'Access Hollywood' host Nancy O'Dell's tips for pregnant moms

A mother’s love’s a blessing, so the old Irish song goes. But there’s no such thing as a textbook pregnancy.

When a woman finds out she’s pregnant, no matter how prepared she is, the moment she sees that plus sign on her pregnancy test she’s buffeted by every emotion in the book; from joy and excitement through to dread and fear, and sometimes all in the same minute.

Behind all this lies the age-old question -- am I ready for this?

“Access Hollywood” host Nancy O’Dell’s answer to that question was a resounding yes. Famously tall and leggy, the statuesque blonde rivals her movie star interviewees in the sexiness quotient, maintaining a remarkable physique for a woman of 43.

When she discovered she was pregnant in 2006 she was overjoyed. Both she and her husband Keith Zubchevich had been trying for a baby for long time but her previous miscarriage, which she has never mentioned publicly until now, had made her wonder if she would even be able to.

O’Dell, a former beauty queen and now a seven time Emmy Award nominated broadcaster, has been with “Access Hollywood” since its 1996 premiere. Career aside, she always knew she wanted to have kids, and to top it off every celebrity she was covering for the daily entertainment show seemed to be pregnant or had just given birth, including Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Katie Holmes, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Mariska Hartigay -- she could feel the pressure mounting.

Never one to pass up a challenge, O’Dell gave birth to her first child, daughter Ashby Grace on June 11, 2007.

But early into her pregnancy O’Dell (who admits always she reads the Irish Voice to prepare for her annual job as NBC’s New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade host) kept coming up against issues that no one had prepared her for.

At times she felt isolated and completely out of her depth, and she didn’t know where to turn for help, which is why she decided to write “Full of Life”, the pregnancy guide book for first time mothers that she wishes someone had given to her.

“I felt that there was such a need for “Full of Life” because I’ve read so many pregnancy books that are very scientific or medical, but I wanted to write something that was very entertaining and yet informative, with the emphasis on the latter,” O’Dell tells the Irish Voice.

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Nster.com