As soon as Rainey Qualley announced her pregnancy, her mother, Andie MacDowell, started doling out words of wisdom.
“Mostly right now, she’s just trying to get me to not do so much stuff,” Qualley, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly at the American Wild Horse Conservation’s fall gala in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 19. “She doesn’t want me to be, like, traveling. … Like, I had this potential job [and] she’s shooting in Canada. [I thought] I would maybe be in Canada for [something and] she’s like, ‘Don’t do it. Stay home.’”
Qualley said MacDowell, 66, is “protective” of her, adding, “I was like, ‘I wanted to do it to see you, but OK.’ She just wants me to stay home and not do so much.”
Along with Rainey, MacDowell and ex-husband Paul Qualley share daughter Margaret Qualley, 29, and son Justin Qualley, 38.
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Rainey, for her part, announced earlier this month that she is pregnant with her and boyfriend Anthony John Wilson’s first baby. “This is how babies are made,” she captioned a September 10 Instagram photo, cradling her bump in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.
While speaking with Us on Thursday, Rainey gushed that she’s feeling “good” while preparing for motherhood.
“I’m 29 weeks now,” she said. “The first trimester was hard, just because I was sick a lot and I was also trying to record [my album] while I was having morning sickness. That’s obviously, like, terrible for your voice, but now that part’s over and I [am] just excited to have a baby.”
Rainey’s siblings are also excited to meet her little one.
“[Margaret is] so excited,” Rainey gushed. “She was just in town a couple days ago for a premiere for The Substance, which is f—ing awesome, and she threw me a surprise baby shower. I knew it was happening, but I didn’t know any of the details, so she threw that for me and she gave this really heartfelt speech.”
Justin, who lives in Montana, also attended the gathering.
“He came in for [the shower and] they’re both really, really excited,” Rainey added. “He’s got a 2-year-old already, [but] they’re both really excited for me.”
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Rainey is already looking forward to passing on the lessons that she learned from her parents and siblings once her baby arrives.
“Thinking about my family life when I was a kid, the things that are most important to me are my siblings, which I guess, obviously, I can’t really offer anything right now,” Rainey added. “I also really love animals, and that’s something that I inherited from my mom. Exposing your children to animals creates compassion in a really specific way. I’m looking forward to that.”
Rainey is also “weirdly looking forward” to the process of giving birth, telling Us, “I know a lot of women sort of, like, dread it but … I’m excited to experience that and then everything else that happens afterwards.”
With her appearance — and performance — supporting the American Wild Horse Conservation on Thursday, Rainey hasn’t fully heeded her mom’s suggestions to rest, but the cause is one that hits close to home.
“I am a big animal advocate, and I’ve been vegetarian for 18 years, and volunteer a lot of animal shelters like foster kittens, and much more involved on that level, but I love all animals,” she told Us. “When my manager brought [this organization] to me and asked if I’d be interested in being involved with this event helping horses, I was very happy to [because] I grew up riding horses as a little girl.”
Rainey added, “Until I heard about it, I didn’t really even realize that there was a problem with wild horses, or now that I read more about it, of course, land conservation just goes hand in hand with wild animals of any kind. I’m just happy to be here and to learn more about myself and to really help spread the word that this is something that we should care about.”
With reporting by Amanda Williams
