people are just go, go, go, go, go. And like to be moving all the time. Do not like that feeling of not being able to move around at all. Maybe that's why I decided for birth. Yeah, could be. I see that a lot. And it usually surprises them. Like they're like, okay, I'm getting an epidural now. And then they get it and like, I can't move anywhere. I'm like, that's how it works. So on the go, people like you, I get it. Um, so that goes away for you after 12 weeks, 13 weeks, then do you have more energy than you had before or the same energy?
Hilary Duff [18:48] Um, maybe when I was pregnant with banks, maybe I had more energy than I had before, like excitement and just feeling better. And you know, I only had one child and half the amount of time, right? Cause I'm divorced. So Lucas spends half the time with me and half time with his dad. So I think probably with banks, I was a little more energized and maybe had more energy than before. And with this one, no, but I did feel obviously better after like 13, 14 weeks. And there's like that really lovely shift and you're like, okay, I'm, I'm starting to like look pregnant. Everything starts to get more exciting. You, you get like little treats, like you feel the baby flutter and I don't know,
[19:32] you're sleeping great because you've like burned your energy through the day. Everything's just like, seems to be working in a good rhythm.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [19:39] Do you tell people early on or do you wait till like the second trimester?
Hilary Duff [19:43] You know, Matt and I always talk about this. We have the most lovely friends because we are both those people that are just like, blah, here's everything that's going on with us. And we didn't like keep it a secret from any of our even like outside kind of friends, you know, you got your main circle and then you have like, you're really friendly outside circle and literally no one found out. So.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [20:08] So you told your friends, but they kept it to themselves.
Hilary Duff [20:12] I just mean, they, you know, they keep our privacy respected.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [20:15] Yeah. They respected your privacy. So you're able to talk about it, but not worry about it. Just getting out before you're ready.
Hilary Duff [20:21] Yeah.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [20:22] When you told your kids you were expecting, what was their reaction?
Hilary Duff [20:26] Luca knows what it looks like now, right? Because I think I told you the whole story about him not being thrilled when banks was coming.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [20:34] Yes.
Hilary Duff [20:35] And now with her and he'd like, that's his homie and he's her protector. And when I make jokes about how, if she's being like super naughty or in like a really tough stage, he's like always the first to shut me down and tell me I'm mean or something. And so he was really excited.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [20:54] Oh, that's nice.
Hilary Duff [20:55] And banks not really sure what he looks like. You know what I mean? He's like pumped. And I think he likes babies now, which he never did before.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [21:03] And then that's cool. Yeah. Banks doesn't want to talk about it. Should point to the belly or anything like that.
Hilary Duff [21:11] Oh, the other day we were actually taking a bath together and she was like, big, big belly, big belly. I was like, okay, enough of that. But you're not wrong. Um, I know she feels which is so cute and funny. And she knows the baby's in there and sometimes she'll kiss my belly or we tell her that my belly buttons, the microphone. So she'll like say hi through the microphone, do a little podcast. Yeah, exactly. And she's actually not that interested. Sometimes she'll like cover my belly up with my shirt again. Like, yeah, no, it's about me right now. Put that away. She is a little nurturing, caring little mommy, you know, if I hurt myself or, you know, she's a nurturer.
[21:52] So I think it's going to be okay.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [21:54] So insane for me to see how big she is. Cause it really feels like just a month ago, we're sitting here talking about your birth with her while she was the one under the shirt.
Hilary Duff [22:04] Yeah.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [22:05] Right. And it just went so fast. This pregnancy, are you having cravings?
Hilary Duff [22:09] A lot of sugar. Unfortunately, I know having a boy, but I am craving more sugar than normal COVID thing.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [22:18] You don't know what you're having.
Hilary Duff [22:19] Surprised. Yeah. We don't know. Ooh, I know the blue hair seems like we do know, but we really don't.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [22:26] I think the blue hair seems like you do know, but you're trying to throw people off. So I'm guessing girl, you are.
Hilary Duff [22:31] Yeah.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [22:32] I think, you know, that it's a girl and you put up the blue hair to be like, look at my hair.
Hilary Duff [22:35] No, I'm actually a little scared to have another girl because banks was a tough, she was a tough cookie as a baby, but she's so great now. So I could see it, but then I don't know in my mind, I'm like, maybe she's my only little princess and she's going to like have her rough and tumble brothers. We'll find out either way. We're stoked and super excited. And then everyone that's like close to me thinks boy. And then everyone that's more of a stranger. That's like, what are you having? They're like, we call girl.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [23:08] Oh, I think boy, you do. I'll make it official right here. I think it's a boy and I'm right about 20% of the time in life or just guessing in life. It's more like 10%, but with babies, I do pretty well. 20%. I like banks is a big, big, big, big belly. Literally this week I found an app on my phone called the snore lab. And one of my things that happened to me after COVID is I started getting sleep apnea, I didn't know about it and my family was like, Hey dad, you're starting to snore a lot. And I was like, I got to hear what this sounds like. So the snore lab, you put it on your phone and you turn on the app and you leave it there all night. It records everything that analyzes it and it records it for you.
