Pregnant Lauren Conrad Reveals How She Is Preparing Son Liam, 2, for Big-Brother Duties

Lauren Conrad is trying to make being an older sibling a “big, exciting thing” for 2-year-old Liam James ahead of welcoming her second child.

“He’s very smart, and I think he sort of understands what’s going on,” Conrad tells PEOPLE of her son, adding of herself and husband William Tell, “We’re just focused on making this a positive experience and talking about how exciting it will be for him to be a big brother.”

To help Liam adjust to the idea of a new baby, Conrad says she and Tell, 39, “got all the books and the baby doll and all those things” for their little boy.

The soon-to-be mother of two also says she tries to make sure she’s giving Liam enough attention, but “especially now that I’m a lot bigger, it’s harder to pick him up.”

“The biggest thing [with this pregnancy] is that I already have a child this time. I’m definitely more tired. Pregnancy is much more difficult when you have a 2-year-old running around,” Conrad says.

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The Hills alum announced that she and her husband were expanding their family in an April Instagram post. Their first child, Liam, was born in July 2017, after The Little Market co-founder and her lawyer beau tied the knot in a September 2014 sunset ceremony at a boutique winery.

As for the new baby, Conrad says that she and Tell know the sex (“We thought that would be a fun surprise to share with other people once the little person arrives”) but are waiting to pick out a moniker.

“With Liam, we didn’t decide [on a name] until he was born. We had options, but we liked the idea of meeting our baby first,” she tells PEOPLE.

Planning for the new arrival, Conrad will use a lot of the same products she bought for Liam when he was a baby, including Phillips Avent Ultra Soft Snuggle pacifiers, which can be detached from the soft plush toy they come with to be sanitized. She also plans to use the newest model of the Cocoon Cam Baby Monitor, which checks breathing.

As first-time parents, Conrad says she and Tell “were just so scared when [Liam] slept, because it’s such a big responsibility to be in charge of a life,” and that the Cocoon Cam feature helped to alleviate some of her worry.

To buy all her go-to baby products, Conrad is using and partnering with Amazon's online Baby Registry.

“It is a huge convenience,” she says. “It’s really helpful, obviously, if you are having a shower and you want to create a registry, or even if you want to organize a list for yourself. It’s all in one place, it’s delivered to your doorstep.”

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Between getting ready for baby No. 2, entertaining one child already and juggling multiple projects and business ventures, including a new podcast and a collection at Kohl's, “It’s a little hectic,” Conrad admits to PEOPLE.

“Every conference call I have right now, they keep stressing about my due date and maternity leave just because between Kohl’s and other projects, I’m trying to figure out when they can get me back,” she says, adding that she tries to prioritize and delegate to maintain her work-life balance and “everyone’s got to do it differently.”

For new moms, Conrad advises being forgiving to oneself and taking advantage of help from others, calling her own situation “organized chaos.”

“I think a lot of women are really reluctant to ask other people for help, just because we have this idea that we need to do this on our own,” she says. “My friends and my family were really amazing. Both my mother and mother-in-law were stopping by almost daily, just to give me 30 minutes to myself, so I think it’s okay to ask others for help.”

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And what does the star do for herself to wind down?

“Unfortunately, most of my go-to relaxation tactics are prohibited because I can’t have wine or take a bubble bath,” Conrad tells PEOPLE — although her husband is “great at helping me de-stress.”

But for her, it’s less about self-care and more about “making the decision not to stress over things. I think it’s just that constant reminder of when you stress, you put stress on your body, and right now I’m carrying a human.”

Still, a bubble bath would be nice. “I’m really looking forward to it,” Conrad admits.

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