“Eating for two” is the ultimate hall pass for every pregnant foodie. But when it comes to Westside actor Will Hall and his wife Sarah, it’s the male half of the couple who’s been the most guilty of overindulging. “It’s true,” Will smiles mournfully as his wife sits next to him, grinning. “I’ve packed on 10 kilos during Sarah’s pregnancy so far – that’s more than she’s put on!”
But Will’s quick to assure us that his weight gain has been for a good cause – a recent Jockey ad campaign with the All Blacks that called for a “hairy, chubby, real Kiwi man” to join some of our favourite honed, toned sporting heroes on the catwalk. “It was a week of McDonald’s cheeseburgers,” confesses Will. “The brief said either pudgy or hairy, preferably both. And at the shoot, they used make-up to add on a couple of kilos, so I look quite fat on the billboard! I don’t mind, though. Sarah was more excited than me – she’s always wanted to marry an underwear model – plus, I got to hang out with the ABs.”
Will and Sarah, both 36, admit that discovering she was pregnant so soon after their Rarotongan wedding in August was a huge surprise.“It wasn’t a shotgun wedding, I promise,” jokes Will. “Everyone assumed Sarah was pregnant and that’s why we were getting married so quickly after the engagement, but it wasn’t. We organised the wedding for June and we weren’t pregnant then.” The truth, they marvel, is that although they expected to have trouble conceiving in their late 30s, the idyllic shores of Aitutaki – where they honeymooned – were the perfect tonic for a conception.“We’ve probably got it to thank for our baby,” grins Will. “It was only the two of us at this resort, so there was little need for clothes! We were kayaking, exploring the islands and relaxing in the over-water bungalow.”
When Sarah began feeling nauseous a few weeks later, a friend asked if she could be pregnant. “I dismissed the idea,” she admits. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon as we’d been so stressed out in the lead-up to the wedding!”
Big reveal
The communications manager did a pregnancy test while Will was away touring low-decile schools with the charity Duffy Books in Homes, but she wanted to tell him the happy news face to face. He recalls, “I got home and Sarah said, ‘I need you to check something on your computer,’ and there was this pregnancy test sitting above the keyboard. I went, ‘Ew, what’s this?’
“It took a few moments to realise what it meant!” Since then, apart from some morning sickness and Georgie Pie cravings for Sarah, it’s been plain sailing for the couple, who met through their mutual pal Ben Barrington a few years ago but only got together last year. The couple won’t find out the baby’s sex before the little one is born “because there aren’t enough surprises in life”, but family members are convinced it’s a girl due to the “delicate head” revealed by scans. “Whatever it is, it’s grown a lot,” says Sarah. “The head is still delicately shaped – but it’s large!”
One thing the pair are not looking forward to is a lack of sleep. They are planning a move to Sarah’s parents’ property in rural Auckland to make their first year of parenthood that little bit smoother.
“We’ve converted Dad’s man cave into a one-bed studio. His pool table is now the baby- changing table,” says Sarah.
Naming rights
As for potential names? She muses, “We both like old-fashioned names like Dot and Joan, names from our grandparents. It’d be nice to add a girl to the mix, but like everyone says, we really don’t care one way or the other as long as he or she is healthy!” “I’m the third William in a row,” adds Will. “We could have a William the fourth – the Conquerer! It might be weird telling my child off if it has the same name as me, though.”
With just three months until the birth, Will is open to any sort of delivery. He jokes, “I like the idea of a water birth. I’ll bring my togs – or maybe my Jockeys! But first I need to make sure I look good in them.”
Draining the last of a mochaccino, he sighs, “That’s it – no more treats for me! I’m going hard out at the gym for the next couple of months. I need to be back in shape by the time the baby is born!”
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