[23:48] So you can hear yourself snoring in the morning and then it breaks it down into different categories. So the categories are light snoring, medium snoring and heavy snoring, but there's another category and it is epic. And I have like two hours of epic snoring. I'm like, I know it's a problem, two hours of epic snoring. And I'm like, I know it's a problem, but why do you have to call it epic? It's like, can you imagine if women's clothing came in small, we enlarge an epic, every woman would be outraged. Yeah. I'm a little upset as a snore.
Hilary Duff [24:19] So how often are you recording this? Like, did you just do it one time to know the truth or are you kind of like monitoring it and seeing how much epic snoring you're getting? Oh, but you got a sleep apnea.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [24:29] I got the machine. Yeah. So I did it three times before the machine and now I've done three times with the machine and there's literally zero snoring. I mean, it's like seven minutes of light snoring.
Hilary Duff [24:38] Wow. That's a game changer.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [24:40] My neighbors are so happy.
Hilary Duff [24:42] My mom used to snore and I would cry. Really? Yeah. Like sometimes I can't believe it. Just threw my mom under the bus like that are so bad. I would be, I would cry. Like if I would spend the night at her house as an adult, like, and I had my own house, sometimes we just have like tons of animals and dogs and whatever. This is pre-kids and I would just be like so frustrated with her that I would cry So imagine your body for your kids like yeah, it's just like on a whole new level. It's really yeah And how does it not wake up to snore? I have no idea I mean, I never knew I would sometimes wake up and not hear myself snore And then when I play the recording, that's really what you just want to go eat a loaf of bread. It's so sad
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [25:27] Like something come for me
Hilary Duff [25:30] Yeah, I didn't know I was that musical so I feel good
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [25:34] Did you have mommy brain pregnancy brain? Oh my god
Hilary Duff [25:40] So much. I'm sorry. I'm yawning, but you know, I'm like at the end of this pregnancy Yes, and there's times where I did crazy things like well Obviously like putting things in the pantry that belong in the refrigerator and then realizing later like cool that was there all night long so So in the world of zoom that we live in now, this is when Luca was I forget what's happening I was just juggling kids I don't think I was his teacher anymore Because I was his teacher when I wasn't pregnant because I was sure enjoying the cocktails every night But then I think it was just like in the summer, but it was just mayhem, you know Because you have no help
[26:19] So I was hopping on and Matt was eventually started going to his studio because it's just him there So I was with like both the kids and trying to like get one situated over here get one doing something over here so I could like hop on work calls and I had to be on a zoom and so I finally like everything I thought the dogs outside and like Banks was busy doing her thing and I knew she was gonna be fine and look who was doing his thing and I've got My phone with my information of like the zoom ID and all of that stuff And I get to the top of the stairs and have like my home phone in my hand I live in the canyon so I have horrible service and so I always have to use my home phone and I'm looking at it and I'm like
[27:00] Looking at the zoom looking at the phone. Something's not adding up here Why can't I figure this out and I have the TV remote control in my hand? Like it literally I'm like staring at it for maybe like five to ten seconds like something's not gonna work
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [27:18] Oh My gosh, I've never been pregnant I have nothing to blame it on except that I never sleep now I do but I had Sleep issues. So really early in the morning Two years ago. I went to the shower. I was getting dressed reach into the cabinet spray deodorant and it's spider spray
Hilary Duff [27:37] What like toxic spider spray?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [27:40] Toxic spider spray right in the pits and I didn't even realize with the first one. I got them both Yeah, I have no spiders in my armpits, which is amazing Oh, so yours is just a lack of sleep I'm like you can't feel the pregnancy brain No, I mean, yeah, I don't want to appropriate that the thing is I do spend so much time around pregnant woman I think it wears off or I'm just getting older
Hilary Duff [28:03] Matt says that too. It wears off that it wears off on you. Yeah it hasn't been that bad, but there's times where I'm just like Something will fall out of my brain like someone's name that I know really well or something, you know And all of a sudden the information is just gone and you're like what what what's happening to me? Like it's just you're searching and it's different than a normal like brain fart or whatever people call it like it's seriously like gone information and It happened to me today I was driving Luca to school and we have to do this wellness check-in before we get there and They want you to have it done ahead of time like not when you're in the line because they just want everything to move
[28:43] Like so smoothly and so I'm at the light and I'm like, oh my god the wellness check and then I'm like looking On my phone and I'm going through my apps and it used to be on my front page I'm like it's on my front page. Why can't I find it? Why can't I find it? I had to text Matt and be like, what's the wellness check-in for school? Information just gone and something I do every single day, you know, hopefully it'll come back I'm sure it will but probably not during the nursing and all of that
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [29:08] Does it make it hard to like memorize scripts?
