With the grand finale of Ireland's Fittest Family on RTÉ One this Sunday at 6:30pm, we caught up with coach Anna Geary to discuss her experience of coaching while pregnant.
"I'm glad I'm not running up mountains at this point because I was running up quite steep hills at five months pregnant," smiles Anna Geary, explaining that she's feeling a bit "slower" these days.
"I'm delighted I was able to do it. If anything, it was an added motivation for my families, who were like, 'we can't let her pass us out!'"
Geary is currently waiting for the arrival of her second child with her husband, Kevin Sexton, as she keeps up with her toddler, 2-year-old Ronan.
Despite this busy home life, the broadcaster has been working steadily, coaching on Ireland's Fittest Family and spending some time in Miriam O'Callaghan’s Sunday morning slot on RTÉ Radio One with her health and well-being show, Supercharged.
Reflecting on her passion for sport, the retired Irish camogie star says she was thrilled to remain so active during much of her pregnancy.
"To be able to still be a coach and be very active and run alongside my families, in spite of being pregnant... For me personally, as someone who is a big advocate for exercising, it was really important to see that."
"Obviously, every precaution is taken to make sure I was safe," she adds, noting that she has enjoyed a very healthy pregnancy. "When you've got a background in TV and social media, it's important that you're able to showcase that as well."
Being pregnant in the public eye has its ups and downs, but for Anna, being able to work through her pregnancy journey felt important.
"It's not a big deal. I was pregnant, so what? They didn't treat me any differently," insists.
"It definitely didn't give me an easier time," she adds, laughing. "But it was great. It was great to be able to do it."
In fact, in a strange way, she says that the show has prepared her for the experience of childbirth.
"I used to get very nervous - I still do - before the Ireland's Fittest Family challenges. As a coach, there's nothing you can do. You can talk to them [your families] and talk through strategies, but once the ref says '3,2,1, go', they're on their own.
"I think giving birth is kind of the same thing," she laughs. "You're a bit helpless, you're not in control, you don't know when it's going to happen, you don't know how it's going to happen. You just kind of have to adapt and go. So, if nothing else, Ireland's Fittest Family has prepared me for childbirth in a way."
Unfortunately, her experience of being pregnant and well-known hasn't been all positive. The presenter took to Instagram in recent days, telling her 172k followers about how people have been commenting on her body.
"We're living in an age where we're being told to be very conscious of the social commentary around people's appearance - on their weight, how they look - we shouldn't be doing that," she explains.
"I do find that when it comes to women who are pregnant, it's a free for all. You can literally say, you're massive! You're huge!"
"I literally had strangers coming up telling me, 'oh, you're way bigger this time around than you were in your first pregnancy'."
With an interest in wellbeing and mindset, Geary says that she hopes her social media presence can help pregnant women feel less alone if they have gone through similar experiences.
"It's just to make people aware that, you know, anyone that's pregnant is growing a human being, they're having a tough enough time as it is. They don't need someone telling them that they should be bigger or smaller."
With the grand finale of Ireland's Fittest Family on RTÉ One on Sunday at 6:30pm.
