When Kate Ferdinand first started speaking out about the experience of being part of a blended family she could never have envisaged how far it would grow. "I've got to be honest when I started out, I just felt alone - I didn't know what to do," she tells HELLO! in an exclusive interview. "And I thought, 'I am just going to speak and share my story' and I was really - and still am to this day - overwhelmed by everyone's response and how much is helping them. I really didn't envision that I'd be where I am today. But I'm so grateful I can use my experiences to help others."
Not only has Kate, 31, continued with her popular Blended podcast but on May 11, she released her first book about families like hers; she is pregnant with her and Rio’s second child together and is also stepmother to his three children from a previous marriage. A manual which includes both Kate's experiences and others like her, it also offers advice from a whole host of experts.
"I'm so excited about it. It's the book I wish I had when I become a stepmum," she says. "I'm only one story - I'm a full time stepmum and I live with my children who have lost their mum but not everyone has that story; there's so many different ones. I think what I have done is share the things that I did struggle with in the hope it will help others. I've tried to be really open and honest."
Currently pregnant with her and Rio's second child together – the couple also have son Cree, two - she says she is ‘feeling good’ but getting a bit tired. “I'm trying to stay active and do what I can but I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself. I think in my last pregnancy I wanted to be everything to everyone and I have realised that this time around I can't be. That's helped me enjoy it more.”
She says her older children – Lorenz, 16, Tate, 14, and Tia, 12, from Rio's first marriage - can't wait to meet the impending new arrival, which she will be a girl. "Our house is like a mad house anyway so another little baby is going to make it even crazier," she laughs. "But we're all really excited. We can't wait." Cree, however, is a bit young to really take on board what is happening. He says 'baby sister's in mummy's belly' and kisses it, but I don't think he quite knows that an actual human is going to come out. I think it will be a shock to the system."
She has opted for a planned Cesarean-section birth after having to undergo an emergency one when Cree was born. "From what I have heard, a planned one will be a completely different experience. So hopefully all will go well. When we get there, we get there."
How To Build a Family by Kate Ferdinand(Happy Place Books, £16.99) is out now.
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