The Bossticks - The Truth About Surrogacy, Natural Home Birth, & Pregnancy Taboos Ft. Hope Smith

Episode Date: July 21, 2022

#480: On today's episode we are  joined by Hope Smith. Hope Dworaczyk Smith is an American entrepreneur, model, TV host and reality television personality. She is the founder and CEO of MUTHA, a skincare company, and was the host of Inside Fashion. Hope joines the show to discuss her natural birth journey, her experience with surrogacy, reality TV, & her time as a Playmate. We also discuss many taboos surounding pregnancy and surrogacy and answer all the questions listeners may have.  To connect with Lauryn Evarts click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) Check Out Lauryn's NEW BOOK, Get The Fuck Out Of The Sun HERE This episode is brought to you by Homesick Candles. To Try Homesick candles and receive an exclusive offer click HERE This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential  The Hot Mess Ice Roller is here to help you contour, tighten, and de-puff your facial skin and It's paired alongside the Ice Queen Facial Oil which is packed with anti-oxidants that penetrates quickly to help hydrate, firm, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, leaving skin soft and supple. To check them out visit www.shopskinnyconfidential.com now.  Produced by Dear Media 

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That's h-o-m-es-i-k-com slash skinny. Use code skinny. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you alone. for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her.

You have to be able to make money without physically showing up. You can't have to physically show up. You have to be able to do it from anywhere. And you have to have money working for you when you're sleeping. And you might constantly work. But to go to sleep at night and being able to have a beauty business or sell product while you're sleeping, that was probably the biggest thing. Hope Smith is on the skinny confidential him and her podcast today. Hope is actually the one who introduced us to Mary Markle. You guys love that episode. It was all about natural birth. If you have not listened, like everyone needs to hear that episode. Guys, girls, whatever. Got to hear this episode. It's absolutely incredible if you're even thinking about getting pregnant or giving birth. I learned so much. But Hope is the one who introduced us to Mary Markle. And she's absolutely incredible. She actually had a baby with Mary Markle. We'll get into it. In this episode, we talk all the things. She's so open about building her business, modeling fashion, being a mom. She's the owner of mother, which is so popular all over Instagram. And she also had a natural birth. And she has experience with surrogacy, which is super interesting. And it's so cool how open she is. Because there's a lot of people out there, I think, that have done surrogacy and they haven't talked about it like Hope does. And I just think it's so cool. So like I said, she's the owner of mother, which is a luxury skincare brand that celebrates women and their bodies at every stage of their lives. I used her serum. It's like a body serum when I was pregnant and I don't have a stretch mark. So I would definitely recommend that. I have other things, but that's for a different podcast, but I don't have any stretch marks. I really think it's thanks to that serum and being really diligent with my oils. I was a psycho about

thought. Her book is called Your Body is Magic, Wellness Strategies for a Healthy Pregnancy and Birth. And this book, I actually doggiered so much during my pregnancy because she talks about every single thing during the pregnancy, after the pregnancy, postpartum, just like a whole Bible of everything you need to know. I have massive respect for hope and what she's built. She also has an incredible family. Go check out her Instagram. On that note, let's welcome Hope to the Skinny Confidential, him and her podcast. This is the skinny confidential, him and her. I have wanted to have you on the podcast for so long.

I think we started following each other on Instagram years ago. And I just found your content to always have value in it, especially when it came to kids. Because I feel like you're balancing being an entrepreneur, being a badass, and being a mother of four. It's insane. I don't even believe it. When you say that, I'm like, who is she talking about? I mean, that is crazy, number one. And we're going to get into your story.

But first, I do have to tell the audience this. The reason that Mary Markle, the natural birth specialist, was on the podcast, was because of you because I stocked your highlight that said, I think, fertility or pregnancy and found her and talked to her on the phone for five minutes. And I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You got to just come on the podcast. I'm like, we can't have this call. like she was, it was so much information.

I was like, why don't you just come on the podcast and do my consultation there? And that episode just really resonated. She's born to be on a mic, that woman. She doesn't stop talking, but in the best way, like she drops so much that you don't want her to stop. Yeah, I was captivated. I was just, I actually couldn't believe it. She's great.

And you know what? I learned more in my first consultation. I was never going to have a home birth. I was completely scared of birth. I started exploring it after reading all of these books. I had been with an OBGYN for 20 weeks. I sat in one consultation with Mary Michael, and that woman spent two, three hours with me. I left believing and knowing more about my body than my OBGYN taught me in 20 weeks.

I felt like confident that I could do it, you know? That makes sense. And even with your second pregnancy, you start to realize sometimes that your body knows what it's doing. Like, I don't need every single test for every single thing, whereas the first one was maybe a little bit different. I want to go back to your childhood. You were born in Texas. I was. But you haven't lived here the whole time.

I left at 16. I couldn't wait to leave. I grew up in a town of 600 people. Oh, wow. 600. Our nearest airport was about three hours away. So I really grew up on a farm until I was in third grade when we moved to the big town of 10,000 people. Where in Texas is this?

Seedrift, Texas and then Port Lavaca, Texas. And then what's the nearest major city? It's right between Houston and Corpus and Austin. You could kind of go either one. Okay. But did you stand out in this town of 600? Because you're very tall. You're very pretty.

I mean, I know you were a model. Maybe you still are a model, but you look like a model. Like, so is that how it was when you were younger? I think I was an awkward early model, you know, that you were made fun of and called grasshopper and things because you have really long arms and really long legs. and I didn't look like a model like I later looked living in New York City. You know, that was a little bit different. I couldn't wait to leave because I looked around it, everybody around me.

I wasn't in Austin, Texas, you know, wasn't in Dallas. I was looking around everybody around me saying, this is not what I want my life to be. I have to get out and, like, do something. So you knew at a young age that you wanted more for yourself. I had to leave and see what else was out there. And what did your family do? So my mom's a nurse. My dad's never really been in my life.

But my mom is a nurse and his mom has always been in my life and very influential and she was a principal. You also won an award, which was Miss Texas Teen America. So is that sort of the turning point that you realize that you could model, act, all the things? It was, you know, I was never a pageant girl growing up in Texas. It was something that I entered and I don't even really fully remember why or how it happened. And I ended up winning. After that, I won a agent. an agency contract in Dallas, Texas. So it was with the sister agency to Willamina. And Willamina at the time was like a very big agent in New York. And so this is like 16 years ago or more. Hold am I? Oh, this is more. 20. Before Apprentice, I feel like I saw you a playmate, playboy something. So in 2009, I posed and I was on the cover of April 2009. And then again, in

