Model, businesswoman and former reality TV star, Blue Mbombo, recently announced her pregnancy. She’s decided not to know what the gender of the baby is until the reveal party. Honest and insightful, she shares the good, the bad and glamorous side of life before and during pregnancy.

 

It’s on Valentine’s Day that Blue took to social media to announce her new adventure; motherhood.  And in true Blue style, the pregnancy reveal was epic. In a short video clip the model and businesswoman shared with fans, we see her wearing a white flowy dress, hair tied up in a bun and driving in a vintage Mercedes droptop. Teeks’ hit track, First Time, plays in the background and soon she’s running to a baby stroller before showing off her baby bump. It’s all beautifully captured and dreamlike and embodying the lovable Blue, South Africans have embraced so fondly. Captioned, “We plan but God decides. This is an eternal love I’ve longed and prayed for all my life. Thank you, Lord, for not hesitating to answer our prayers and plans. Couldn’t have asked for a better Valentines gift,” the video soon made it to trends list with the hashtag #CongratulationsBlue dominating the timelines.

 

The former reality TV star is among several celebs who’ve recently announced their pregnancies, giving fans insight into this precious transformative point of their lives. In her own words Blue takes us through her mom-to-be journey giving us a candid glimpse into how her world is going to change once the baby arrives.

 

Pregnancy has been treating me well and it’s honestly been a smooth journey. I’m now feeling tired most of the time. I get abdominal pains here and there, but it’s been smooth sailing. I’m so excited, this is something my partner and I planned and thank God our prayers were answered on time and almost immediately after we asked. I did a pregnancy test at home and although I was confident it would be positive, finding out I was indeed pregnant was daunting but also a relief. Like, phew! Thank God it’s now happening. I keep anticipating for something bad to happen, I’ve heard of post-natal depression from others and it’s something I’m mindful of when the baby comes but for now, I’m happy.

 

I failed dismally on my first attempt to conceive. Not because I couldn’t but I did things wrong. There was medication – as advised by my gynae – I was meant to take before ovulation. I misunderstood the instructions and took them the other way around, I think. I’m still confused with how the whole thing works to be honest. I had a cyst in my womb and the medication was meant to help lessen it. I actually found out that 90% of women have cysts in their wombs but can still somehow conceive. Although not severe I wanted to be safe and have mine thinned out to heighten my chances of falling pregnant. I wanted no challenges of me falling pregnant. Everything worked out for my good and in our second month of trying, my prayers were answered.

 

It’s fascinating to see my body changing. I look at my body every morning. I measure my growing belly every often. I feel at my most beautiful right now, more than I’ve ever felt before. I’m loving the changes on my body: it’s so sexy. The only snag is how dark my armpits have gotten. I guess these are some side effects of pregnancy. I don’t mind though, I’m just thoroughly enjoying the ride. My face hasn’t changed either, I don’t have the pregnancy nose and lips. I’m lucky I also don’t have stretch marks, I don’t want to celebrate too soon though, I hear sometimes they come after the pregnancy. In terms of my eating, even before the pregnancy I’ve never been too cautious with my diet as I’ve always taken advantage of the fact that I’m slim. The only issue I’ve ever had is my FUPA (fat upper pubic area) in other words belly fat. For the baby I don’t want to be selfish and not eat and exercise to ensure they too are healthy as they grow. And so I am cautious of what I eat. Oddly I don’t have cravings. My friends were calling me out saying I’m boring and not making this pregnancy exciting for them. There hasn’t been anything weird that I’m craving. I eat as I get hungry.

 

My twin sister, Brown has been with me throughout the pregnancy, knowing every detail to the point where she knew what hormone my body was releasing and when. My partner was the first to know of my pregnancy though. I decided to have a baby in 2022 because it feels right, I’m in a great space mentally, spiritually, financially and ready in all those aspects of my life. How my life is setup now, I can honestly say it’s ready to have a child. I’ve found such an amazing partner and we were both ready and wanted to have this child now. There was no need to delay any further.

 

I don’t know yet the sex of my baby. I chose not to know if it’s a boy or a girl. I want to be surprised at my baby reveal with friends and family. My partner and I want different genders. We thought it would be exciting to just enjoy the pregnancy journey before knowing the gender. At the end of the day we just want a child, whether it’s a boy or a girl. It doesn’t really matter. Low-key I’m wishing it’s a girl. I want a mini-me, I want twinning outfits and be mommy and daughter goals. I do have a potential name for the baby and my partner has his and my mom has hers. We’ll decide which one we’ll go with once we know the sex of the baby. I’ll keep that name private for now.

