The actress and dancer opened up to ET about her pregnancy, her thoughts on a 'Cheetah Girls' movie and where Dorinda would be today.
Sabrina Bryan is the most excited mom-to-be!
The Cheetah Girls star and her husband, Jordan Lundberg, are expecting their first child together -- and couldn't be happier about expanding their family. After a year and a half of marriage, Bryan is overjoyed to bring life into this world and experience every pregnancy moment for the first time.
For Bryan, it's been an exciting time since finding out she was pregnant and now sharing the news with the world. The singer and dancer opened up to ET about her pregnancy journey, as well as how her best friend, Cheetah Girls co-star Kiely Williams, has helped her every step of the way.
ET: Congrats on your pregnancy! How are you feeling?
Sabrina Bryan: Really good! I was literally feeling so blessed. I’m one of the lucky ones. I did not have to suffer through morning sickness at all, which was amazing because, with my short body, I know that the third trimester is going to be pretty crazy with not having a big torso. There’s not a lot of room for the baby to grow. So I know I'm going to be trying my hardest to stay as comfortable as possible. I’m feeling really lucky that the first trimester has been a breeze.
The only thing I would say is, everyone talks about how tired you get while being pregnant and it knocked me down! I was so exhausted. Just getting through a regular day was just so hard without a nap. I was so drained and just this last week have finally gotten my energy back. I am so happy to be up and doing stuff again because feeling like I didn't have any energy and it was getting frustrating after weeks and weeks. For a good two months, I was just tired. I'm lucky to have a lot of mom friends and they were like, "Oh my gosh, this is so normal." And they always kept reminding me, "Don't forget you're creating a human."
When are you due?
I'm due in September. It's going to be crazy because my birthday is Sept. 16. Jordan's birthday is the 24th of September. He's basically like, "I'm going to be broke for the whole month of September." [laughs] Our birthday, we probably won't celebrate anymore. It's going to be just the baby's now.
Have you found out your baby's gender?
We haven't found out yet, but we're planning on finding out. I cannot handle waiting for a surprise like that for nine months! I'm already itching to find out. We definitely want to know if it's a boy or girl, that way I feel like we can be the most prepared. And obviously, as a mom, I'm going to want to get on the shopping list and get the nursery and all that fun stuff started as well.
What are you most excited about?
It's been so incredible watching so many of my girlfriends become moms. Since I've gotten pregnant, I've really reflected on all the things that my mom has taught me and had a lot of conversations with Jordan about his mom and the lessons he's learned from her, also Dad as well. For me, as much as it is scary, it's exciting to really be able to hold a little human. My parents were always so supportive of my dreams, and I can't wait to find out what this little one's dreams will be and what they want to pursue and that kind of stuff, and being this little one's biggest cheerleader in life. I'm so excited to do that. I have such an incredible mom and so many beautiful role models around me that I can't wait to be able to imprint on another human.
Obviously, the cuddles and the snuggles! I can't wait for that. I'm excited to finally get a belly and the kicks going. At the ultrasound, the baby was only like the size of a lime but it was moving, like insane. I couldn't feel it because it's so small and I can't wait to actually feel the baby move around. That's going to be so crazy!
What are you most nervous about?
I had a chance to be with my nephew a lot when he was a baby, so I'm not super worried about it. I feel like I'm comfortable with babies, but I think it's just the scare of the moments stuff. Like the first time they get sick, the first trying to learn how to read your baby. I know it's a trial-and-error process and I want to be able to pick up on what the baby's needs are as quick as possible to be able to help and nurture it. Of course, the delivery is always nerve-wracking, but the more I look into it ... it's so inspiring. Women are built to do such an incredible thing and it's one of the things that we as women get to do. There's nerves and anxiety, but my excitement is, like, totally overtaking all of it.
You said you had a lot of girlfriends who have helped you through this journey, especially Kiely.
Kiely is still my best friend and I really relied on her this whole first trimester to kind of just explain, and keep reminding me, things. She's so knowledgeable, it's so amazing! She's like, "This week your placenta just finally finished" and "Now you're baby's living off of you" and all this stuff, and I'm like, wow, I love it! She sends me articles. It has been really cool for her to open my eyes up to this whole new journey of motherhood.
Kiely also has her own baby girl. Do you hang out with her little one to get experience?
Well, she splits her time between [New] Jersey and Texas, so I don't get to spend that much time with her, unfortunately. But we try to FaceTime and we definitely chat. She was one of the very first people I told [I was pregnant]. She knew before my parents or anyone! Basically it went, Jordan and then Kiely knew. Those were the first people to know. It was awesome because I had this little secret that no one knew about and I wanted to do a fun, little reveal with my parents and Jordan's parents, and waiting for the first sonogram is what I wanted to do so that they could see a picture of it. So for those first eight weeks, it was just basically me and Jordan knowing and then Kiely knew and then one of my best friends as well.
This is such an exciting time for you and your priorities are probably changing, but would you ever want to reunite with Kiely and do another Cheetah Girls movie?
The story of The Cheetah Girls and the message is always so strong and I don't feel like there has been a girl group since we went away that has taken over that spot. I think so many of our stories, especially now since we are older, could take on that next level and I would totally be down for it! The incredible magic that we made and the amount of inspiration to young girls was so infectious and I think a reboot would be amazing. I don't think we could honestly go wrong with it. I think our storylines are so strong, the music we made is, again, infectious. I think every kind of generation keeps building our fan base. It keeps getting bigger and bigger because girls that were young when we were first getting started in 2003, when the movie came out, are now moms themselves and they're letting their little girls know about the growl power of the Cheetah Girls. I definitely think that there's a space for it and I would 100 percent be in on it!
Where do you see your character, Dorinda, now?
I think Dorinda would own a musical theater, dance, arts program. I think she would fully have an art conservatory and be helping build the next generation of artists. Obviously her influence is very much dance-driven. I would definitely think she would be trying to pull in all cultural aspects around the world and [show] how vibrant and how different cultures bring dance and their own take on that art. I think it would be an incredible conservatory. I would hope that she would be starting her own [family]. Now that I'm going to be a mom, I hope Dorinda would be having her own kids, whether they were hers or if she got into the foster living because she was a foster kid. If she had an opportunity to foster her own kid that needed a home, that would be so amazing and such a great new generation.
Our storylines, and what each of us brought to the table as a music group, was so different and diverse that every one of our storylines definitely has room to grow.
Anything else you want to add about this pregnancy journey? You mentioned how you already have such a great support system.
I've gotten to see it and learn from my friends and watch them grow and find themselves in hard places. I also work with high school girls, so I get a lot of chances to see that as well. Being a mom is hard and there's no book that really can prepare you for everything that you'll go against. But it's about trying to do the best you can, and as long as you keep a really good community around you of other women to help, that seems like the way I'm hopefully going to make it through and come out on top of this mom game!
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