2010 as Playmate of the Year. Okay. First of all, how does that even happen? I don't know. I was in Dallas, Texas. We skipped over a lot. No, let's not skip over. Tell us between, like, tell us the story between when this, like, how this transpired to playboy. So after winning Misty in Texas, I want to contract with this agency in Dallas who immediately sent me to New York and I was signed with Willamina, which was their sister agency. through that I had made like my parents were like come home come home like you can't you know stay gone very long this is just like a one time thing you're going for a month and that turned into like years I ended up walking before I was 18 for Versace and Valenciaga and really big designers so I was then making more per year than my parents made I mean more per show or you know than my parents made in a year you know what is that like because I've talked to a couple different people on the podcast that have said that and what does that feel like? when you're that young? Well, I always knew money wasn't just abundant, right? So I knew I needed to make my own, but I also knew that if I was able to make money, I didn't have to go home. So I'd show up for work and, you know, go to all the casting calls. And I wasn't like a big partier because I knew I had to make it work. And what about all the things in the modeling world at this time? Like I know,

especially at the time you modeled, eating disorders, drugs, drinking, you just stayed out of it or what? All of it. I'd be right next to it. So, you know, I'd be at whatever, the hottest spot was. They shouldn't have been letting me into those hot spots because I was like, not even 20, but of course, I'm in and you're at, you know, all of these different tables. And what I saw during that period was insane. Like what? You're next to the table or at your table. A huge, huge bags of like cocaine. Never touched it. Didn't care. I would stay out. I would dance. I'd party. I'd want to know like what was going on and to assess like every situation. But I'd never, I never had an interest in that. You're obviously already thin so you didn't have to worry about all

these things at all these walls. No, they told me I was so big. So I was told that I was very, very big. What? Then, yeah. So what do you say at a young age? It's hard. You believe it. And you start dieting or you start watching what you're eating and you're like, oh, I can't really eat that. You know, it's a mind. So when did the Playboy, Playmate Hugh Hefner era start? I invested money into a medical spa in Texas. And I had like laser hair removal. Somehow I convinced a doctor to sign off as my medical director when I was 21 years old. Somehow he'd risked his license and believed in my medical spa. Four years after that, I sold it and I was in Dallas, Texas.

I ran into Holly Madison at the W. Hotel. Okay, is this Holly Madison while she's on the show, or is this before? While she had her show. I think it was the very beginning of her show, maybe. Okay, and does she like poach you? Yeah, pretty much. How? To come by and she'd be somewhere tomorrow or that afternoon.

I can't remember exactly. and she would want it to meet me and she had a photographer here in town. And so I actually went by and met her. I think it was the same day. And were you familiar with who she was and what she was doing? I knew who she was. And I knew that it was like a little bit felt risky, but I still did it because I like to know what's out there. And I like to explore and like see. And so I met with her. And after that, I was flown out to Los Angeles to do like a test shoot. And I did it. And then they invited me to shoot like an actual spread in the magazine and the cover. And the first person I called was my grand. mother in Texas. I'm sure she loved that. Because I was like, okay.

And I entertained the idea to her. Like I wasn't going to do it. And like it was just flattering. But I was like wanting to do it. And she was like, oh, if I was your age, I'd go for it. Oh, grandma's cool. Yeah. And so I was like, really?

You'd just, you'd pose naked? She's like, yeah. So I did it. And you're on the cover the first time you do it. Yeah. I had Seth Rogan blowing a fan up my skirt and like this classic. What hell was he doing there? He was also shooting a cover.

We shot it together. That's kind of juxtaposition. Wait, so. There's no, you hear all these stories about how you have to date Hugh Hefner and be with Hugh Heffner and there was none of that. No. I was already hosting a show that was on E. Entertainment at the time.

It was called Inside Fashion. So I pitched the show for Inside Fashion where I would go backstage and interview designers, makeup artists. This is a long time ago. And they took it and ran with it. And it was like in Canada and the U.S. maybe that's why I got a cover at that point too because it wasn't like I had already had a job. You were known a little bit. What about is there catiness in the mansion with the playmates or is everyone friends? Because I feel like it either goes either way. You're either going to tell me you guys were great friends or there's catiness. I don't think that I was in as deep to like have all the catiness. You know, I wasn't there every day and they have like weekend nights where you can go like twice a week and like eat and watch movie night and you know,

know, I would stop by like here and there because I lived in Los Angeles, but I wasn't there on a nightly basis. So I don't know, you know. It sounds like there were a couple girls that I stayed close with. Okay. Yeah. Like it sounds like you stayed out of the. I stayed out just enough that I never saw any of that behavior that you talk about like the nights in the bedroom and all this stuff you read about. I never saw it person. I've read every single book on like down the rabbit hole all the books she wrote and then I read also Kendra's and so like some of those nights were wild. I never, I haven't read the books either. So I probably should read the books. Oh my God. You got to read the books. Are juicy. I was definitely there when Holly and Kendra were there and Bridget. I feel like you don't

have time to read the books because you have four kids and you're running an empire and you have a husband. But if you do have time, the books are pretty juicy. I feel like they'd make me sad because I saw like a certain side of half and I didn't see that other side. So I feel like it'd make me a little sad. Like sad meaning like you saw a better side of him or a good side of him? Like I saw the best side of him probably. So the other, this would kind of darken that image. Yeah. I also think that there must be something that you let off that was a boundary of respect. Probably. Like I can just tell by meeting you in person that you like don't put up with shit. And so maybe he felt that like you weren't the one to go for. Does that make sense? Yeah. But how do you choose your victim, right? Like I don't know.

I don't. Maybe there's something about you that was just like, I'm not cocaine's next to me, but I'm not doing it. Drinking's there, but I'm not going to engage. Well, I would drink. But yeah, but you know what I mean? Like black out or go in the room and like have 12 sums with him. Right. Yeah. No. I mean, I would love to be a fly on the wall to see Hugh Huffner having a 12 sum. I'm not going to lie. So at what point do you get approached for the celebrity apprentice? Is it like after Playboy? Okay. It was after Playboy. And what's your experience with that? I really showed up. thinking I wasn't going to have to work. And I remember being shocked at how hard to work it was. Like you don't have anybody to go like to FedEx for you. You're physically going. So I thought like if you're signing on and it's like at the time little John and I don't, you know, I had different people in my group. I was like, no way are they going to send them to FedEx because you're going to get like accosted, you know? But no, like you don't have helpers. Like you're really doing the work. And so it was probably a lot harder than I thought it would. There were 13 episodes. I left on episode nine. I was the youngest. And one of the.

the last females to leave. Do you think when you came on that they underestimated you or that they knew you were that? That or I was so scared of the crazy people that were on it that I just stayed far away from that part of it and so I just last Who else was in your cast besides Little John? Nini Leaks, Nikki Taylor, Lisa Renna.

Who was the craziest? What does it rhyme with? Nini was funny. She wasn't crazy. I mean, you know, she was just funny. The craziest. Oh, there was that guy. His name was Gary. Gary Busey? Yes. Oh, Christ. That was scary. Gary, wait, is Gary Busey the one that has the Chihuahuas? No, that's Mickey Rourke.

That's Mickey Rourke. Michael. Gary Bucci, Gary Bucci is right up there on the crazy list. Is he actually that crazy? No, he was so crazy. And my, they give you all like, sweet. Do you all have your own like house apartment inside of Trump Soho? Not Trump Soho. I saw Gary Bucy throw a handful of spaghetti at a guy's face at Dan Tannas. Oh. And I wasn't surprised because he was Gary Bucy. I was like, when he was fired, he left a post-it on my door. And it said that he left like, the items, like some orange juice and some items for me in his refrigerator. And I was like, that's not happening. Gary. It's like, here's some, here's some roofy orange juice with a little

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or you can sign up for an annual premium account to get 50% off when you go to issue.com slash podcast and use promo code skinny. That's I-S-S-U-U-U-com slash podcast and use promo code skinny at checkout for your free account or 50% off your annual premium account. That's ISSUU.com slash podcast with promo code skinny. What are some moments that you look back on that are so crazy, especially after when Trump became president? Do you look back and you're like, holy shit, this is like iconic? When he became president, that was crazy.

Because I'm like, wait, you're not supposed to, I'm not supposed to know the president, you know? Was he nice? Let's talk, like, forget like him being president and everything. Was he nice in celebrity apprentice? He was nice to me. He was nice to you. But he was very rude to people around him.

