Ben & Jessica Mulroney Welcome Baby Ivy

Pampers Mulroney Shoot (JJ Thompson)-21The Mulroney family welcomed baby Ivy (Isabel Veronica Mulroney) in June of this year making it a family of five for the star family.  With Ivy’s twin brothers Brian and John less than three years older, we’re sure the household is hectic these days.

Father Ben, Canada’s eTalk Host and also former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s son, is a proud Daddy having tweeted the announcement of baby Ivy’s arrival only two minutes after the birth.

We had the pleasure of interviewing the pair on Tuesday, to get their scoop on parenting:

MM: Did you know Ivy was a girl before birth? 

Jessica: Yes!  I can’t understand how women can keep it a mystery.  God bless them for waiting and keeping it a surprise because I hear it is the most amazing surprise any mother can get, finding out I was pregnant was surprise enough, we decided you know what, I need to know, so I found out as soon as I could.

MM: How are you adjusting to being a family of 5?

Ben: “There was a moment of relief for us when the boys went away to school, because they’re three now, so they’re at school almost all day.  It was really nice when we were home with Ivy for the first time – we realized having one is in fact more manageable than having two because we didn’t know any different, having had the twins first.  With that perspective we were really able to enjoy [her] because we were two on one.

MM: I bet that was almost relaxing?

Jessica:  [laughs] Ya, as relaxing as having three children can be.

MM: Are the boys having any jealousy towards baby Ivy?

Jessica: No, we are actually so lucky, I think because the boys were twins and were used to sharing us from day one, I think that made the transition easier than for a singleton.  Ben and I really tried to get them involved in all aspects of baby’s arrival and prepare them.  They were included in all aspects from nursery design to name selection and feeling the baby kick.    [Ben interjects: They suggested stuff, we didn’t really take them.] Names like Captain America, and we took them into consideration.  It was a really nice process trying to get them to really understand what was happening.  At three they weren’t so young that they didn’t understand what was happening.  Between them being twins and that timing, we had it easy and now they’re very good with the baby.

MM: Do you think that being in the spotlight affects your parenting style?

Ben: I don’t think so.  Maybe 5 years ago, that might be a different story.  But the fact is today, with social media, there are people out there without TV shows whose kids are much more visible than mine beause they’re on Facebook and Twitter, they’re on Instagram all the time, so I think it’s about defining for yourself what privacy means, what sharing means, what community means, and if you’re okay with respecting your own rules then you can incorporate it into normal parenting.

Ben, do you think you will parent a girl differently than you have with Brian & John?

Ben: Oh I already am.

Jessica: I’m sure. She’s only 4 months but I know it’s going to be very different.

Ben: I feel it though.

MM: Are you breastfeeding?

Jessica:  Not anymore.  I was, I recently went back to work fulltime.  God bless all the mothers who are out there who are breastfeeding while they’re at work and able to do the pumping and it was all just a little much for me.

MM: So is she sleeping through the night?

Jessica:  She’s sleeping through the night .

Ben:  She’s been very very good that way.  One of the things that helps with that is because we partner with Pampers who helps keep our baby dry all night.  She slept for 12 hours last night, from 9pm to 9am this morning, and one of the reasons is because she’s not upset by being wet.  It helps us be better parents because she’s sleeping so we’re sleeping.

MM: What is the one piece of baby gear you could not live without?

Jessica:  We got this gift, this chair by 4Moms,  (oh, the MamaRoo?) Yes, the MamaRoo, and she really loves it and she can be in that chair for I guess a few of hours so that I can pay attention to the other two or clean or whatever.  That’s been pretty good for us.  And the OrbitBaby – just having a single stroller is fantastic.

MM: What stroller do you use?

Ben: The OrbitBaby.  The car seat snaps on with no adapters straight from the car, it swings around to face you, the bassinet snaps on.

Pampers Mulroney Shoot (JJ Thompson)-95Jessica:  A big part of it is that it’s a single stroller. Yes, it’s quite nice, I’m a big fan of that stroller for sure. Then we have the two attachments for the boys to ride on as well.  We haven’t tried it just yet, but we can connect two standing adapters for both boys.

Ben: We’ll give it a whirl next Spring.

MM: Jessica, Do you have a mom style icon?

A mom style icon? I guess somebody … I really think Kelly Ripa does it well.  I mean, well listen, she’s got a stylist so… I think that any mother that can get dressed in the morning is a style icon.  It’s hard for me to say, I think we all have to dress for what works best for us.  My style has definitely changed since I’ve had children so I wouldn’t want anyone to judge me.

MM: Do you have favourite clothing brands for Ivy?

Jessica: Love Joe Fresh, Baby Gap and the Hudson Bay baby department.

MM: Jessica, What is your go-to mommy outfit for a family day/outing?

Jessica: Jeans, ballet flats and comfy sweater.

Thank you so much Ben & Jessica for chatting with us!

 

 

 

1 Comments

  1. 1

    Must be nice to live have everything and not have live paycheque to paycheque. Sorry, can’t relate to them Modern Mama…

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