0:00

This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost

0:02

Famous podcast with iHeartRadio.

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Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of the Almost

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podcast. They were going a little bit in depth

0:11

with Lace Morris. We're so excited.

0:13

She's a new mom, a new mom

0:15

of five days. I can't believe we're getting her

0:17

to join us now. It's so exciting.

0:20

Thank you. And also,

0:23

you know you guys, if you don't, if you don't know

0:25

the name Lace Morris, I'm

0:27

sure you actually do because

0:29

she was a huge star on Ben season,

0:32

and she was a huge star and Bachelor in

0:34

Paradise. We were there for

0:36

two seasons together. And

0:39

Lace, welcome to the podcast.

0:41

Thank you for having me.

0:42

Wait, so you've been on Paradise? How many times?

0:45

Lace?

0:45

Twice?

0:46

Twice?

0:48

I was.

0:48

She was with me when Jared and I

0:50

came back for a little.

0:51

Bit, Case, I

0:54

was like, how many times? Again?

0:56

Lace, We've promised our listeners now

0:58

for the last week that we're gonna have you on.

1:00

They're very excited because we did break down the headline

1:02

that.

1:02

You are a

1:05

new mother five days ago.

1:08

Five days you.

1:09

Had had to like not stop.

1:12

So yeah, well that's good.

1:14

Well I get that. I get it because when I

1:16

would just had Dawson they had me come

1:18

on the podcast.

1:19

Or even when they had me, they forced

1:22

forced me to come back.

1:23

And I

1:29

was like sitting around like a week

1:31

or so later, and I was like, well, I mean

1:33

I could do a podcast, like I can

1:35

get in the room and like talk on a mic

1:38

and sit down, you know when

1:41

he's napping, like somebody else can

1:43

hold him for an hour. So I

1:45

feel I feel you on that. But there's a lot of things

1:47

that I also could not do at this

1:49

point, like stand up.

1:52

Stand up, Ashley, I've

1:55

ever done it, and you think you

1:57

think so. We

2:00

have a lot of stairs in this house, so that doesn't help.

2:02

So you've been going up and down the stairs a lot. I mean, as

2:04

I did, you know, you gotta go to bed, you

2:06

gotta do so I gotta go shower.

2:09

Yeah, but no, I mean I'm live from the bed.

2:11

So we're good.

2:12

Okay, So lace catches

2:14

up a little bit here. You're living where right now?

2:18

I'm in Denver.

2:20

You're in Denver, Colorado. Yeah,

2:24

you're out here in Denver. You

2:27

are said you're super busy.

2:29

So what exactly have you been doing in

2:32

the last five days that you feel like you have overdone

2:34

it, Like, how are you kind of what

2:36

is your time being used for right now

2:38

other than hey, doing exactly what you're doing

2:40

right now, old beautiful baby.

2:42

Well, I mean my parents were here. My mom's

2:44

still here, but my dad left, so it's been really

2:47

helpful having them. Yeah, but you

2:49

still got to like get

2:52

up and get food,

2:54

and you gotta change his diaper, and

2:56

you gotta feed him. And my

2:59

dad was here, so I come up to the nursery to

3:01

feed him, and you know, just for some

3:03

privacy, and then

3:05

I did get ready a couple of days.

3:07

You got makeup on. Now you look fantastic.

3:10

Thanks, you look your hair's

3:12

done. You look so amazing ready

3:15

though, yes, I remember

3:18

the getting up to change diapers was

3:20

like, I that's not making me get

3:23

off the couch, Like I can't do it, like Jared

3:25

to the majority of diapers for the first few weeks,

3:27

because it just hurt. It really did,

3:29

it really does. Okay,

3:32

Well, Lace, you're an open book. Can you talk

3:34

to us about just

3:36

finding out you were pregnant and all in the beginning

3:39

of all.

3:39

This, Yeah, it

3:41

was a whirlwind because I had just gotten a new job,

3:44

like a dream job where I'm the marketing

3:46

manager for the Ritz Carlton, and I'm like, oh my gosh,

3:48

this is huge. You know, just got a new

3:50

boyfriend. We were brand new

3:53

and yeah,

3:55

we basically hooked up the first week and made

3:58

a.

3:58

Baby the first

4:00

week of knowing him.

4:02

Yeah, and I wasn't very smart about

4:04

it and found out four weeks later I was pregnant.

4:08

So I mean, was this like, what was your initial

4:11

reaction?

4:12

I was. I couldn't really believe

4:14

it because I'm like me, I'm pregnant, Like no, there's no

4:16

way, Like, yeah, I'm not that I've ever tried,

4:19

but I just didn't think it was possible.