But he was very nice to me. Like his helpers he was rude to? Or other contestants. Yeah. And other contestants. Yeah. So basically he wanted to have sex with you. He might have. But no.

He for sure did. Yeah. But then he probably felt the boundary that Hugh Hefner felt. Yeah, because I never, yeah, was like preyed upon like that, you know. I mean, he's not that hot. Like, let's be honest. No. What about his daughter?

Well, it was Hugh? No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. That's a lot of saggy balls in one conversation. You don't know that, Lauren. Hugh Hefner. These guys might keep it tight. Hugh Hewifner and Trump together.

No, no, no, Michael. You don't know, Lauren. You never know. Michael, I can tell by the way someone keeps their hair how their balls are. My wife has this whole thing where she thinks, like the other day she was trying to explain blue balls to, to another person on the show, like, as if she has experienced this. How, no, I was saying being pregnant, like blue balls. but I don't think you can compare either of them and I would never assume

that I would know what it's like to be pregnant like you're right about that yeah it's like your you're blue balled and your blue ball and your blue balled and then it's like month 10 so uncomfortable yeah it's so uncomfortable and then you have to let it out well they're both uncomfortable I assume

it's like having blue balls nine I get the analogy yeah like you we're at the point right now of this pregnancy, just like a side note where he just doesn't understand how one, I mean, he's never going to understand how uncomfortable it is. So any analogy helps. Yeah. I just told him to just say yes, dear. Perfect. Well, sometimes she says don't say anything. And so I just kind of stand there with like a deer in headlights. Wait. I mean, what about when

she's in labor? Like, are you allowed to talk? Can you? It depends. Sometimes, sometimes I was. Sometimes I was. And I was in a corner at one point. Yeah, I put my husband in the corner too. He wasn't allowed to speak without being spoken to. He was able to move my affirmations. I had like this poster board and he was able, he had to follow me with it and just put it where I could see it and then like leave. He sounds smart though. Yeah. You know, he could take me like behind the sheet and in the corner. I get like I was like wherever you want me. I don't need you up my butthole when I'm pushing stuff out. Okay. So Celebrity Apprentice would like was the whole experience wild like looking back? Is there anything that you remember that really stands out? I remember being glad I was fired

finally because I was like, I lasted a lot longer than I thought I was supposed to last. Like, there was nothing crazy that stood out. I was happy because I remember I was, I got fired and I had to fly to London. I had already committed to another job and I got fired like the day I needed to leave. So it was kind of perfect. I did my extradition review and still made my plane ticket. And what if I wouldn't have been able to leave? I would have canceled on the job last minute. And it's just after Celebrity Apprentice Ayers, do you get recognized everywhere? Or was it like a different tier of fame? Maybe a little bit in Los Angeles, but not a lot. Not a lot. No, I don't think so. Okay. So at what point do you meet your husband after this? I met my husband in 2009.

Is this simultaneously starting your company or did you start your company after? I started my company after my first child. Okay. Yeah. I met my husband in 2009 and then we were kind of pen pals and I was dating other people. What do you mean? What do you mean pen pals? So I was dating other people and I knew Robert would never be okay with like, I wasn't ready to settle down. And I knew he would never, he was the type that would never be okay if I was like going to go date somebody and then come back and then like date somebody or date two people at the same time. Like I knew when it was time to date Robert that I had to be with just Robert. Like he wasn't going to be like she can just like meander around Los Angeles and like hop on a flight and not tell you exactly where she's going. You know, like

he's just more serious than that. When we met, we, you know, penpiles because he was in Switzerland. I was the U.S. He'd invite me to fly out. He'd say, can you meet me in Paris to, you know, go to some opera? Very fancy. I'm in Los Angeles and I'm not thinking about the offer. And it's in no way am I getting on a 13-hour flight to Paris with, you know, I don't know you like that. And so there was all of these crazy invites that I just said no to. And finally he invited me to Austin, Texas to go to the first ever F-1. And I said, okay, it was my first yes in like three years. I said, okay, my mom's very close to there. So if this is gets. weird. I'm just going to go see my parents. And you had been out of Texas this whole time.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So it was kind of like went to visit family and him and dated pretty much from that moment on. He is a smart man. What is it like to date someone who is, I mean, you're extremely smart too. You guys met your match. Like, is that wild when you're that young to be dating someone who is that smart? He never stops. Like he never stops working, never stops thinking. He's always, I would say he's probably never satisfied and never going to be satisfied. He has to keep going. We call it blissfully dissatisfied. I know someone. Yeah. I know someone like that. Yeah. Like you, you know, you, you always think, right? Like, they always say, like, when you make your first million, like, you're, that's the dream and like you're going to be so happy. And then

you make that million. It might, you might be satisfied for a second, but there's not. And you're disappointed. Because you think it's going to be a lot better than it is. And then you have a new goal in mind. And his work ethic is so, so impressive to me. And like, I, think that I have learned to fill every single minute that I have because of him, because I watched him do it. And it's inspiring. What's you guys's morning routine? Do you have like a whole thing? Well, it depends. Where you are. Yeah, it depends where we are. What city, if we're together in that city or not because like he could be traveling. He could be fundraising because right now he's raising a big fund. And then like I'm in Austin. He came into Austin last night. I flew in this morning.

You know, it just depends. Before you launched your business, what was the best piece of advice he gave you and how have you applied it? You have to be able to make money without physically showing up. I would say like you can't have to physically show up. You have to be able to do it from anywhere and you have to have money working for you when you're sleeping or when you're, you know, and you might constantly work. But to have it, you know, to go to sleep at night and being able to have a beauty business or sell products while you're sleeping or somewhere, that was probably the biggest thing. You can't be constrained by time or location. Yeah. And you know what? When you're a model, you have to show up to get paid. And I don't know if it's his way of telling me like come to the

bright side and don't model anymore or don't go and be an actress or what it was. But that was part of it. What do you think is the best advice you've taught him? It could be about anything. I think I'd teach him everything. I think he adopts my ideas. Like sometimes I think like he, he like, I'm talking about something in the house and he's like laughing like kind of I can tell he's kind of like letting me go on but enjoying it a little too much and then I would look at him and I'll tell him yeah you'll be talking about this in two days to somebody two days later he'll be talking to somebody about the metaverse or you know very early on I was like yes you know I'm going to physical I'm going to have a house in the metaverse and I'm going to be buying art in my house for the metaverse and like I go on and on and on about it

you know my outfits my this and that and he was looking at me like it's crazy like this is a while back. But you know what? He listened to my ideas and I heard him talk about it. They always do that. They always take our ideas and then they make it as their own and pre-package it. And sometimes he tells me my idea that I told him three days ago was his own idea. It's because we're listening. I get that. No, but you're like not listening kind of. You're like just you're passively listening. And then you'll tell me the idea. Well, I've said I think the most important decision you can make is the person you choose to spend your life with, right? Because like you make the wrong decision there. Imagine you're listening to all the wrong things. It's true. That's major. Will Smith, I just

finished his autobiography. There's a little controversy around Will Smith. Why? What did he do? What happened? But it is book. He says the two most important decisions that you make in life is your partner and your location. I thought that was, I thought that was a good one. It's true. Like, the location's important as well. I think now that I'm talking to you, when I'm, started following you is when you got married, which your wedding was the gnarliest wedding I think I've ever seen. My husband still has a lot to say about it. It was in Italy. It was in Ravela. Yeah. I think like you had like three different dress options if I'm correct. And like it was so gnarly, but it was also so chic. How did you like manage the just of position of that? I don't know.