Hilary Duff [29:11] I thought it was going to and I actually think that this season I was a lot more Diligent about working on my stuff the night before We worked some pretty crazy hours. So Normally when I'm not pregnant as long as I know what I'm doing the next day and I have that in my head And I'm familiar with the scripts. Usually I can go into here and make them in the morning learn my sides and be fine and with this I was so nervous to just not have the capacity to like one be in touch with the stuff that I'm shooting, you know, and Then to just saying the lines correctly and Darren and our writers are pretty adamant about us sticking to script
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [29:50] Oh, no ad-libbing
Hilary Duff [29:52] We don't really get to ad-lib that much a little bit a little bit We can do like triggers on the end of scenes and just like give them some fun options but usually they want the script the way it is. So I would do a lot more like prep work the night before just being nervous about it, but I got through.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [30:10] It was my least favorite thing acting in college was just all that rote memorization.
Hilary Duff [30:16] Everybody seems so scared by that. Yeah, I lived it and I hated it. The actors are like, how do you memorize the lines? And then how do you say them out loud in front of like a whole crew full of people or like when the camera's on you?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [30:29] Yeah, that part wouldn't bother. It's like memorizing. I would have nightmares, you know? And also it's different, I think, live in theater. Cause like if you screw up, there's no, ah, cut, take two. You just gotta deal with it. What do you think, you like theater more?
Hilary Duff [30:43] I only did theater.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [30:45] Yeah, that's me. I'm like, I gotta just keep going through the mess up. Yeah, you gotta just go through it. I remember there was, for example, just one time a guy, he went to his line about two thirds through the scene. He just skipped like two thirds of the scene and somehow bring it back and communicate with each other. We did such a good job. The audience had no idea there was a mess up. I think I would be like, no, we gotta go.
Hilary Duff [31:10] What are you drinking?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [31:14] Yeah, no. Okay, let's take a break. We're gonna come back. I have two things to do, but I'm not gonna tell you what they are until you get back here. Welcome back to the Informed Pregnancy Podcast. We're talking to Hilary Duff. So pregnant, you can pop at any moment. And boy, do you want to. Mm-hmm. And I wanna talk all about that birth that's coming up. But before we do that, here's a segment I call Getting to Know Hilary Duff. What is your favorite food?
Hilary Duff [31:47] Ooh, I'm a yawning. I'm gonna do it.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [31:52] How about this? What is your favorite food?
Hilary Duff [31:57] I love all kinds of food. I love to eat. I don't like eat to live like most people in this town.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [32:03] But you also, you must exercise a lot. You're lean.
Hilary Duff [32:07] I love to eat, but I don't. Definitely not lean right now. But I need to exercise and it is my time. I just feel mentally stronger, better, more sharp. I can do more things in a day. And I don't exercise every day, but definitely a good three or four times a week.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [32:25] What do you like exercise-wise?
Hilary Duff [32:27] I like doing weights. So before my wedding, when I was trying to get really fit, and I'm one of those people, unfortunately, that don't lose any weight when I'm breastfeeding. So everyone's like, breastfeed, cause it's so good for weight loss. And I'm like, nope, I don't experience that at all. But the second I stopped breastfeeding, I got really serious about my workouts and stuff. And plus Matt and I were getting married. So I had a good goal to look forward to and wanna reach. But I started bodybuilding. And I got everything that I thought about heavy weights was totally wrong. That they're gonna bulk me up. And I was a gymnast when I was younger and I'm only five, two.
[33:06] So like I'm naturally more on the curvy side, but it got me so lean. So I loved it and strong, you know? Muscles popping out. Just muscles popping out everywhere. But I want you to know, I'm doing yoga on Thursday.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [33:22] Oh yes. I take full credit for that. You're not a yoga type.
Hilary Duff [33:26] I am not a yoga type. You're like a boom, boom, boom, gotta move, gotta move, gotta move. I am, I am. And then you put me on that group thread and I said, you know what? Okay. I'm gonna trust him. I'm gonna do it.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [33:37] We're gonna see what happens. We'll talk about it in the post-birth interview and see how your first yoga situation worked out for you.
Hilary Duff [33:43] I love to hike though. I love to swim. I'm super active. Yeah.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [33:49] What's your pet peeve like in life?
Hilary Duff [33:53] There's so many. The worst. Like of myself. Like that I do myself or just anybody?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [33:59] No, like something that bothers you that other people do.
Hilary Duff [34:03] Like loud talkers. People that just like have to talk to make everybody around pay attention. Attention grabbing talkers. Yes. Can't stand it. On a plane I'm like, ugh.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [34:14] That's the worst on the plane. I have all these weird conditions, but I have a misophonia. Do you know what that is?
Hilary Duff [34:19] No.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [34:20] It's like your blood boils when people make mouth noises around you, like chewing or lip smacking.
