While Lim is focusing on recovering from the birth – “I still have quite a few red spots on my face, which are burst blood vessels from all the pushing” – her husband, the new dad, is “having a great time”, she said.
“It’s quite adorable to see him looking at our son. You can see a totally different side of him. Before giving birth, I knew he would make a great father. Now, I’m excited to see how he’s going to step into that role.”
In a more reflective turn, Rebecca told us that beyond welcoming a child, the whole journey from pregnancy to motherhood has been an opportunity to grow more in touch with herself.
“I never truly thought that I could be a mum. I never truly wanted to be a mum. I was very content being the fun auntie. I never thought that my life would reach a stage where I firstly would want to start a family with someone, and then eventually really have a family with someone,” she shared candidly.
Instead, “It was always: Work, work work. ‘What can I do to be better?’”
This period “has been a journey of self-discovery. In this pregnancy journey, what was unexpected for me wasn’t an incident but the entire few months where I really had time to just chill, be by myself, prepare myself psychologically and also to really understand who I am”.
She explained: “Before I was pregnant, I always based the value of my self-worth on my work: The roles that I took up; the endorsements that I had; who I am as an actress; my award nominations; et cetera. When I was pregnant, all that had to stop. I didn’t have any work other than events and some endorsement shoots. It was very quiet. I had to deal with the insecurity. That really helped me grow and understand who I am inside, and really love who I am as Rebecca Lim the person, as opposed to Rebecca Lim the actress.
“It was an unexpected and humbling journey of self discovery. Very, very humbling! You strip all that away, what’s left? Do you still love who you are without all the glitz and glam? I had good and bad days. Some days I was like, ‘I can’t wait to get back to work.’ Other days, ‘Maybe this is the time to take it easy, one step at a time, and slowly enjoy this journey.” Now, “I’m a lot more content and confident of who I am as a person”.