I, you know, I worked with a great events person, but I know exactly what I wanted. You know, it was bad. I was vacation. you know, in the Maffi Coast before the wedding, the month before. And it got really bad because they started writing about it. Like at the Italian, you know, paparazzi and things. They started writing about what was happening. And like, my husband then is reading it in the mornings that we're in like two towns over. And he's like, shut the fuck up. Why are helicopters dropping off 50 loads of equipment and things on this cliff for our wedding?

Like, I'm like, I don't know. I don't think that's true. And then he makes a call and he's like, hope it's true. you know, like there keeps having like all of these interactions. You know, I had like this huge production happen as a surprise for my husband and I had these dancers. I should put together a show from like our first meeting to like all of the steps along, like our dating history up to our marriage, including our first son. And they're dancers and they turn their body into like tables or to like a car. And he kept seeing outside the window them building this box. And he kept

and it was a surprise. So I couldn't tell him what it was. And he was. And he. And he. And he was a surprise. And he. He says, well, what is this box? Like, why can't I know anything that's going on? I'm like, it's fine. It's to put, I had to think on the fly. I said, oh, it's to put our monogram up on. And he goes, well, this is just stupid. You're letting them build a box when you could just project it on like a flat, you know?

So I have to hear it because we're like over there in real time. And I'm like, can you just let me surprise you? Just stop. Was he surprised? Yeah, he loved it. He cried. It's like the best gift. I mean, you're writing, you guys, everyone go Google.

It was the gnarliest wedding I've ever seen. It was beautiful. It was fun. We had so many friends in town for the week. It was fun. I feel like I might need to redo my wedding. No, it's done. It's too late for you.

No, I went on vacation instead. After you guys get married, it sounds like you already had your first. We had their, yeah. And is this, now is this when you talk to Mary Markle and you did a natural birth or is this, was your first hospital? My first was the natural birth. Your first was the natural. First, I want to hear all about. a natural birth from you, especially with Mary Markle. So I listen to Mary Michael's podcast here.

And I remember one comment you made, you said, but what does it look like? Like, my house is all white. My house is all white too. I have cashmere rugs in my bedroom. Like white, white, white. Nobody wears shoes in my house. I'm a scary, like, in any house. I don't care like where you're at. You're not putting shoes on. Like, if I see you in them, you're taking them off, like I'm carrying them to the door. We're having a fight about it because I'm fine with them taking off, but she's got to get somebody like a bench to sit on because we have all these. I had to do that too for my husband. He requested that same thing. So I got, I did get like a little bench and. I'm going to do that. I stand like a flamingo in my cowboy boots. I'm like, come on. He does take his shoes off. But then he'll do little secret tricks. Like he'll try to walk with his cowboy boot from the laundry room to the door. And it's like five feet. It's only five feet. But like, well, I got to get to one and then I got to go back out. You know. My husband does it all the time. I'm like, why are you upstairs right now? And you know,

it like infuriates me like nothing else. I guess because I know that my babies crawl around on the floor and like they live on the floor. Your husband's braver than me. I would never venture up the stairs, but I would go across to the to the laundry. I made him call on his knees. No, I made him crawl on his knee through the room. So, so with a natural birth, I'm not going to lie. I'm going to be dead honest. One of the things that does give me anxiety is I like my house the way. I like my house the way I like it and it feels like it would be like a crime scene and I'm not down for that. There's no, I mean, I don't know. Maybe you are and I love if you beat me at this, but like I'm, I have a lot of OCD in my

house and like I can't get on with my day unless things look a certain way. Like I have to have clean countertops. Like I can't move on. Yeah, we have that. You guys have, you can talk about that on a whole other podcast for hours. I'm sure you too go on and out about that. Yeah. So I like things to look a certain way.

And I was very freaked out about these rugs, which my husband loves more than I do. She promised me nothing would happen to them and that it would be like nothing. Like she would clean up all of it and you'd never even see it. And she's right. She said she brings in like a tactical team. Like she's got like, it's not just her. No, it's not just her. One of my birds I had three other people on.

The other one I had two other people. And she comes in with all of this equipment. But you're free and in your house and you're getting to like walk around. You can eat, which is like huge for me. You can't be hungry and then run a marathon. If you're like me, you run puffy and bloated. Not only do I get bloated in my face and need my ice roller, I also get bloated in my stomach, especially postpartum. Things are puffy over here. I do everything I can already to fight inflammation. I even got this thing that does like leg compression. I wear compression

socks. I sleep slightly with my head up. I ice roll. I do my pink balls facial massager. I get facial massage and I also take bloat capsules. And the bloat capsules that I have been taking for the last three years are Array. Array is an insane company, you guys. They have these capsules, okay? You got to get these specific capsules. They're called the bloat capsule. Like I said, it's 100% natural, filler-free organic. Array is an insane company, you guys. First of all, the bloat capsules, the ones you want to get. They're 100% natural filler-free and organic. And here's what I do. So if I have a heavy meal, especially at night, like a pasta or a pizza, anything that's like going to be heavy on my digestive system, I will take two of these. And in it is five herbs and a fruit-based digestive enzyme. It's completely laxative-free so you're not like running to the bathroom. It just helps with bloat. And they have a code for you. You're going to go to array.com. That's A-R-R-A-E dot com and use code skinny at checkout. You get 10% off of one-time purchases or you get 20.com. 25% off the first month on subscription. So head to their site and get the blow capsules.

Trust me on this one. Why don't they let you eat? In case they have to put you under or you and take you go into Cessarian. I'm in sneak eat. I'm sneaking eat. Yeah, you should. Wait. Nobody can tell you not to eat. Just eat it. Here's another thing. And I'm going to be honest, like just a lot of different energy in your house, though. How do you know that the people she brings in are the right vibe? I think they're in the birthing. space so they know what a birthing woman needs because they've all done it before. And when you're in that, they know not to ask you a question. Because anytime you have to answer a question, no. Are you hope from Celebrity Apprentice? Can I get a selfie? No, that would be awful.

But you know what? I have a trust issue too with like, you're just going to show up to my house. And I'm like, I don't know why you're here or what you want for me. And like, can I trust you? And I don't trust anybody. This is bad. But I don't. These people from the birthing community, they really don't want to interrupt a birth. They don't. And they're just not those people. They're not the people that want the selfie. They, you know, they probably don't even maintain an Instagram page. They probably never taken a selfie themselves. They probably wouldn't recognize a celebrity if they were dining next to one, you know? I don't want to say they're like completely hidden, but they have other interests. Did Mary Michael come in with like a flourishing energy? Like she was in her element like you didn't have to do anything? You know, I love. I love. Mary Michael and I went back to her for baby too. But there were times in my appointments because she tells me everything so many times that I was like really annoyed with her. And I would tell her like, I'm just feeling anxious because you're making me anxious and I'm feeling a little annoyed with this conversation because I already know what you're telling me. Like I get it. I promise I get it.