4:21

So I thought I was tracking properly,

4:24

but I guess it wasn't. And I

4:27

was just kind of in shock, like pure shock.

4:30

I don't know if I could do it.

4:32

What was the conversation with him?

4:34

Like I was scared, but he was really

4:36

cool about it, and we just sat on it for a

4:38

couple of days and was like, what's the best option. Both

4:40

both of us were like, we gotta do it. We gotta

4:42

keep him.

4:43

And what's your relationship? What was your relationship

4:45

like throughout the nine months of pregnancy.

4:48

It's been a roller coaster. Yeah.

4:52

Is he local to Denver?

4:54

He's not. He's from Wyoming, but

4:58

he lives here now, a job here.

5:01

Yeah, So

5:04

just tell us if you feel comfortable talking or not talking

5:06

about this. But I'm assuming

5:09

he was he present at the birth.

5:11

Yeah, he was there at the birth. He was present,

5:13

and he did great. Unfortunately,

5:16

it was just not a very

5:18

fun eight months and you know,

5:20

you don't really know someone, so we

5:23

had a rough time. We're still trying

5:25

to navigate, you know, how to coparent and

5:27

do everything. Excuse you?

5:29

Is he somebody who wants to be like involved or.

5:31

Yes, he wants to be in Liam's life. And he's

5:34

already a dad. He's already a good dad. But

5:37

he he's trying to be as present

5:39

as he can. So let's get as long as he is a

5:41

dad, We're good.

5:42

Do you feel like you have enough of a village around you right

5:44

now?

5:45

I have an army behind me, so I

5:48

honestly am

5:50

so grateful.

5:53

What's the I really want to get

5:55

into two. I mean the emotions

5:57

now that you're holding Liam, like you're sitting

6:00

here and you're a mom five days again,

6:02

which is just wild that you're here with us, and then

6:05

I can see a little bit of Liam's you know face,

6:07

absolutely beautiful, Like what does this feel

6:10

like?

6:12

It's so weird? I mean you

6:14

know this actually, but like it doesn't feel

6:16

real. Sometimes you're just trying to are

6:19

you really mine? Am I really about to take care of you the rest

6:21

of my life?

6:22

I know I had a moment like

6:24

that a couple of days ago. I was like, you're half

6:27

me, Like I'm hanging out with you,

6:29

You're half of me.

6:31

Yeah, I've been. It's been a really big

6:33

emotional rollercoaster with the emotions

6:36

so high, obviously for a

6:38

swoman, but it's

6:40

it's it's really hard, Like it's

6:43

so amazing looking at him, and I'm like,

6:45

wow, this is so cool. But then you're like I don't get

6:47

my family. I don't get that perfect picture

6:50

that I thought I had right in front of

6:52

me. But so it's just every

6:54

day is different and some

6:56

days are harder than others. But

6:59

when you look at him, you're just like so happy.

7:02

Yeah. I mean,

7:04

Ashley, you could probably speak to this, but like,

7:09

what is it like as a mother as

7:11

your son gets older? And

7:13

it does you know, you do take care of and you

7:15

do care for but you like you no longer have to hold

7:17

him all the time every day, Like you're

7:20

no longer like the only

7:22

source to have how they can eat uh or

7:24

clean themselves.

7:26

The pantry door, yeah.

7:29

And like do stuff.

7:30

So like what is that process like,

7:32

because lace, I'll be I'll be honest,

7:34

like I'm listening

7:36

to you. I'm like, yes, it's got to be so hard like there

7:39

and there's no right, like

7:41

like the obvious thing that's true

7:44

is like you're gonna be great at this, Like you're gonna

7:46

rock this, like you're this is all good and you gotta

7:48

army behind you. The other side of that is like

7:50

this is gonna be really hard, Like this is really

7:52

hard. This is probably like a shocking,

7:55

confusing season. But

7:57

I say all that to say, also, like what

7:59

is it like actually as the like as

8:01

your child progresses and that like bond

8:03

and relationship builds.

8:05

It's really gradual the way that it

8:07

progresses. Like you'll just be sitting

8:09

there one day and then you're like, it's

8:12

so weird that you are

8:14

asking for something specific and

8:18

like and you can

8:20

sort of open the pantry door and all that. It's

8:22

just like how did we get here?

8:24

It hasn't even been two years,

8:26

Like how what?

8:28

So that's mind boggling. But for me, the

8:31

bond just grows every day. You

8:34

feel so much more than every day.

8:36

Yeah.

8:37

Yeah, And the boys are obsessed with their moms,

8:39

as everybody kind of tells you when you're pregnant,

8:41

and then you believe it when

8:44

they start because like six six

8:46

months ash, you're like, oh okay, like

8:49

it's a mom.