Hilary Duff [34:26] So I think I have that condition too. Oh. One time I was on a plane and I was sitting next to a lady who was doing that on her phone. I'm just like, do you have no self-awareness? I don't know. That's it. I think I have far too much self-awareness. I wish I could have some of what she had, but not all of it. I'm just like not caring so much or being so aware. So on top of her loud talking and thinking that we all wanted to hear everything that she had to say, she started filing her nails.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [34:56] Ooh.
Hilary Duff [34:57] So we were like hearing the nail file, but also. breathing in nail dust. Oh, it was disgusting. I was totally disgusted. Yeah, I would be also by the way, you know, nails are like body waste. Yeah, love sloughing off cells. Why do I want that floating around me? Like it was horrible. So you're right. I have that. I think you are gonna wear a mask from now on. Maybe on airplanes. That's true. I hate when the toilet paper is coming from the bottom of the roll. That bothers you. Yes, I want it to like nicely go off the top. I didn't see that coming Hilary Duff. Well, now
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [35:38] you know. I'm just thinking of all the pet peeves that I
Hilary Duff [35:40] have. Yeah, throw them out whenever they pop into your head because you get to meet everybody. Have you ever been starstruck? Oh yeah, I'm sure I have been starstruck. Oh my god. I met Julia Roberts at like a charity telethon thing we were doing and she was so chatty with me. I guess her kids, you know, watch my movies and stuff. I remember like I wasn't starstruck in the way of like I couldn't speak to her but I was just like, Oh my god, you are Julia Roberts. He's so beautiful and she's so kind and warm and I was just like, Whoa. And then the other day Matt showed me an Instagram video like something someone tagged him in which was like Lance Bass
[36:23] interviewing Britney Spears and they were at some award show and I guess I was there and Lance Bass is like, So who do you want to meet that's here? And I like must have walked by somewhere and she's like, uh, he's like, Oh, there goes Hilary Duff. She's like, I love Hilary Duff. And I was like in my own living room and I
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [36:42] was like, Oh, it's kind of funny because when you're saying all those things about Julia Roberts, I could have said all the same things about you. It's the truth. You're warm and, you know, nurturing, caring, easy to talk to all the things you said. All right. Is there somebody you want to meet that you haven't met?
Hilary Duff [37:04] I can't really shy. I don't know. I feel like I've coaxed myself enough being in this business for such a long time where like I could potentially talk to anybody, but it does make me nervous. And I have that complex of like, I don't really belong here. I'm not good. Why? Why? Oh yeah, totally. But like I can fake it till I make it.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [37:24] Well, you have. What about a fictional character? Is there, if you could meet one fictional character, who would you want to hang out with for a day?
Hilary Duff [37:34] That's really tough. I think last time someone asked me this question, I said, Moana. Uh huh. I'm super impressed by her.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [37:43] Yeah. You don't want to, I don't even know how I would answer that question. Who you would want to meet.
Hilary Duff [37:48] Yeah. Who would I want to meet? Me neither. It's like, who do you want to, your dinner party dead or alive? Like I feel like I need a couple of hours to really come up with the process. I think it through.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [37:59] Yeah. Oh yeah. Do you have a useless talent?
Hilary Duff [38:02] I mean, I can do like handsprings and stuff, but I wouldn't say that's useless.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [38:05] I feel because you were a gymnast.
Hilary Duff [38:07] Yeah. I can pop my hip in and out of place, which is kind of weird.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [38:11] Okay. So in response to both of those, I can also pop your hip in and out of place. So that's not a, you don't know. No, I'm just, I'm just, I'm not one opinion. I'm just saying, wow, we have something in common and I can't do handsprings, but I do spring rolls.
Hilary Duff [38:24] Spring rolls. I do those too.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [38:25] Okay. Second thing we have in common. I'm not impressing you.
Hilary Duff [38:28] You're not impressing me.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [38:29] You always impress me. Why did you make your hair blue? What happened?
Hilary Duff [38:34] Um, you know, my hair's been every color of the rainbow. I've been purple. I've been pink. I've been this same blue before. I like to have fun. When I was in quarantine, like early on quarantine after I was like, okay, I'm wearing sweatpants until this is over. And then I'm like, that's going to make me really depressed. And I started putting on clothes and I started putting like crystals and jewels all over my face, like to be Luca's teacher, just make me happy. So I like to be sparkly and I dyed my own hair teal during quarantine and then went back to blonde a couple of months later when we could like have our hair done outside. So no reason, except for
[39:12] just like wanting to have some fun.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [39:15] Do you have a favorite that when you've done it, you look in the mirror and you're like, yes, I do.
Hilary Duff [39:20] I like this blue a lot. I mean, I like myself as a blonde.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [39:23] I like you as a blue.
Hilary Duff [39:24] You like me as a blue. Well, I know why, because you can recognize me.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [39:28] Absolutely. Yeah. Without it, I wouldn't be able to for you. You're the best. What does anything for me? Do you sing in the shower?