But when she showed up, she was, she's always a professional and she's like so, has so much knowledge. But when she showed up, it was like a pro. You got to see her in her element and she was like, she had everybody working and everybody has a job and people are in the kitchen and they're sterilizing. And like, those are just things that they would probably never use and never even used for my birth, that they go and do sterile procedure just in case because you want everything. How bad does it hurt? Be honest. Well, I've never had a medicated birth. So I can't tell you, like I can't compare. Like I'm guessing nothing to something. Contractions and all of that for me were only huge when I got to transition time. And that's almost time to push. transition time. That's when like right before you have to push. Yeah. And so how like was it primal? You're screaming. Like what's your husband doing? I wasn't screaming, but you're definitely like using every resource you have like breathing and things. I had back labor on my second. So my husband was putting like pressure on my lower back in the shower and water really helped me. So like the heat. I wanted the heat to touch my body because you have certain like nerve receptors in there. You know, you can get that to beat the

pain. And so, like, that sensation will, like, go to the brain faster than, like, the pain you're having. So, like, water really, really helps, especially from a shower, like, hard pressure. But, yeah, it hurts. But it's so forgotten and it's so short. You immediately or after birth are, like, so awake and, like, alive. I don't, I've never had the epidural, but you're not drugged at all. The epidural, I feel like is really different than what you're describing because I couldn't move to get in a shower. Oh, no. I got up. No. You know, I, you know, I cuddled with the baby for a long time. But then I was like, you know what, I really want to shower. The, you know, 10 minutes it took me to go shower or less because it's just like bed to shower.

They had fixed the bed completely. And it was now ready for like me to sleep in that night, completely clean. I was in my own clothes back in bed with baby. And did you get postpartum anxiety or depression? Not that I know of. I know that I had hormonal things happening like imbalances and things. but I don't think I ever had any of like postpartum. What do you do if you rip? Do they just, did they stitch you up there? She told me that if I learned in our exams like what to do and how to relax the perennium,

just like she tells me that I won't rip. So much to do. She takes like gauze and puts it in castor oil and she has it heating. And when it's time to push, she takes that gauze and she's going to support between your vagina, like perinium right there so that the pressure is applied evenly so you don't And so you didn't have an experience of like tearing a lot? I never tore in either birth.

And then your second one, you did the exact same thing with Mary Michael. Exact same thing, Mary Michael. I also did, I was doing premrose, you know, to soften the cervix. I was actually inserting primrose in my last few weeks. I was doing vitamin E every night on that area so that it would be really soft, stretch more than, you know, without tearing. So there's all these, I had, you know, vitamin E and primrose on my nightstand that I would just like.

You just massage your vagina hole. Yeah. It's like I can't, first of all, like, let me just break this down. I can't shave my legs because they can't reach my legs. And then like shaving the vagina, you have to like get a mirror. And like, I mean, it's like, I can't even see what's going on. So now I have to like do the evening primrose and the vitamin E and the shape. It's just a lot going on.

You can't see any of it either. When do you like just because I'm going to be I'm going to ask a selfish question. When do you think like it's time to like take a step back when you're pregnant and like relax because I'm a go go-go person like you and I feel like I don't know when it's time to like step back. I think for you it was like three weeks ago. But here we are. I don't know how far along you are. Really?

I'm 32 and a half weeks. Yeah. I don't know. I think I have to. go, go, go. But then suddenly you're going to get this urge, which is like now or very soon in three weeks and it's going to be like that nesting feeling and you're going to have like this burst of energy. That's what my sister-in-law said. Yeah. So I think you're going to have a big burst of energy. I am the wrong person to ask. I did you work, you worked until 40 weeks. Yeah. And I also

I knew we're going to say that. It's so bad. You shouldn't though. Nobody should. They should stop. In your book, your body is magic. I know I'm going to rest after. What did people say anything that's similar about that or no? Yeah, you should definitely rest. And, you know, but you know what? I think that when you keep going, your body is like ready to give birth. I mean, you're moving. The baby's getting into position.

Your hips are moving. They're widening. All the stuff's happening. And if you're very like, you're not moving around and not doing anything, that's a lot of times the baby will flip and all kinds of stuff happens. It makes sense if you think about it from like an evolutionary standpoint. I doubt that women of past ages were kind of just like waiting. They couldn't wait around.

No. So you're upright and you were moving. And the laying on your back is when you like, get in trouble and like baby starts flipping the other way. What were some other things you were doing that was holistic during your pregnancy that you think have just really helped? And obviously your book, like you're such an expert in the space, your product line. Like what are some things that you used in your toolbox? I did follow Mary Michael's whole vitamins. And, you know, she told me, do you want a basic baby? Because I was like, oh, no, I'm good. She was like, she goes, you got,

you have to get on all these vitamins. And I would try dismissing her like, Mary Michael, I've got this. I'm good. I'm on this like really great one. She goes, oh, you're on one. Do you want a basic baby? And I was like, no, Mary Michael, I don't want a basic baby. She's a character. And then she gave me like smoothies and all of the stuff to do every day, which kept me distracted enough to smoothies, vitamins, primrose and vitamin E, acupuncture. Taking vitamins as you're talking. Yeah. I'm going to have my organic mushrooms. She told me to eat a lot of, I just got those. This is such a good brand. These are the best. symbiotica. I know what my daughter likes it. The D3 is good. So is the B12. I just ordered that one.

Your husband should take the, well, you should both, but your husband too, the D3, the Koku 10. It's really good for men. Okay. He takes like a bunch of their vitamins and he got me on to them these packets. Yeah, I started following the founder a few years ago. He's your bike. I love it. Yeah, he is, he's like very like, I feel like he would have almost maybe been a good person to interview for your next book. Oh, okay. Because he knows so much about vitamins. I love that. Yeah, he's, that was like a little free ad spot for them.

Yep, there's another one too. Symbiotica. You're welcome Shervine. I'm taking sponsors here. After your second baby, was the birth similar to your first or was it different? It was different. I had back labor in my second and I don't know why. What is that?

I don't know what that means. It's this crazy feeling where you have incredible pressure on your back. It's in your lower back and like your contractions are in the front, but you feel the pain in the back. And it really hurts. Like it just, it's uncomfortable. It feels like you couldn't stretch it out. Like if you bent over and you started twisting and stretching, like you wouldn't be able to, the pain wouldn't go away. I actually didn't realize I was in labor, but I was in labor that day all day.

I woke up with my back hurting. I went and I did the Lagree studio here. I went and did a workout at 1 o'clock and my water broke at 6 p.m. So five hours after I did this little Lagree machine, I didn't know I was in labor, but my back was hurting since the morning. How many weeks were both your babies? my first was 42 weeks. I know. Horrible.

My next was 39 weeks and four days. So it was so different. A little better. Yeah. So see? The first just like goes longer, but I think like your second will be earlier. Zaza was hanging. I didn't think she was going to come out.

I know. Wanted to stay. Hendricks wanted to stay too. Yeah. They like want to stay up there. They wouldn't come out. They only, you know what? You were doing the right things.

You were giving your body exactly what it needed because you're being. Baby's only going to decide that it's, or your baby and your body are going to decide to, you know, have the baby and give birth when your placenta can no longer support all of its needs. So there's going to be a time when, you know, your first is very comfortable. You're doing all of the things. You're getting a lot more rest. So your placenta is so healthy. Like if you look at your placenta from your first birth, I don't know if you looked at yours. I looked at mine and like laid it out and unfolded it in things. And then I looked at my second and my second one because I had so much less rest. I was working. I had my first baby to take care of. It was so much smaller. And he came earlier. Whoa. Yeah.

That is weird. Did you look at your placenta? No, I would have looked at it. Totally. I would have rolled it out like a fruit fucking roll up in front of Michael, but I didn't know that I could do that. This one I'll be rolling out. I want to look at it.

Look at it. It's actually beautiful. It's like the tree of life. I'm in an Instagram story. Oh, God. It's, I mean, it's cool. I'm sure you ate your placenta, correct? I did.