8:50

I think it's weird too, because with the co parenting

8:52

right now, it's like, yeah, I'm

8:54

realizing truly something I'm I

8:56

was always aware of a control freak, but now that

8:58

I have him, I'm fully aware

9:01

that, Like I'm a full blown control freak. And

9:04

it's just like, even when you know he's holding him

9:06

or he has his time with him, I'm just like being

9:08

selfish. I'm like I hate that time

9:10

away from him. Yeah, you

9:12

know, it's like it's gonna be really hard. Yeah.

9:15

How do you guys plan?

9:17

Like, I mean, I'm sure you've had these conversations

9:19

like how is this gonna look or kind of what's

9:21

your ideal.

9:22

In the midst of it. Honestly, we're trying to figure that out.

9:24

We're both unfortunately moving

9:27

out of this beautiful house, but

9:30

we're gonna live separately and just

9:32

try and be a team.

9:34

Awkwardly, so you guys

9:36

were living together and now and now you're

9:38

not going to Yeah.

9:39

Now we got the whole dream setup before

9:42

he was born and got an his house and

9:45

nook and nursery and everything, and then it

9:48

isn't working. So I'm

9:51

currently looking. On top of doing

9:53

all this, I have to find a place to live as well. So,

9:56

gee, where your parents live? And they

9:58

live in Missouri?

10:00

Did you ever moved back to Missouri?

10:01

I'm from here, but they just moved out there because

10:04

they like, oh no,

10:07

I would never move to Missouri.

10:09

Okay,

10:13

I'm not We're not laughing at Missouri.

10:14

I'm just I am.

10:27

Can you give us a little bit of your birth story since

10:29

like I'm and I love that stuff.

10:31

Yeah, I know, I love birth stories. And I'm like, that's

10:34

fascinating because Nowaday went through it. So I

10:38

was, I was on my d date and yeah,

10:41

I did this yoga thing I saw on

10:43

online and she's like, I went

10:45

into labor after I did it, and sure, I did

10:47

it

10:50

all day long and I'm like, okay, all right,

10:52

this hurts. And then the next. I

10:54

couldn't sleep that night. I was in so much pain, and

10:57

so I called the

10:59

doctors and standing with

11:01

your leaking and stuff, I think you should come in just so

11:03

we don't risk it. So I come in at eight am

11:06

and we're there all day long and I'm

11:08

at four centimeters but it's not

11:10

moving the rest of the day. So then they have me on potosin

11:13

for like ten hours. We go pretty

11:15

high. They're like, okay, at eleven pm,

11:18

I think we need to break your water or nothing's

11:20

going to happen.

11:21

When you were on the potosin, did you were

11:23

you contracting?

11:25

Yeah, I was having great contractions, but I was

11:27

having zero pain and just zero, like.

11:30

You're having zero pain while having the contractions.

11:32

Did you have the epidural at that point? No, No,

11:35

it's I was on eighteen. That's

11:38

what I didn't understand about your message. When you DM me, I

11:40

was like, wait a second telling

11:43

me that you had the epidural, but before

11:45

I didn't interacting and not in any

11:47

point what you never had it?

11:49

Holy on? No I did. No, No, you did eventually

11:52

on potosin, and it was weird. I

11:54

just I did not feel anything. I

11:56

mean, I was just like, your contractions are great, and

11:59

so I wasn't dilated anymore. So then finally

12:01

they broke my water and instantly I felt the

12:03

contractions and oh my god, I

12:05

never want to feel that pain again, Ashley.

12:07

That was can I pause you there? So

12:10

contractions hurt?

12:12

God?

12:13

Is the contractions that hurt.

12:15

It's the contractions that hurt. I just date.

12:17

You don't even feel.

12:18

But pushing, that's nothing.

12:20

The pushing's not the problem. It's the contraction.

12:23

Yeah. I didn't know this

12:25

either, and I was

12:27

in shock because as soon as they broke it, I couldn't

12:29

even breathe. So I got

12:31

like thirty minutes of that, and the anesthesiologist

12:35

came, yes, see same here. It was about thirty

12:38

minutes every minute to tell. And then I

12:40

didn't like that either, because your legs

12:42

are just like tingling, and you're just you're

12:46

again control freak. You can't do anything. And I'm

12:48

just miserable because my legs are tingling.

12:51

But they woke me up at two am

12:53

and they're like, hey, you're ten centimeters plus. You need

12:55

to get this baby out. His head's right there. I was like,

12:57

sweet, sounds

13:00

like an amazing first story coached in under an

13:02

hour and it was great.

