Now a proud mother of two, Anna Robards has gracefully transitioned into the world of parenthood once again, welcoming baby Ruby into her loving family with husband Tim. In an exclusive interview with WHO, Anna opens up about the joys and challenges of bringing home their newest addition and how the couple’s eldest, Elle, has embraced her role as a big sister.
Congratulations. How’s the transition been bringing home baby Ruby?
It’s been great. I think this time around, I was definitely more prepared. With your first, it’s a little bit of a shock to the system because you don’t know what to expect – no matter what people tell you. Until you’re experiencing it firsthand, that’s when you really begin to get an understanding of how motherhood works.
So first time around, it was a lot harder, just mentally preparing myself, but this time it was actually okay. It’s more now about the juggle. That’s what’s probably a little bit harder now, just juggling all the different things that we’ve got going on.
And how’s Elle adjusting to her role as a big sister?
She’s great. She’s actually surprisingly been so good. I was a little bit nervous because I didn’t know whether she would be the jealous type but as soon as Ruby came home, she was fantastic. She took on like a mother role and she always helps out now. There are times when she doesn’t listen to me – but that’s like any child – but a lot of the time she does help out and it’s fantastic. We’re really proud of her.
We understand that the journey to welcoming baby Ruby might have had a few challenges, can you speak to us about your birth experience?
Going in, your mind doesn’t turn to anything going wrong – especially when it comes to the mother. So I was going in really excited. I thought it was going to be quite a quick process and then it turned out to be the opposite. So it wasn’t an ideal journey and I ended up going back into surgery for a second time. I came out thankfully, and I’m just moving forward now and not trying to dwell too much…it’s just something you don’t want to think about, all the ‘what ifs’ and ‘if things didn’t go right.’ So I’m moving forward and trying to be positive and not letting that [experience] get me down or letting it affect me. I’m just glad things panned out the way they did.
Balancing work and family life can be quite the juggle, especially with a newborn and toddler. How are you managing to find harmony between your professional commitments and being present for your family?
I’m trying to get better at balancing things as best as I can. I have always prided myself on being quite good at balancing and making sure I do have enough time for each aspect of my life. Family is always number one – I always make that my priority. I’ve also got my business and I have pretty much worked all the way up until giving birth. And then I’ve got other work commitments…but we have Elle in daycare at the moment, she just started a couple of weeks ago and my husband helps a lot with Ruby.
We’re thrilled to hear about your partnership with Huggies. How was your experience as a mother influenced you involvement with the brand and what drew to collaborate with them?
I’m currently working with Huggies and I always work with brands that I really trust and rely on, especially when it comes to parenting. All the brands and all the products I actually use when it comes to parenting are products that are going to make my life easier. When we had Elle, about three years ago, we bought all the baby things that we needed, and we haven’t actually had to buy a lot of different things this time with Ruby – but the one thing that we had to buy and are pretty much using more than anything else nowadays, is nappies. Huggies Newborn are the only nappy that has a zinc-enriched layer to protect the baby’s skin against irritation. Babies’ skin is super soft and super delicate and everything you do as a mother, you’re always trying to protect your baby as best as possible…and Huggies is just a great quality product.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes and aspirations for your family of four, any exciting plans or milestones on the horizon that you’re looking forward to?
I think for now, it’s just taking in our life as a family of four. It’s still a lot to process and I sometimes have to pinch myself and I feel very, very fortunate. I’ve got two beautiful healthy girls and a very loving partner. So I feel very fortunate. We don’t have huge plans on the horizon but we’re going to Bali in like three weeks, so that should be really interesting taking two kids. But the focus is on the family and my business and really it’s just about managing it all as best as I can.
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