Lauren Luyendyk EXCLUSIVE: Bachelor vet talks being pregnant during a pandemic

Bachelor vet Lauren Luyendyk has her hands fuller than ever as a mother with twins on the way.

The reality star, 29, who has been married to Bachelor alum Arie Luyendyk Jr. since 2018, spoke exclusively with DailyMail.com about being pregnant during the pandemic, food cravings, and self-isolating after her husband contracted coronavirus last year.

‘That was extremely stressful,’ Luyendyk said of her husband’s diagnosis. ‘I kind of suspected he had it right from the beginning. He woke up with a dry cough, headache and I was like, “Oh my gosh you have to go isolate right now.”‘

‘He’s like, “I’m fine. Don’t worry, I’ll go get a test for peace of mind.” And he did, fully expecting it to be negative, and it came back positive. 

‘He ended up isolating in our master bedroom area and Lessi and I stayed in the other part of the house, so we just kind of stayed away from each other for a couple of weeks. It was extremely stressful being that close to something that I felt could hurt my babies.’

Fortunately, Lauren did not get sick. ‘I’m very relieved… We survived.’ 

Being pregnant during a pandemic has been understandably difficult for Lauren as well.

Reflecting on the differences between her first and second pregnancies, she remarked: ‘My first trimester was very difficult. I was super, super sick, but since then it hasn’t been that different. 

‘I’ve grown a lot faster than the first time around, but I think the biggest thing that’s been different has been being pregnant during COVID because it’s been kind of stressful especially in the beginning, not knowing you know how easy it was to get it and who to be around. I haven’t seen my family in months.’

Another change are Lauren’s food cravings. During her pregnancy with daughter Alessi, Lauren had quite the sweet tooth.  

Nowadays she has a hankering for more healthy fare.

‘I have had different cravings this time around. With Lessi I craved everything sweet, I ate ice cream three times a day. This one I’ve just been wanting everything fresh, like fresh fruit, vegetables.’

And whenever Lauren needs a helping hand, Arie is there to help.

‘He really helps a lot with Lessi. If I ever don’t feel good or anything, he totally takes over. You know, he just wants me to rest as much as possible to keep the twins in as long as they can. He was really sweet the weekend that he did my baby shower. He actually sent me to get a massage and ordered a pregnancy pillow so I can sleep better and a belly band. He’s been really cute.’

Lauren, who has recently partnered with Schick Intuition, says her husband has even been helping her shave her legs during her pregnancy.

‘He tries. So he occasionally will, it’s not his favorite jobs. But when he’s not there, I actually have been using Schick Intuition two in one razor that makes it a lot easier.’

Fans first met Lauren as a contestant competing for Arie on season 22 of The Bachelor, where she came in as a runner-up to final rose choice Becca Kufrin. In the controversial finale, however, Arie broke up with fiancee Becca Kufrin and ended the show engaged to Lauren.

Arie faced major backlash for the switch-up, but married Lauren a year later. They welcomed daughter Alessi Rei several months after the wedding and are now expecting twins.