13:05

So great, okay, wonderful. I'm glad

13:07

that you had it as as breezy as possible.

13:10

It was nice. Yeah, it

13:12

was hell just sitting there waiting

13:14

in the room though for ten hours.

13:16

Yeah, what do you watch?

13:18

Nothing?

13:18

Really, nothing worth mentioning.

13:21

I'm writing this down because I thought

13:23

it was the pushing that hurt.

13:25

I think a lot of people think that actually, because I

13:27

did really so scared to push. That was

13:29

what I was so scared.

13:30

Of, Ashley, What are you talking about? Why do

13:32

you act surprise?

13:33

I'm sorry, I don't know, Like I'm like this like

13:35

a file.

13:36

Like the idea that you're your

13:38

body is going to expand to a level

13:41

that a head can move out to me, sounds

13:43

like.

13:43

So the contracted painful. How it's getting

13:45

to that point? So like every time

13:48

that's like your muscle making

13:51

the movement to like expand.

13:54

Hmmm.

13:55

Yeah, And it is the worst pain I've ever felt.

13:57

You know what else, though, is after

14:01

pushing, like now it hurts really

14:03

bad?

14:04

Like yeah, yeah, the

14:06

after pain. Also, I don't think it's talked a bad enough.

14:09

It doesn't.

14:09

It doesn't hurt when you're lying down or sitting down

14:12

to me. It didn't. No, it's just only when

14:14

your whole body is upright and then like the pressure

14:17

drops.

14:17

Yeah, yeah, I

14:20

am.

14:20

I'm sorry.

14:22

I mean, I'm fine.

14:23

I'm good changing two diapers

14:25

here.

14:25

I can't wait for Ben to tell his birth story

14:28

with you know, like it's gonna be so

14:30

funny to hear Ben's reaction.

14:33

It's gonna be well.

14:34

I mean, I hope I'm awake for it. I feel like I

14:36

feel like I might just be on the floor. There's

14:39

a good possibility I don't make it through it. That's

14:41

okay, Lace,

14:44

I okay, I'll

14:46

preface this. You're obviously very social.

14:49

You have a great friend group here in Denver. We

14:52

do share common connections.

14:55

You've always been somebody out and about. As

14:57

you said, you had your dream job. I'm

15:01

sure there's a lot of things they are building up. But

15:03

you are entering into a whole new chapter, a

15:05

beautiful chapter one that uh

15:07

it is. You know, a lot of your friends are

15:10

probably already in uh or

15:12

entering into at some point here soon, so

15:14

it's not like you're you know, alone in

15:17

this. But what about

15:19

this next chapter excites you? What

15:22

are you looking forward to the most.

15:24

This is a great question because I don't know. I

15:26

see, I feel really motivated, like I

15:29

have a great job. I'm you

15:31

know, having fun with Instagram with

15:34

him and just all the fun stuff that comes with

15:36

it. I think it's

15:38

like the new challenge of like can I do this?

15:40

And I just think

15:42

it's going to be I'm going to give him the world obviously

15:45

the best I can. But you know, he

15:47

has a good I have a support team, which means he

15:49

does. But I'm

15:52

just excited to have this bond with him

15:54

and see him grow

15:56

and see how I can grow in the midst of this. I

15:58

just think good things are coming. I really do.

16:00

Oh, you can do this. Yeah, there's no question in my mind.

16:02

That I don't know. I'm excited for this

16:04

next chapter to just see what's possible.

16:07

Honestly.

16:08

Yeah, you have so many qualities that just make

16:11

you a great mom. Thanks very nurturing,

16:13

You're very supportive, you are

16:16

like I think the fact that

16:18

you are so like open

16:22

about things just makes me feel like, you

16:25

know, that's just a quality of like a really great

16:27

mom too. Like, I don't think that you're ever going to have

16:29

a hard time having a discussion with him.

16:32

No, I'm excited to have some talks with it. Yeah,

16:34

I want to be the biggest

16:37

gentleman ever.

16:38

He looks like it right now. What a stud

16:43

lace. My final question for you

16:46

is, obviously it's only been

16:48

five days, but I'm

16:51

always curious about this. How has your world

16:54

changed in five days?

16:56

Like I didn't realize

16:59

it. Like people are serious when they

17:01

say it's around the clock. I can't

17:03

even go pee sometimes,

17:06

Like I'm grateful for my mom being here, but

17:08

if she wasn't, I don't know how

17:12

anything would get done.

17:14

This is you're going to go through this for

17:16

a few months, you know.