Hilary Duff [39:39] No, I'm more of a car singer.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [39:41] Oh, you sing in the car.
Hilary Duff [39:43] I have to tell you, I do this really weird thing in the shower, which annoys myself of myself. I rock like I'm rocking a baby in the shower still all the time. I bounce like that.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [39:55] Really? Even before you had babies or just because no, no, no. Oh, just cause you're so used to doing it all the time. Do you think in the showers that way you get your brainstorming?
Hilary Duff [40:06] My mind is like never really super turned off. So I only get my good ideas in the shower.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [40:12] Really?
Hilary Duff [40:13] Yeah. Matt writes in the shower all the time. He brings his phone in there. If he has a track that he's working on, he brings his phone in the shower and writes like he'll put his notes on and just like come up with melodies or lyrics. I'm like, first of all, who takes their phone in the shower? What the hell? I don't understand. Yeah. I would never take my phone in the shower. And especially when people call you, they'll be like, where are you? So I'm like, you're under water.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [40:39] I mean, it just wouldn't it ruin your phone, like the steam or something after a while. But what I'm realizing is so much productivity happens in the shower. I think some companies are just going to be like, Hey, we're going to have the next meeting in the shower. I'll be like Uber productive.
Hilary Duff [40:55] Uh, he read something once that not that you can have meetings like this, but he read something that if you're fighting with your spouse, you're supposed to get in the shower and finish the fight in the shower. Really? Yeah. I don't know if it's like some kind of like weapons down. Maybe it's some kind of subliminal guard down thing. Cause you're naked or something, but you're supposed to fight in the shower.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [41:15] If nothing else comes out of this episode, I think you might've just saved so many relationships.
Hilary Duff [41:21] Yeah.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [41:21] I mean, I'm just looking and pick a fight now with my wife so that we can try this out. Other motives. Yeah.
Hilary Duff [41:28] Well, whatever.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [41:29] What do you like to watch?
Hilary Duff [41:30] What's, uh, straight murder, murder docs galore, and not one of those fancy people that doesn't have a television in my room. I see it there.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [41:39] Nobody else can, but I see it right behind you. Like making a murder kind of stuff. Staircase, uh, Oh, wow. I got to come over and hang out, watch murder with you.
Hilary Duff [41:49] Yeah. What was the last one we watched the Cecil hotel? We just watched the Patton Oswald wife one.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [41:56] No, I didn't see it.
Hilary Duff [41:58] It was sad because she died before her book came out. Um, we watched the other one, the California killer. What was his name? He went on death row.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [42:06] Oh yeah. I know who you're talking about. I'm a little behind in my murder right now.
Hilary Duff [42:11] Okay. I can send you a list.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [42:13] The last thing that I binge watched was tiger King.
Hilary Duff [42:16] That was the last thing you binge watched. I died. My hair actually blew that night when I watched that. That was like early quarantine.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [42:23] It was right when I had COVID. That's why I binge watched it. I was stuck in the hotel with nothing to do. Oh, okay. And tiger King came out and nobody can come in or leave my room. And I was just alone, but I had wifi and I had my tablet and someone said, Hey, watch tiger King. So I turned it on and I could not turn it off. It got me through like three days of ICU and I think it did save my life because I was feeling like, Oh my God, I might die because all the headlines were like, if you go to the IC, you're going to end up on a ventilator. And then if you're on the ventilator, it's like 50 50 thinking about intubating you, right? Yeah, I was minutes away from being on a ventilator.
[43:01] Thankfully a nurse kind of intervened and saved me and I owe her everything. I keep sending lunch to the nurses. I can't stop because they were so amazing.
Hilary Duff [43:12] You have like nurses that you actually worked with to send to, but we, we were doing that too, because there's a restaurant that Matt's friend owns close to, um, I forget what hospital. Tarzana, St. Joseph's. And we were just like sending meals, which was really cool that restaurants were doing that. But you actually like nurses that saved your life to send to.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [43:34] Well, I mean, the truth is, I don't know. I just send them to units. I know the nurses that I sent you through were part of the ones that just really were there. I mean, every step of the way, they were amazing, but it's not about me. It's about you.
Hilary Duff [43:46] So comedy too. We watched it. Did you watch it?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [43:52] No, I didn't watch it. You know, I almost never watched TV because of my face blindness. So it's very hard to tell characters apart.
Hilary Duff [44:00] That sucks. That means you've never watched me on TV and I'm offended.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [44:03] Wait a second. I did watch you in something like when you were, I don't know, eight because my kids watch you on TV. Yeah. So I have watched you on TV, just to, you know, I'm
Hilary Duff [44:14] just totally kidding. I don't care.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [44:16] No, I know you're super offended.
Hilary Duff [44:19] You helped me walk when I'm pregnant and I'm forever grateful.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [44:22] So, well, thanks. Let's talk about this birth that's coming up. You're having another baby. It's coming soon. You're obviously, you sound great. You're just chipper and full of good energy. What's going through your mind relating to the birth. You're doing another home birth. Roughly the same team.