How did you eat it? in pill form. Encapsulated. That's what I get to. I don't think that I could put it in a smoothie. They offered that to me and I just didn't think I could do it. I could eat it like a steak at Ruth Chris. No problem.

You could? Don't do it. I'm not going to because the option is the pills. But if this is what I'll say. Don't do it. If you told me the only way to ingest it was eating it like a steak, I would 100% still. Does it get to be flavored with something? Yeah.

I mean, throw a little McCormick on there. Maybe some sioux seasoning like. Yeah. Like if you told me I couldn't have it. and I had to eat it. I'd probably go that route, but I'd really have to mask that taste. I don't even know what it tastes like, but I would imagine because the encapsulation isn't that. I imagine it's pretty like gaming. I'll eat anything. I will eat anything for feeling good and beauty. Like, I just will. Well, thank God we can put it in the pill capsules because we think off

for technology. We don't need to do that. What are some other things that you did post your two births that you think really helped with the recovery because this book that you've written, I feel like it's so much about being a woman and birth and after birth, prebirth. Like what are some things people can do that you think really helped? I really tried. You know how I talk about like don't stay horizontal and don't lay down a lot when you are pregnant, you know? Like you want to be upright and moving.

You don't want to just stay in one position. I know. Afterwards, you want to lay down because you want your uterus to heal very high. And you don't want like the hysterectomy and all of these other issues. So you want it to hill really high. So you want to be on your back and you want to lay down and have it heal high. I think Mary Michael said to like 80% of the time you want to be laying down after birth for weeks, like a couple weeks. I was up like nothing happened.

And it was a big mistake looking back. I was running around. I was out at restaurants. Like I was like it was fine. Well, this time the plan is she's going to actually take a long. eternally because the first time we she's never stopped. It's like baby in jail. It's exciting too because it's your first.

You have like this boost of adrenaline and you're so proud of this baby and you just like made this baby and you're like proud. So you want to take it in the world and it's a whole new life because you get to like go somewhere with a baby. Like you know you grow up playing baby dolls and like you want to take your baby to like target or like wherever you're going. Right. But like baby too felt more chill because I was like, oh, if I take you out, I also have

to take you out and you're walking. And like, you know, then this one, it's like some of the excitement about like taking them out right away wasn't as exciting for me personally. I am very serious about the vitamins that I give my daughter. I don't want to give her any of that Fred Flintstone shit. You know what I mean? It's added so many dyes, so much crap in a vitamin when it's supposed to be healthy. So enter hya. Okay, Zaza asked me for these.

She actually says vitamins, mama. These are legit. They have zero sugar and zero gummy junk. They taste great and they're perfect for a picky eater. Most vitamins, I looked into this, have five grams of sugar. I also feel like your kids have little teeth and to chew on all that sugar, first thing in the morning is too much. So I'm obsessed with Hayah because they're pediatrician approved.

They're super powered. They're chewable. And they have all the things in them. There's a blend of 12 organic fruits and vegetables. I tried them. They taste delicious. They also have minerals and vitamins, vitamin D, B12, C, zinc, folate, all the things in this vitamin. And they help with energy, brain function, mood.

We love mood. We love things that help with mood for a toddler, concentration, teeth, bones, and more. They're non-GMO, vegan, dairy-free, allergen-free, gelatin-free, nut-free, everything-free that you can imagine, okay? They're designed for all ages, and they taste good. I told you, I tried one, I'm telling you. We've worked out a special deal with Haya for their best-selling, child. Children's vitamin, the one that Saza takes. You're going to receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal, you must go to haiahealth.com slash skinny. This deal is not available on their

regular website. Just go to H-I-Y-A-H-E-A-L-T-H-H-H-E-L-T-H-H-T-H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-Tonies. Did you do you do any belly-binding or waist trainers? And do you believe in that? I do believe in it, and I think it works. I, because I worked out my entire pregnancies, I didn't do it afterwards because I think I still had that muscle support just from like little thing like planks on the knees and things. So I was able to like maintain some of that. But I do believe it works. I keep hearing this pregnancy that I never heard the first pregnancy about how important it is to rebuild your pelvic floor. So important. Can you talk and we've had no one on the podcast to talk about this. Can you talk a little bit like how you'd go about this? So in the book, you'll see

Brooke Kate's. She has a whole program for it and you can sign up online and you can, you know, read her and follow her. But if you don't have that muscle there, it is stretched. It is weak. You know, you have to start rebuilding from the ground up. And she gives you steps because you can't just hop into it and do things that you were doing before and think that you rebuilt the muscle. You have to really start very granular and start with like a certain part of it. And she gives you like specific moves. And then when you can do those up to a certain amount of time, then you move on to this other exercise and she's really good with that because if you have a doctor that tells you let like when you sneeze you if you pee a little like you did your pelvic floor it was not

rebuilt right you know i didn't do pelvic floor exercises for my first but i did kegles is that the same thing it would be the same thing but she says that you can do them in a certain stuff so it like rebuilds them from like ground up i guess okay look at you on a thursday work day talking about kegles in the pelvic floor. A little lost here at this. Giggles are so good, but I feel like I need a reminder. Well, I feel like I'm going to go to the vagina whisper. Have you heard of him? The little

laser they put in and they like tighten everything. No, this isn't a laser. This is like, we got to go. We got to be efficient. Like, tie it up. Whatever. This is like, this is a guy in New Jersey. I saw him on Daily Mail. And he sits at this desk and it's like this huge desk. And behind him

is like 300 vaginas, all different shapes and sizes that he has sculpted. So is it like sculpted from the outside or the inside? Both. He does both. He can do whatever you want. So like let's say like you're like I want a titan here,

the tuck here. I want a like a hole here. Like he can do it all. And he like he's known as like the vagina whisper. And I just am putting it out there. If he's listening like please come on. Tell the thing to be known for. Yeah.

But but but so my thing is like if you do all the pelvic floor and and you do the key goals. Do you think that it really makes that big of a difference? I think it makes a huge difference. It's a muscle. Okay. So like muscles, you can't like tone a muscle. You can make it bigger, right?

I guess that is toning it, but it can only get smaller or bigger. There's not like a middle. Like you don't get to choose exactly. I don't know. Yeah. For your third baby, did you want a surrogate by choice? What was the circumstance? How was the freezing of the embryos process?

Like if someone's listening and they do want to do a surrogate, tell us. So the reason I started looking into a surrogate is I had an autoimmune that wouldn't let me with a medication I was taking at the time. It's actually an infusion you have to take like once a year. You can't carry, but your eggs are healthy. Since then, that autoimmune is now in remission and I probably could carry because I haven't had the medicine in like two or three years. But at that time, I wouldn't have been able to carry. So started looking at a few things. I was interested in surrogacy.

and I never was completely freaked out by it. I was just interested in wanted to learn more. I called an agency, and the agency I used was conceive abilities out of Chicago since then they've grown. You do lots of psychology tests, interviews. They want to know about your past birth experiences or like your thoughts and your preferences. And, you know, there were lots of interviews before they ever introduce you to somebody.

And I was paired with a surrogate that I loved. And she was my first introduction, which is, I think, so rare to find. How many did you interview after? her or did you just say this is going? None because I knew that was that was my person. Okay. So this is so interesting to me because I feel like so many people are interested in this, but they're scared to say they're interested. Yeah. First of all, you take your egg and your husband's sperm, you make an embryo and then she gets implanted with it. Correct? Yeah. And are you there? Yeah. My husband wasn't, but I flew out. I felt like it was a very personal thing. You know,

it's your baby going into somebody. So I had to be there. So flew out. I'm there with her in the room. There's all of these things. Like she has to make her sure her bladder's really, really full. How uncomfortable. Like you're going to have the implantation, but with a full bladder. I know. So uncomfortable. They turn her like a little bit upside down after they put it in.

