Not so easy! Pregnant Lindsay Arnold thought having a second child would be simple — but has since realized that she was “naïve” about how difficult conceiving could be.
“Trying to conceive can be, like, the most difficult, frustrating, hard, [all] consuming thing. It’s just something that really just takes over your life,” Arnold, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, October 27, while promoting her fitness program, The Movement Club. “And anybody who’s tried to conceive for a long period of time, you understand, like, it’s really, really tough.”
The Dancing With the Stars alum — who announced on Monday, October 24, that she is pregnant with baby No. 2 — noted at times it was “hard” to “trust the process” after trying for so long to conceive.
“Towards the end I really had to just, kind of, let go and understand, like, trust the process. Trust timing. Trust God’s timing. Trust my body that it’s gonna do what it’s supposed to do at the right time,” she explained. “I feel like that mentality really, really helped me get through those last couple months where we were just like, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ But then I’m so grateful that everything worked out the way that it was supposed to.”
The professional dancer, who shares 23-month-old daughter Sage with husband Samuel Cusick, confessed that delays in her timeline were “minor compared to what so many people go through.”
The process, however, brought Arnold closer to her spouse, whom she wed in 2015. “We’re so grateful. In a way, it was very strengthening for us and our family and for me kind of just learning how to trust,” she told Us. “I think that’s a really big thing that I’ve had to learn.”
The Utah native revealed that she was “days away” from entering her second trimester, calling it a “big milestone” for an expectant parent.
“I think most of the day it’s just kinda, like, [I’m] not feeling incredible [with] a little bit of nausea, a little bit of exhaustion. But it’s helpful that I’ve been through it before,” Arnold said. “I’m moving a lot more. I feel like my first pregnancy I was scared. Like, I thought if I didn’t feel good, I should just sit and do nothing all day. But I actually found that if I get up and move my body, even if it’s just for a little bit, it helps so much with the nausea and it actually gives me more energy, which is very weird.”
The TV personality — who announced in August that she was not participating in season 31 of DWTS — noted that her second pregnancy hasn’t be that different from her journey with Sage.
“It’s funny because … I’m kind of gravitating toward the same foods as I did last time. I loved fruits, vegetables, salads,” she dished. “I didn’t really want meat, which is so weird because I’m a big meat girl. Like, that is like my favorite food group and what I remember last pregnancy, I wasn’t really feeling it. It’s funny how it’s very, very similar.”
Despite so many similar experiences, Arnold confessed she has “no idea” whether she’s having another girl, although the couple plan to find out well before the baby is born.
“I’m like, ‘Maybe it’s a girl.’ But then I’m like, ‘I have no idea.’ I truly don’t,” the athlete continued. “I was so wrong with my guesses on what Sage was. So, I just feel like I can’t even trust my instinct on that part.”
In addition to navigating her pregnancy — and keeping up with her busy toddler — Arnold has created The Movement Club to improve her health and help others amid their pregnancy journeys.
“It’s been a passion project of mine and something that I’ve been very adamant about because I believe so much in its purpose. I started this back when I was pregnant with Sage during COVID,” she told Us of the fitness program. “I basically was [a] first-time pregnant [woman], not dancing anymore, not able to go to all the gyms that I used to go to and I felt very lost. I felt that there [weren’t] any programs out there that really were representing and giving me what I felt I needed at the time.”
The So You Think You Can Dance alum launched The Movement Club to better encompass every woman’s fitness level — pregnant or not. The classes include Pilates, dance courses, stretching and more.
“[It can] truly can be for everyone no matter what stage of life you’re in: trying to get pregnant, pregnant, postpartum, not pregnant at all, not even thinking about it,” she explained. “I truly am so proud of the fact that I can say when someone comes to my program, no matter where they are at with their fitness level, there is something for you.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