Hilary Duff [44:43] I'm at that weird point where I'm like, obviously prepping, you know, like my house is pretty ready for baby supplies wise and everything. And like my body is ready to not be pregnant. And. I feel so confident with my team that they just know me so well and being out of town I didn't get to do a ton of work with you but I feel like we're on a pretty good schedule now with making sure my body's in good shape to do this and like the last thing is just going to be the letting go which is always a little bit scary for me but I think I'm really looking forward to the day like I look back with really fond memories of just a lot of love in the house like now I'm gonna have two children which might look a little different with a two and
[45:33] a half year old but I have this vision that everything's just gonna be peaceful and calm and like something so big is happening to our family so I'm ready to take that on you know I'm the only person that can bring the baby here so I'm willing to do that and it's not without some fear but I know what this looks like and I feel excited you did video right of the last birth have you been watching it at all I watched it one time recently yeah and I watched it with some friends who I feel really comfortable with obviously because they watched your birth they watched my birth and my birth video was so truly like if people didn't have a lot to say or people didn't pick my life apart as much as they do I would have like shared the
[46:21] whole thing you know because it's not like graphic or you know you're not seeing too much really like it's a water birth so matt like he's like fully supporting holding me up against the tub and you do see the baby come out but you just don't see like all the stuff that you see if you're like you know birthing in a bed or something like that so it was cool to watch my friends watch that but I think it was a little too early on for me to watch because I was still three months out and I was like oh my god all those big feelings you know I really believe in the process as much as I complain to you and everybody how much the end sucks it prepares you for being able to like tackle what you have to do you know you're so
[47:09] uncomfortable you're like I'll do anything at this point let's go I got this I can do this you know that's a pretty smart mechanism it is well whoever thought of this yeah let's make them miserable so they could just whatever you want I'm in it's true are these friends that
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [47:27] people that I talked to they're like I could be pregnant forever I love this I'm like
Hilary Duff [47:30] you're a psycho yeah they need to go watch some murder are your friends that you watched it with do they have kids
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [47:40] no but they both want kids even after watching that one of them is actively trying to have a baby and then she should fight with her spouse she should fight with her spouse and then get in the shower yeah I haven't fought with my wife in a long time so I had this crazy thought while you were talking just a second ago like who else do I fight with and I was like I fight with my brother a lot but I'm not getting a shower with him yeah that's okay this method has its limitations all right are you going to do anything different this birth are you planning anything differently from last birth I'm planning for it to happen faster how long was it last time 19 and a half hours
Hilary Duff [48:25] oh there's a long time and I still didn't make it what's wrong with me
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [48:28] you gave me a lot of time I forget what time I texted you it was kind of in the morning really frustrated I was starting to get really worn down like how much longer is this going to be it was like in the morning on my way to a full day of patients I remember thinking
Hilary Duff [48:46] because but I had been in labor since midnight right that any time overnight would have been
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [48:51] amazing 12 1 2 3 4 no problem it was like six or seven when I start to head out to
Hilary Duff [48:56] the office I'm like uh and you think that's when I texted you yeah I remember being like I and you were like I can be there by five and I was like I'm not still going to be pregnant by then yes and you kept your promise yeah I had it at 3 30 in the afternoon yeah I should have
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [49:12] told you I could be there at two and then you would have had the baby around noon
Hilary Duff [49:16] I can blame you yeah everybody does I think that um you know my body had taken a really long break from giving birth and knowing what to do and it looked a whole lot different at my house you know than in a hospital so that was like maybe a little fearful in the back of my head even though I felt confident going into it that I could do it so hopefully the process will be a little faster you know I read a lot about the third baby just like how you really kind of want to slow it down and not just give it everything because like you don't want to shoot the baby out in the tear is this the last one where do you talk about maybe having more babies
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [50:00] Or is it just a big question mark?
Hilary Duff [50:02] It's just psychobabble. It's just psychobabble? Yeah. And Matt's like, OK, Nick, he knows. And then the next day, I'll be like, I am never doing this again. Thank God we did this one more time, but I am never doing this again. And he's like, mm-hmm. And then the next day, I'll be like, our kids are the best. They're just so funny. Like, I just want to go to go to go. And then I'm like, maybe one more time when we're like 40. And then I'm like, that's just the stupidest idea. Well, that's what happens. The new car scent wears off, and you're like, hey. Yeah, exactly right. Plus, I really want to travel. And I'm like, it's so hard with kids. It's so hard with a little baby.