Before they put it in, you see it up on a screen. So you can see, oh, that's your embryo. It's pulled up with a microscope. And I just felt like it was a very personal thing. And like I needed to be there. I was holding her hand. She got acupuncture during it because it's supposed to help with like results. So it was very, it was like,

It's amazing to see your baby before it's your baby. I mean, wow. I saw the embryo up here. Cool. Yeah. I think kind of a random, maybe strange questions. Do you stress out when you're not carrying and it's being carried somewhere? So are you worried like what's that person doing?

I thought I was going to be the biggest control freak about that. I thought that I was going to make her move into my house. I think she's a little bit worse than me, maybe. I thought she was going to have to like move into my house and eat what I eat and do all of this. And then I realized you have to let them be people, you know, which is a, it's a hard thing. for me to do because I want you to eat the best food because you're growing my baby. Right. But I also chose who I chose because I believed that we shared a lot of values.

So she was a doula. And for me, like, I wanted a birthy person, somebody that loved birth. And she was it for me. So once I knew her, my worry about like, what are you going to eat in your downtime and are you going to drink and do all of this? We went away. And what's the communication? Like, are you texting her every single day?

Are you emailing? Are you calling? Not texting every day. I would go to her appointments with her on base time because she was out of state and was far. I went to a few of the like the big appointments. But no, I was just like text here and there. We talked a lot more. Like our relationship organically grew from, you know, you have nine months to get to know each other. We talked every day at the end. But like at the beginning, it was very rare. And I would go to the appointments and it was more of a, you know, there was nothing that was like not organic happening because I couldn't not be authentic. Like I didn't love her right. You know, I liked her. She had my baby and there was like respect there, but there wasn't like, I love her. But now I like love her. Like I send her flowers on Mother's Day on my kid's birthday. You know, I mean. And what was the, your husband's relationship with her or if was there any? I would say I maintained the relationship, really. She did while she was pregnant come out and visit me and stayed at our ranch in Colorado and brought she has two kids and she brought her kids out. They played with like my kids. But my kids didn't know. at the time that she was like caring for me, you know? At nobody knew. At what point hope do you find out that the embryo splits? I was home alone making pizza with Hendricks.

And I get a text message. She sent a picture, one picture. And how does she feel? Yeah, and then she goes, there's two by text. And I said, no, there's only one picture. And I called her. I said, what do you mean there's two? She goes, there's two.

And she's like whispering and in shock, you know. That's just not what we plan. We put in one and one embryo. What do you mean there's two? And I kind of lost it in the house and I was like screaming. I was walking around the house and I was going, what do you mean? Like screaming. There's two.

There's two. Like this is science. Like somebody, my immediate thought was somebody messed up. I like thought like they actually, because I had made more than one embryo. I thought they accidentally put in two and there was a miscommunication because I just think people don't listen sometimes and like there was a miscommunication. And then I like, but no. The embryo was right.

The embryo split. When an embryo splits, this is a dumb question, but I have to ask it. If it's a, let's say you implanted a girl. Does it split into two girls or can it split into a girl? It can't split into a girl and a boy. No, two girls. So you have two boys already and you implanted a girl and then it splits into two girls. Yeah.

The best part of the story is like my son is here making pizza with me. And he's hearing all of this. and he's pretty bright, four, you know, or maybe almost five. And he looks and he says, Mommy, I made the babies because I asked for two. You said, we're going to get one. And I said, I put it in the universe and I said, Mommy, I want two babies. So I can have one and legend can have one. And I just stared at him in that moment.

And I was just like, okay, I've been doing my job because you think you can speak things into the universe and it's going to happen for you. Like he's four or five. And he immediately took that and said, no, mom, remember, I told you we're going to have two babies. Wow. Yeah. He sounds like a crystal child. What did I do? I don't know.

He just like believes it because I tell him like, I make him rephrase things if it's said, you know, like I want him to like speak things into the universe. Smart. What part in this journey did you find out? It's two. Do you find out six months? Like how quick is it? It was early. It was.

Oh, how early? It was really early. It was really early. Like 10 weeks, six weeks. Not six weeks. Probably closer to 10. So then when the surrogate has the baby and goes. into labor. Babies. Babies.

Hospital birth? Hospital birth because of twins, yeah. Okay, so hospital birth, so do you and your husband go to the hospital? We do, and I'm in Austin. We don't expect the babies for about five weeks, but maybe like three weeks, three to five weeks. We get the call that her water broke, so I'm like, we immediately go to the plane. We have it set up where we can leave kind of like any time, luxury I know. We couldn't get to the plane fast enough. I mean, I was so rude to my husband, so rude to my own mom that was there to help me, like get there. Everybody wanted to get there, but nobody

could move fast enough because I was like determined. I was like, I have to be there when they get, when they're born. Like that meant so much to me to see that happen. Like I couldn't imagine, that's one thing I would have regretted having a surrogate if I wasn't able to be there for the birth. Like that just feels very personal to me. She was out of state. We somehow made it, went and she still was in labor for like another six hours. And so, you know, it's like, awful to everybody around me trying to get there and telling my husband like, are you driving so slow and you're stopping at like orange lights and like, you know, all the stuff we do, right? And we made it. All right. When I was pregnant, I noticed that I would go to the gym and then go run errands and

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Vemininehealth.com slash win. So when the baby comes out, babies, is it like you just get the babies and you, like, what's the, what's the process to make it? Because it was hospital. Okay, so one of the babies went in turn, she ended up with a C-section, which I hate C-section. I love, like, C-Syaran birth instead. So that was her first. So she was kind of groggy.

They take the babies immediately over to weigh them and they start, like, cleaning them out very different than when you have your baby at home and it goes straight to your chest and you're just like, and shock and like you know all of this oxytocin so i'm watching it all and i was like screaming while it was happening like like like more like shrieking like crying loud and like i couldn't i didn't know like it was just like the craziest thing because i was getting to watch it and when you just push the baby out you're tired and like you're just like glad it's over for a minute and then getting to watch your baby can be born it's something. special. Like, I can't even describe, like, the noises that were coming out of me. I'm like,

who was that? You know? And later, a nurse came into the room and she's like, I've never taken part in a surrogate birth, but this is now my favorite birth I've ever attended because, like, she saw somebody that was so giving, like, my surrogate who, like, wanted to do this for somebody that couldn't do it. Always knew that she would do it for somebody, like, give somebody a baby that couldn't have one. And like watching that happen, like between two women is like a beautiful thing. So how what does the babies do after they're cleaned off? Do they go straight? They go to you. They go to you. And I had my own room that was right next to her room. Got it. So she had her recovery room with her husband. And Robert and I had our room. And the twins came to our room. Yeah.

And then my mom came in. And the only way to be there and to put them all in your chest is you're actually get in the bed. I didn't have a hospital gown on. And I was in clothes. Like I was waiting on the birth. but I'm actually in bed because you can only hold them being in bed. So it looks like I'm like maybe could have given birth somehow, you know, because you have your babies and you're in this hospital bed. But it was, you know, kind of strange because I wasn't actually the one, but you still have a bed because you've got to be able to hold them both and do like the chest, you know, skin to skin. And how quickly can you take them home? You're not the one who you're born at 35 weeks. And I think we only stayed like two to three nights.