17:17

And I'm just like, I didn't really And

17:20

then now day five, day

17:22

four, day five, I've changed a diaper like

17:24

every hour, and I'm just like, I really

17:26

going through And He's just like, five minutes ago, we're

17:28

doing it again, and it's

17:31

just I don't know, you

17:33

only have one hand.

17:34

The poop calms down after about

17:36

two months. It's a lot

17:39

less type changing. I promise I

17:41

remember too. I was like, how is it? Every time

17:43

we look in there, there's something that sounds

17:45

amazing.

17:46

I think something that's not talked about a lot though, is

17:48

when I'm coming to find out. What'd you say?

17:50

I said, that sounds amazing. Think about if that's

17:52

just how gracious.

17:55

And I think something that's not talked about

17:57

though, is just like the breastfeeding aspect

18:00

and how bad and it hurts, and like

18:02

how much time consuming that is as well.

18:05

But the recovery, the recovery downstairs

18:07

and the breastfeeding just I don't think it's talked about

18:10

enough. Because I was expecting it and

18:12

he was having really plusy night a couple of nights ago,

18:14

and I just laid there and cried with him because I was like, what

18:16

am I doing? Like this is so hard.

18:19

Yeah, that's why I didn't bother breastfeeding

18:21

one of the.

18:22

You know, I see why. I know.

18:26

Oh we can have a total honesty. How

18:28

I love that my And

18:30

then one last comment, I just have to relate

18:33

with you. It's like I remember when we

18:35

got back to Rhode Island because I gave birth in Virginia

18:38

and it was like three and a half weeks. We stayed down

18:40

there until we drove back and Jared

18:42

went to work and I was home alone for the first

18:45

time with him. Oh boy,

18:47

just you and me, So like what do

18:50

I do when I have to go make myself something to eat?

18:52

What do I do when I have to go to the bathroom?

18:55

And it's just like, I guess

18:58

you're like, do you come with me and you sit

19:00

on your lounger in the bathroom floor

19:02

for thirty seconds?

19:04

I did that once.

19:06

Yeah.

19:06

And then when he's like a little bit bigger, you

19:08

know, like you know, five days is too

19:11

small, but like in a couple of weeks, you can put him in

19:13

the chess carrier and

19:15

that is when you discover

19:18

your life again. That I was

19:20

able to do like everything with him

19:22

and my chess carrier because at about

19:24

like one month, they're still

19:26

sleeping so much throughout the day. But

19:29

at least that way, you like HAVEM on you and you're able

19:31

to go about that's a little tit for you.

19:35

All right, to close up here, lace, I

19:38

lied, I do have a more question. You're

19:40

only five days into this, so it might be a little

19:42

early.

19:43

Do you ever see yourself going on television again?

19:46

Uh?

19:47

No, okay, deal, that's

19:49

all I needed.

19:50

No, No, I don't I don't think so.

19:52

No hesitation there, right, that was like a solid

19:54

no.

19:55

Yeah, it was just like thinking like probably

19:57

not with the child, No.

19:58

Oka, that's fair, Lace, we

20:01

wish the best.

20:03

In fact, I'm

20:05

sure you've gotten a ridiculous amount

20:07

of stuff sent to you. But The Almost Famous

20:09

Podcast would love to send you whatever

20:12

it is on your wish list now that you have

20:14

started to operate in this world and

20:16

say, hey, you know what would be really nice a.

20:18

Robot that could do all these things with me.

20:21

Just let us know we want to send you something, so

20:24

we'll uh yeah, we'll have one

20:27

of the we'll reach out to you. But wishing

20:29

the best. Congratulations.

20:32

Seriously, this is a big deal, a beautiful baby.

20:34

You're gonna be a great mom, You're gonna do this thing just

20:37

really well. And uh, I

20:39

also just feel like we I want

20:41

to say, like I wish you the best with this situation and

20:44

co parenting. That is

20:47

a unique challenge

20:49

and journey that I'm

20:52

hoping works out to

20:55

be good. Uh you know

20:57

whatever good means there.

20:58

Yeah, and I did to that And

21:01

if you need anything mom advice,

21:03

I love talking about it. Okay,

21:05

Well I'm here for you.

21:06

You do, Ashley, you like talking about this stuff.

21:09

You think he's being sarcastic.

21:11

Hey, this has been the Almost

21:13

Famous podcast. We promise

21:16

you'd interview with Lace again five

21:18

days after the birth of her son Liam, and

21:20

well, we gave it to you. We

21:23

keep our commitments here. So

21:25

until next time, I've been Ben, I've.

21:27

Been, Ashley and Lacey, you've been what

21:30

perfect? Bye?

21:34

Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous

21:36

podcast on iHeartRadio or subscribe

21:39

wherever you listen to podcasts.