[50:39] I feel like that would just really mess everything up. Yeah, it's a different phase. And honestly, I have so much guilt about working already. And that's such a part of my DNA and my identity. I need that part of myself to be good for my kids. So I think if I had four, it makes me feel like I would either completely dive into work and be like, I can't deal with any of that. Or I would be like feeling so pulled and like guilty for wanting to work because I had all this at home. And that's probably more of my personalities. Like my kids are my everything. And the guilt of working is really thick.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [51:17] Having that experience acting, I mean, I assume that sometimes you get into your character to the point where you feel like you're your character for a while. Does that come in handy in childbirth when you have the fear? Can you use your methods to kind of convince yourself that you're gonna be okay?
Hilary Duff [51:38] I never thought about it like that. Maybe in other areas of my life, but with the pregnancy or the birth. Cause you said fake it till you make it.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [51:48] Yeah. This is scarier. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe it's worth a try. I love when I have the opportunity to be at a birth with an actor and they're looking for like a little guidance. I love working with them because you guys have the experience taking direction. Like you get it right away and you could make a big change in a small amount of time. And then, it's just a suggestion. I don't know ultimately what's gonna work for you. But if I can throw out a suggestion, I have ideas having been to so many births.
Hilary Duff [52:21] Maybe I didn't understand the question at first, but actors can take notes. And I think with my midwives, that was like one of the things that just so blew my mind. The difference in dealing with a doctor and a midwife and not to knock doctors. And I have an amazing doctor who I love, but I spent so much more time with my midwives and they'll say things to me that just hit and strike a chord. And I'm heard, I'm seen, I'm not alone. You know, I'm not just a part of like a process. And so yeah, during the birth, I think when I had my team around me that I felt really safe with and they would give me a note or something, I could let myself move to that next space.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [53:08] Yeah, cool. Well, I've taken a lot of your time. Let me end with a few predictions. In your mind right now, you think boy or girl?
Hilary Duff [53:17] I think boy.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [53:19] Do you have a prediction on the baby's weight?
Hilary Duff [53:22] Oh, I was like, wait for what?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [53:25] I'm waiting.
Hilary Duff [53:28] Wait, no. Beth, my midwife just said she thinks it's like five pounds and some change. I'm thinking it's more like seven and some change. I'm going with seven. I think it's gonna be my biggest baby. I don't know why.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [53:44] I'm going with seven because Beth is an amazing midwife and I trust her a lot. But mom was in tuition, Trump's midwife in tuition, so.
Hilary Duff [53:53] You feel my belly? I don't know.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [53:55] You can't tell by feeling the belly really. It's more what you feel on the inside, I think.
Hilary Duff [54:00] I feel like it's pretty dense.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [54:01] You're feeling like 15 pounds at least.
Hilary Duff [54:04] I think that it's gonna be under eight, but I think it's gonna be my biggest baby.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [54:07] Okay, between seven and eight, how big was your biggest baby to date?
Hilary Duff [54:12] Banks was bigger than Luca and she was seven, four.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [54:15] Okay, so you're thinking over seven, four, under eight and what date do you think you'll go into labor have the baby?
Hilary Duff [54:23] I don't like this game. You know I want it to happen tomorrow, so.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [54:26] Not when do you want it to happen?
Hilary Duff [54:29] Yesterday, I want it to happen yesterday.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [54:31] That's when you want it to happen. When do you think it will actually happen? Just a guess, wild guess.
Hilary Duff [54:36] Honestly, I'm just saying, boy, I really don't have a strong feeling about it either way, which made me feel guilty for the longest time. I was like, I should know what's inside my body. It's my baby, I should know. And now I'm like, okay, with just like not knowing, but I think it's a boy. And then the date.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [54:55] You know, it's okay if you're wrong on all of these. It's just a novelty game. for amusement only.
Hilary Duff [55:01] I think I'm gonna be about four days before my due date.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [55:05] How long do you think labor will be?
Hilary Duff [55:07] I think the 24th.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [55:08] How long are you predicting labor?
Hilary Duff [55:11] 13 hours.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [55:12] Okay, there we have it. Boy, four days before your due date between 7.4 and eight ounces, 13 hour labor.
Hilary Duff [55:19] I like this new game. Have you been doing this with everyone?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [55:22] No, this is the first time ever.
Hilary Duff [55:24] Well, what do you think for me? Or you don't get-
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [55:26] No, I can get involved in it. I think boy also. Okay. I think boy, I think, you know what? I should have written down my answers separately, but I kind of feel like everything you said is right to me. I say seven pounds, so a tiny bit lighter than you're saying.
Hilary Duff [55:44] Take that.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [55:45] You'll take that, okay. I say three days before your due date.
Hilary Duff [55:50] Okay.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [55:51] I know you don't want that. And how long is labor? I'm gonna say nine and a half hours.
Hilary Duff [55:59] Wow, I like that too. Wait, you know what else you should add into this game?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [56:03] Let's do it.
Hilary Duff [56:04] If your water's gonna break or not.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [56:05] Oh, before contractions or at all?