Was there any weirdness from the surrogate afterwards because everyone was going to be able to. want to know this question with the fact that she carried the babies. Is there like an entitlement to the babies or was it not like that at all? It wasn't like that at all because she had her babies and her sons came afterwards to visit her and her sons were going to meet the babies. Like we talked about that ahead of time. And, you know, this, I didn't have, you know, breast milk and I didn't do all the hormones so that I would. We talked about this too where would I like have her breastfeed them so that they could have all of the colostrum and all of the antibodies and things. And I thought that I would be like against it. So we never made that decision. But I actually ended up taking the babies and do her and ask her if

she would like to. And she actually breastfed my babies to give them like the antibodies. And then she immediately started pumping for me after that. And she pumped and shipped me milk for nine months. Holy shit. She's a saint. Yeah. Oh my God. That is so nice. She shipped you milk for nine months. She shipped me milk for nine months. She had, you know, I kept paying her to do it for the milk, to do it for that long. And she had so much milk. She had twins and nine months. And now you guys are friends and like, it's a great relationship and you're just so happy you did it. So happy I did it. So thankful for her. Like, I wouldn't have my girls if it wasn't for her. Like, I might even have only one. Like, who knows, you know? Any cons about it or do you just the way that you do it? I honestly really

recommend it. I don't have any thing to say about it. I mean, it was beautiful. I really, it's strange to be able to watch your baby be born, but you're so present. I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Like, it was such a gift to like watch it happen and not be the one like in the trauma in the middle of, you know, giving birth. Two questions. Is it weird not being pregnant and then all of a sudden having two babies handed to you? And was it weird for your husband? I don't know about him. It was probably easier for him because he was never pregnant and just always had it handed

to him. But for me Jack your meat. Yeah. For me, for me, I think I was more excited for that birth than when I had them myself because it took so much planning. I had to plan them for two years and make embryos and find a match and do all of this.

It was weird to have two. But it wasn't weird to like leave with them. Like I felt like they were mine. And now how old are they? Two. And like, is it something that you even think about? Like, do you even think about, like, the surrogacy or is it not even like, I don't even remember. Is that crazy? Sometimes I remember that I didn't carry you.

And I'm like, how did I not carry you? Like, I literally forget that I did not carry them. Because it's all you and your husband's DNA. There's nothing that the babies get from the surrogate, correct? No, she's the womb. Yeah, she carries. them and that's it. Brod's them.

That is a wild story. You know why I have so much respect for you? There is so many celebrities and influencers that have had surrogates. There are even some that I know that have worn fake stomachs. Oh, God. And people will not talk about it. And listen, to each its own, if you don't want to talk about it, fine. But you do need some people talking about it because then it makes people who want to do this feel

shameful when no one, when it's like this hush, hush secret. Or what if, you know, you have fertility trouble and you spend a lot of time getting pregnant and you never can kind of get pregnant and then the doctor says egg donation? And nobody's ever told you that, you know, maybe your cousin is actually from an egg donor. And it's all kept a secret, right? Like, don't keep secrets. Normalizing behaviors, normalizing things helps us prevent a lot of shame. So many people by normalizing behavior, after behavior, you can prevent a lot of shame. When you came out with this story and shared it on Instagram and you're so open about it, could you believe how many people came?

I bet you so many people on Instagram messaged you and have thanked you. They did and they say that I inspired, like, them to finally have that surrogate conversation. Like, they never wanted to have it with their spouse or their family or their egg, like, someone didn't want to have an egg donor and their husband was completely against an egg donor. and then learns later that their niece isn't from an egg donor, like their sister, their own sister had one, but it was never talked about in the family, you know?

I think that this is such a great conversation to have. I think it takes the energy out of either. Like, you just, talking about it is so important. Before you go, you started a line that is very popular. I have seen it everywhere. Tell us about that journey and why you decided to do this. and then you have to tell us what the must-have product is, and I'll tell you the one I like most, too. Okay, good.

Mother was created. I had stretch marks from puberty, 5'10 and, like, 12 years old. And I had just growing marks all over, and I didn't want more. And I became pregnant with my first child. And I decided I was going to spend any amount of money to try to not have more. It's a whole out of van, like, being very vain. I went to CBS. I went to all the drugstores.

I even went to like Neiman Marcus group and I couldn't find something that had whatever their marketing ingredient was as their first or second ingredient on their ingredient list. So like if you tell me that it's rich in omegas or that you use a certain butter and it's written on the front of your packaging, I want it to be like number one, two or three on your ingredient label. Like don't make me something that's cheap and that you make a huge profit from. Like that didn't make me very happy. I ended up having to order such huge raw supplies of these ingredients because I started making it in my kitchen for myself that I had so much excess that I started sending it to friends, sending them, they would be in Los Angeles. I was sending it to Cassandra Gray and different celebrities and they'd ask for more. And then they'd ask for it for their friends and everybody had success stories. There were twin pregnancies.

And it just became this thing where people would ask for it from out of my own kitchen. And I'd be, you know, out of town and I'd be thinking about ordering. raw ingredients and making body butter for somebody else because I felt responsible that they'd end up with extra stretch marks if I didn't make this butter. It was like this, my husband was addicted to it and I had decided to put it in a lab. And our first product was our body butter, then our body oil. Then we worked with the chemist from MIT to create mother load core technology. And then we made number one serum, met up all night eye cream. And since then we've just, you know, we're in the beauty business now. It's a movement. Yeah, we're moving. The body butter is absolutely amazing. You guys,

you can't go wrong. The body oil, I would highly recommend checking out both of those. You also wrote a book. Your body is magic. Tell us about that. Who needs this book? If you're afraid of birth and you don't like the idea of birth or if you're freaked out about, you know, anything larger than a penis being in your vagina, like this is the book for you because that was me. Like, I was completely terrified. fight of birth. And I couldn't imagine that happening and like being okay afterwards. And so this book is really like this holistic journey that I went on from vitamins to exercises to tricks like, you know, from acupuncture to putting primrose oil. You've learned from the best too. I mean, the people that you've had access to are incredible. They are. Yeah. You've had on

the show, some of them. I mean, like she, I've never seen someone who knows their shit more. Mary Marr. She's almost at 4,000 births. Yeah. That's a lot. Yeah, it's a lot. Can we do a giveaway? Sure. Yeah. Okay. So they'll follow your company on Instagram. Tell us the Instagram handle. At Mother, M-U-T-H-A. Okay. And then can we give away like Hope's favorites? Yeah, sure. With your assigned copy of your book. Yeah, I love that. Okay. You guys follow at Mother on Instagram. And then tell us your favorite part of this episode with Hope on my latest Instagram. I loved that episode. I learned so much.

I'm like taking notes in my brain about everything that you said. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Where can everyone find you and follow you in your journey? At Hope Smith. And you guys look at her highlights because they're really, really informative. I went and stalked your pregnancy one, like I said, and I think it's your fertility one.

I could probably help with the Pimrose. Oh, yeah. Okay. I don't know. I don't know about that right now. You'll probably start it in a couple weeks. Okay. Like, okay.

All right. Soft in the cervix. Thanks for coming on. Hope. Wish me luck. Good luck. I'm excited for you. I know you guys love that episode with Hope.

If you want to win a copy of her book, all you have to do is tell us your favorite part of this episode on my latest post at Lauren Bostic on Instagram. And make sure you're following Hope. She's absolutely fab. All right. If you are like me, you like your candles.

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