The Mère Inspo - Anabel Chew
MÈRE INSPO - Anabel Chew
says, “We can decide what kind of advice we want to adopt.”
co-founder of webarre talks about juggling it all and keeping It real.
It’s raining heavily when we arrive at Anabel’s beautiful house. We are greeted by a spacious living space with board books and toys at one side of the room. As Anabel walks down the stairs to greet us, she is accompanied by her adorable 20-month old, Ari.
Anabel is 30 weeks pregnant with a lovely pregnancy glow and we see her talking to Ari as she reads books and plays blocks with her, in an attempt to make her feel comfortable around us. The adorable mother-daughter duo’s smiles are contagious and warm our hearts. Just then, the rain slows down and there’s a hint of sunshine. We know it’s going to be a beautiful day.
Today’s Mère Inspo, Anabel Chew, is the co-founder of Asia’s leading Barre studio, WeBarre, and also manages a motherhood community platform, Tiger Mums Club, which is all about sharing digestible information on motherhood. It is admirable how she genuinely cares about the fellow mummies and is always up for providing help and support.
1. Thank you so much for having us. So, tell me, how did you discover you are pregnant?
We were actively trying for around three months. We didn’t have any luck so this was my fourth try. I was feeling really nervous. And I was like - I have to wait till the day my period is due. I was tossing and turning in bed, feeling really anxious.
I woke up one night and told my husband - “You know what, I’m just going to test. It’s early. But if there’s a line, there’s a line. If we don’t have, then whatever. I just need to do it.”
And then I did it. This was like my 4th day before my period was due. So, at first, there wasn’t a line. I already felt better - you know I just needed closure, I just didn’t want to have things in my head. And then when I waited about half a minute more, the faint line started appearing.
2. How has pregnancy been different for you this time around?
Actually, on most counts, it’s very similar. With my first pregnancy, I had nausea in the first trimester. I never threw up but there was a lot of motion sickness. It went away around 10-11 weeks. With this second pregnancy, it’s easier. I had zero symptoms. So for a long time, I didn’t even feel like I was pregnant. Only until a few months ago when the baby started kicking and I was like - Oh okay, it’s really that!
Anabel is wearing Ellie Cruz Nursing Cami at week 30.
3. How did you tell your daughter she was getting a sibling?
Well, she’s quite young. When we found out we were pregnant, she was only slightly above one year old.
We started with books. We started pointing out other smaller babies when we saw them. And then, as the bump started to show, I think she could see the difference and we started explaining to her that there’s a baby inside.
Plus, we have friends who also just had babies as well, so we tried to make it a part of the conversation and include her in the conversation. Like you know, telling her that the baby is not going to replace you but the baby is here to join our family.
Anabel is wearing Brooklyn Triangle Bra at week 30.
4. Any self-care rituals that have gotten you through this pregnancy?
Taking the time to go for a prenatal massage definitely helps. I think it’s really a nice treat and I actually go quite often - once a week or once every two weeks. And of course, the nightly routine of applying some oil, and the stretch mark cream. These are the little things that I enjoy.
5. What’s your birth plan?
I think it is very similar to the first one. Our approach is to let the baby decide when he wants to come, let my body decide when it’s ready to give birth, and trust that. Giving birth is not a medical event. It’s been around since the beginning of the ages and women have been giving birth. So, our bodies are equipped to do it and it’s very much about trusting them.
In our first pregnancy, we did hypnobirthing. It’s a very light, gentle, and natural approach. Of course, you can get pain relief, you can get an epidural, maybe even a C-section, whatever it is. But I think it’s the mental approach of calm and a safe birthing where you trust your body.
I haven’t spoken to my doctor yet, but we’ll see how it goes. With the first one, we did the water-assisted birth and we would love to do that again.
6. How do you juggle running businesses, being pregnant, and taking care of your daughter?
I think having a good support network really helps. For example at work, before I go on maternity leave, I’ll make sure that the team is well-prepared.
At home, I’ll make sure that we have enough help - whether it’s cooking, cleaning, or caring for the baby. We try to delegate and spread out the load.
I think having it all on one person is not impossible but it’s quite overwhelming. It’s important to accept that not everything would be perfectly balanced at all times and that’s fine.
In your phase of life, something will take precedence over the other and that’s okay. As things change, as the baby grows, those priorities change again, and that’s just the way of life.
Anabel is wearing Chloe Dream Love Organic Bra at week 30.
7. Which workout would you highly recommend for fellow pregnant mummies and why?
I’m partial to Barre as I really love Barre. Just because you are pregnant, I feel it doesn’t mean you suddenly have to stop the activities.
I went for a few activities like prenatal yoga classes. Personally, I felt it was a bit too slow of a pace. I was active before I was pregnant and I still want to continue being active. My doctor fully supports it. I feel like Barre is very good at toning and strengthening key muscles and it really feels like I get a real workout. Of course, we modify it to keep the pregnancy safe and I really like that.
My advice to mummies who would like to stay active is - do it before you get pregnant. Have a fitness routine going before you get pregnant. You don't want to start anything new when you are already pregnant.
For example, if you haven’t been exercising and you are pregnant, then I would of course advise something slow, like walks and stretching, etc.
However, if you’re already active before that, as long as you are cleared by your doctor and as long as you get a fitness trainer that is prenatal-trained, you can do lots of stuff.
8. What’s coming up for you?
Honestly, with the pandemic, who knew it would last like 2-3 years. I feel like I am at that stage right now where I don’t want to plan the future too much because you really don’t know what’s going to happen.
So, what’s coming up for this year would be welcoming a second kid. WeBarre will still be growing and we are looking to open another location in Singapore.
I think for a while, I just want to be happy with what I have and to build what I have. I don’t think big expansions, big changes are going to come.
With everything that’s been going on, it’s already quite a lot. So, I am looking forward to just having a little bit of time to settle down, and hopefully by the end of this year, we’ll be able to travel to see family again. We just saw them a couple of months ago for the first time. So I think a slow return to normalcy, I feel like is something that we are looking forward to.
9. Any advice to the fellow mummies?
Trust your instinct. Even though you don’t have all things sorted out, your instincts will still be there. We might not get everything right at the start.
Get help if you want to. Decide what kind of help and what kind of advice you choose to accept. Some people do give well-meaning advice, but some people might hit a sensitive spot when they advise certain things. And that’s why, we can’t change that but we can decide what kind of advice we want to adopt for us and our children.