When it comes to navigating motherhood, Katherine Schwarzenegger says her husband, Chris Pratt, is her biggest cheerleader.
The 31-year-old author, who welcomed her first child with the “Guardians of the Galaxy” actor in August, opened up about her challenges and triumphs during the Mother’s Day edition of her Instagram video series, “BDA (Before, During, & After) Baby.”
“My husband has always been super-supportive and also very vocal,” she told British model and fellow new mother Iskra Lawrence on Sunday. “He’ll look at our daughter (Lyla) and be like, ‘Can you believe you’re able to feed, your body is able to feed your baby?'”
Pratt is no stranger to fatherhood — he also has an 8-year-old son, Jack, with ex-wife Anna Faris.
Schwarzenegger, who is the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, also addressed the societal pressure on women to “bounce back” after giving birth. She said Pratt is in awe of the changes a woman’s body goes through during and after pregnancy and always helps her keep things in perspective.
“Sometimes, I think especially as women with this pressure you were talking about to bounce back after baby … you have to keep in mind that when you’re breastfeeding, you need to, as my husband says, ‘eat to win,’ and to feed yourself so you can also properly nourish your baby,” she said.
Schwarzenegger added that it is important to remember that “for a lot of people, what you eat and how you treat your body also hugely impacts your milk supply.”
During the video, Schwarzenegger also revealed she is embracing life as a new mother and avoids judging herself now her home has more baby-related clutter, focusing instead on the fact she has the “greatest gift.”
“Before I had my daughter, I was always like, I’m not gonna be that person who has play equipment everywhere and like baby stuff everywhere,” she said. “And I look at my kitchen now, and I’m like, There’s a bouncy thing here, there’s a DockATot here.”