Pregnancy can be a beautiful, rewarding experience, but not always — and Hilary Duff can certainly attest to that.
The 30-year-old actress is currently expecting a baby girl with musician Matthew Koma, her boyfriend of more than a year. The little one will be Hilary's second child; she's already a mama to a 6-year-old son named Luca, whom she shares with her ex-husband, former hockey player Mike Comrie.
Hilary took to Instagram in late July to let her fans know that while she's enjoying the "lovely" experience of having "a little life inside" her belly, her second pregnancy hasn't been without its challenges. In fact, she went so far as to call the overall journey "hard as hell."
"The boobs are big the belly is big the body is big," she began, captioning a shot of her bare, growing bump. "Man.. pregnancy is hard."
Hilary announced her pregnancy in early June.
"Guess what guys! @matthewkoma and I made a little princess of our own and we couldn’t be more excited!!!!!! " she wrote on Instagram.
Since then, Hilary has filled her feed with many snapshots of her growing baby bump.
The happy couple found out they were expecting a girl at their gender reveal party on Mother's Day.
"A few months ago we had one of the most exciting Mother’s Day!" Hilary wrote in late June, clueing her fans in.
"I can’t think of any other way to find out what was cooking in my belly than this….. the anticipation was brutal but the pay off was huge! I basically jumped 3 feet off the ground lol #hurryuplittlegirlwewanttomeetyou."
In late July, Hilary revealed that she and Matthew had already settled on a name for their little one.
However, "we're not ready to share and we won't until the baby is born, because we don't really want to hear people's opinions on it," she told her Instagram followers. (Womp womp.)
While the little girl will be Hilary's second child, the baby will be Hilary and Matthew's first together.
Hilary's son is "warming up to the idea" of being a big brother, she said.
In a recent interview on The Late Late Show With James Corden, Hilary revealed that Luca wants his baby sister to be named "Cofant Croissant."
"Luca thinks Cofant Croissant is, like, the coolest name," she explained.
Based on the pictures she posts alone, you'd never know that Hilary was having a tough time with pregnancy No. 2.
She's always glowing in the photos she shares on her Instagram account.
She finally opened up about her struggles in this post from July 25.
"The boobs are big the belly is big the body is big. Man.. pregnancy is hard," she wrote. "Giving love to all mamas who make it look effortless… this journey is hard as hell and also incredibly special."
"Lovely to have a little life inside and to day dream of all the new adventures to come buuuut almost impossible to get my own shoes on..sick of getting up 9 times a night to pee and looking at this weird body in the mirror that is not my own at the moment," she continued.
She went on to praise the strength of moms everywhere and rally her fellow pregnant women with a powerful message.
"Women are so bad *ss, this was just a note to remind myself and remind others how’s strong and beautiful you are! WE GOT THIS! ❤️ ✨" she concluded.
Hilary wasn't a huge fan of her first pregnancy, either.
"To be totally honest, I had a really easy pregnancy and I did enjoy a lot of it. But a part of me isn’t like those women who love being pregnant," she told Parade after Luca was born in 2012. "I love my baby and I miss that feeling of being attached to him when he’s kicking, but I was so ready to not be pregnant."
Other moms have filled the comments section of Hilary's post with messages of empathy and support.
Many agree that you never know what your body is capable of and that each pregnancy is different, whether it's your first child or your fourth.
Some encouraged Hilary to try her best to find things she enjoyed about her pregnancy journey since time passes so quickly.
And fellow expectant moms were grateful for the reminder that they are, indeed, amazing and strong.
We can't wait to meet Hilary's little lady! Props to all the expectant moms out there who are superheroes in their own right.