 

Watch BTS Footaage for The Shoot Here: https://youtu.be/twXaCEYH5vE

 

When the baby arrives in I’ll take some time off social media. I know for a fact that I will not be documenting much about the baby nor have a social media page for them. Maybe that’s something I’ll do when they’re a little older. I’m a Xhosa girl (although born and raised in the Free State and speak seSotho) and don’t believe in sharing too much about the baby when it’s still in infancy. Like most Africans the rule is that no one outside of family will see the baby until after they’re three months. We grew up with traditions where for example when there’s a new-born in the house, you can’t rush to its room. I plan to follow all the traditions as spiritual protective measures for my baby. My mother will be with me and I know she’ll be strict with following tradition. I’m confident my partner, sister and the rest of the family and friends will be around to give me support.

 

My mom has been waiting for me to have a baby. In fact the whole family has and when I told them I was expecting the common response was, “finally!”  Brown has a 10-year-old boy, Tinashe, that I absolutely adore and refer as my son too. With mom wanting a grandson I understand, she’s getting older and when COVID-19 first struck, she tested positive and we almost lost her. I made a promise that I’d deliver on her promises. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t in any pressure, I just think having a grandchild from me was something she longed for and she knew it would be something that would change me for the better as a person.

 

I actually have another sibling outside of Brown. Like mom, they’re just as thrilled that I’m having a baby. There’s one older brother and then it’s us twins. I didn’t grow up rich and understood from a young age that nothing comes easy and that you can’t depend on a man for wealth. We lost our dad when we were still kids and knew instantly that we had to work that much harder than others to get ourselves out of a disadvantaged life. My mom had to quickly adapt to being a single parent. She’d been a housewife before my dad passed and after he was gone, she worked as a domestic worker. She took some of the proceeds from his life insurance and took herself to school to become a teacher and she’s still a teacher today. I’m so proud of her, she’s such an inspiration. I get my calm giving nature from her.

 

My dad was a boxer and worked in the mines and died in 1999. He had a headache and two days later he passed away. It’s difficult growing up without a dad and as a girl child, you particularly need that figure in your life especially as you grow older because you look for father qualities in the people you date. Mom tried her best but there’s always a void when there’s no father around. I’m grateful my child will have both parents in their lives. I think I waited this long to have a child because I wanted to make sure I had a partner who was responsible and also wanted to be a parent. Whether my relationship works out or not, I know that my baby will have a responsible father. I feel like I waited for the right time and partner to do this with. A lot of people don’t know that our real names are Thandi, Azul Mbombo and Thandiwe Acastanho Mbombo respectively. Azul is “blue” in English and Acastanho, “brown.”  When we got into entertainment we decided to go with Blue and Brown for something catchy.

 

 

I’ve always been a model and have always wanted to model. I just never thought it would blow up to the point where I’m known as “Blue The Model.”  At some point I thought I would be a therapist or a social worker. Some of my friends call me mam’fundisi because I try to see the positive in every situation and try to always help out others. After completing matric at Eldoret Secondary School, I went to Bloemfontein for a year and after that went to Durban University of Technology. I studied Biotechnolgy and later Public Relations. I then moved to Joburg after being cast in my first ever reality show, Diamonds In The Ruff on Mzansi Magic which was like a local version of America’s Next Top Model. Filming was during exams and so I quit school to focus on that. I got spotted by a modelling agency and permanently moved to Joburg. I didn’t make it far in the show, however they gave us bursaries to study whatever we wanted to and that’s how I got into PR.

 

I’ve grown magnitudes since Big Brother, from being a person whose life and relationship was very public and everyone knew about. I’m now more reserved and mindful of what I put out there about myself. The person I am today would never ever think of being in the Big Brother house. I’ve ventured into business with Brown and together we own a construction and a cleaning service company called KwaMbombo Cleaning and Supply. We’ve been in business for a few years now and have 20 permanent employees. The pandemic awakened us to strive for more. The entertainment industry has since taken a dive and there wasn’t a lot of work for us and it grew so quiet workwise. Luckily, I had a few campaigns that I’d bagged before lockdown. I usually have three big endorsement deals a year, in 2021 I can’t even say I had two. It’s been so dry and financially I took a dip. Fortunately, I’m good with money and my savings were in tact which carried me. I’m not flashy either which worked out best, I may for example have R10 million in the bank but live like I have R10 thousand. And so I diverted my energy into business and luckily we’ve clinched a few projects here and there. Our cleaning services saved us as we were called in regularly to fumigate/sanitise office parks which had staff infected with Covid. I’m also Creative Director and Partner at Moziak Magazine. I’m responsible for all the covers and styling of the magazine.

 

I may be a mom-to-be now but in future I’m looking to have at least three kids. I was secretly hoping to have twins, if I’d gone the IVF route I would have definitely opted for twins. Twins have an unmatched bond, I know it, I live it and it would have been great if my child had such. In 2022 I hope to grow in all magnitudes in business, bag more work in the entertainment industry front and be more intentional. For now I’m focusing on my pregnancy which is an emotional roller-coaster, but despite that, I’m loving it all. Cheers to motherhood!