Hilary Duff [56:08] Mine didn't break at all. It wasn't until Beth checked me. So she knew my game plan was like, I don't want to be checked until you think it's go time. And I also didn't want to get in the birthing tub. I didn't want to get in for pain relief or whatever. I don't know why. I've used heating pads and movement and all of that stuff, but I just didn't want to get in the tub until it was like go time. And so she was like, you sound different to me and I want to check you. And I was like literally so excited, but also nervous because I had been enduring the contractions for such a long time, that I felt like I was getting to the end of my, what I had left to give.
[56:49] So I was like scared if she was gonna say, ooh, we're not there yet, how I was gonna respond to that or whatever. But anyway, she checked me and she literally looked at me and was like, it's go time. And like tears just, I was so happy. And it was so like, I don't know the word to use. And then I'm like about to get up to go to the tub and my water broke. So she must've broken it.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [57:14] Oh yeah.
Hilary Duff [57:15] And with Luca, the same thing in the hospital, they broke my water.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [57:18] You just make a really hefty, hefty cinch sack or something like that.
Hilary Duff [57:23] Really?
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [57:24] Cannot be broken. Like every moment, every woman secretly wants the moment, like the movie moment where you're like, my water broke.
Hilary Duff [57:31] In the pasta aisle.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [57:32] In the pasta. Do you remember the moment you literally put banks on you? Can you describe that moment?
Hilary Duff [57:44] She was blue, which most babies are, right? And I just didn't know that. And her head was out. And I remember I talked to you before about that really big feeling where you're like, I know I'm not done, but I'm really big feeling, you know? And I don't mean like, yes, it's painful, but like what washes over you feels so big that you're like scared of it, or I was at least. And I remember her being like, the head is out. You can feel her head, you know? And reaching down and being like, you're kind of in your body, kind of out of your body. And then I literally think I pushed like two more times and she was out and it happened so fast. And then she was blue and I'm like, she's good, right?
[58:24] She's good, she's good. And they're like, she's good, talk to her mom, talk to her mom. And so we were like kind of rubbing her back and she was just like on my chest and I'm like just talking to her. And like all of a sudden, like the color just came to her face. It was so amazing. And then a couple of moments later when I finally was like not pinned against the tub and I was sitting and I hadn't done the placenta yet or whatever, but I could tell that was coming too. She reached up and gave me a hug around my neck. That's like the big moment that stood out to me.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [58:57] I mean, you're an actor, so it could sound dramatic but there's no question she gave you a hug.
Hilary Duff [59:03] In my mind, there's not. No, in the video-
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [59:05] Of course, it's hard to me but her arms are like reaching at me. I've really never seen that in the video when she just reaches out to give you this giant hug, like, damn it, you did it. We did it, whatever. Anyway, that's just what my two cents is to focus on that moment, no matter what's going on. I talk about it on here a lot, like the struggle, the journey, the labor to get you to that moment is such an unknown. Who knows how long it'll be, how intense it'll be, what things will pop up along the way. But when you get to that moment, it's like everything just disappears. Like all the struggle, the fear, the labor, the heart, it's just gone and your whole body just melts in love
[59:44] with this new baby for some people. But you had that moment so you're gonna have that moment again. And if you just focus on that, if I can give you a crystal ball and show you, here's that moment, it's gonna be in nine hours and 13 minutes, you would just be fine.
Hilary Duff [60:00] you're absolutely right. And I'm not going to pretend that I don't have fear around it. Because if you told me to like, sit here and tell you exactly what a contraction felt like, I couldn't even do it. But I remember that was like, the hardest part was getting through all of those contractions. But in that moment, and moments like crawling in bed with my family, and watching my son like measure banks, and just like the sheer joy and happiness, it's so much bigger than all the hard parts. You know, and it happens instantly, like all the struggle is all over. And you are changed forever with your baby.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [60:38] Well, the next time we talk to you, we'll find out exactly how it went, who was more right, or how totally wrong we were. But you know, as always, I love talking to you, and I'm inspired by you. I learned a lot from you. You are my Julia Roberts.
Hilary Duff [60:59] That's too nice. I'm so happy for our relationship and to know you and you teach me something every time we have a hang or a meeting. And I'm so happy to be a part of this because other women have helped me. So the thought that I would get to help them, it really means a lot and holds a lot of weight.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [61:16] My son, Hootie the foodie from the Hootie the foodie podcast. He just reminded me that dad, you didn't bring them my kombucha. I'm going to see you next weekend.
Hilary Duff [61:26] Yeah, I'm going to bring you a kombucha in a couple of days.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [61:28] I want the mojito and the blueberry, please save me one. He says, yes. Okay. Well, Matt might want him to have to arm wrestle. So if you have a couple of extras to spare. Yeah, absolutely. You know, actually, maybe we'll just give you one, then you guys can have a fight and test out the theory. All right. Thanks for being here. I look forward to the next chapter with you and at home. Thanks for listening to us for more pregnancy and parenting information. Visit us online at informedpregnancy.com
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