Soap Opera Digest – August 12, 2019

42

ate spicy food. You name it; I did it. Respect to all
the moms out there!”
When the time came, “I didn’t know if I had
contractions,” she chuckles. “I wasn’t sure. I just
kept looking at my husband and then it started
coming on stronger. What I do remember is we
got in the car and I said, ‘Put on “Salt Shaker”
by the Ying Yang Twins,’ which is a booty rap
song. We put it on blast. I was in the car with
my eyes closed trying to dance because it was
the only way.”
Nearly a day later, Rise was born. “The last
five hours, there were contractions,” she recalls.
“I did a few pushes and he was out. It was good!
Meditation was key with me. My mom always
told me, ‘Pregnancy is not a sickness. It’s not a
disease. Your body can do this.’ Knowing and
believing that within myself, I kept saying, ‘My
body can do this. I can do
this.’ I was very fortunate to
have a pretty easy pregnancy
and delivery.”
And then had a crash
course in motherhood. “You
read all the books and you feel him in your
arms and everyone leaves the room and you’re
like, ‘Okay. Now what?’ ” Wood quips. “My
first moment of panic was when we were about
to leave the hospital. I was in the wheelchair
and we’re about to put him in the car seat and I
said, ‘Oh, could you guys help?’ And they said,
‘No.’ I guess for liability reasons? The moment
you leave the hospital, you are on your own.
That was my first moment of freak-out. And,
it was pouring rain that day. We had thunder-
storms in L.A., which don’t happen often. The
first two days, you know, you keep looking at
him like, ‘Are you breathing? Are you alive?’
You just keep doing that, and then you kind
of start picking up on their cues. I’m a work in
progress. I’m still learning, but you just figure
it out day by day.”
Armed with information and advice, she
adjusted to her new role. “Once I had him, I was
like, ‘Okay, we got this.’ ” she shares. “I felt a lot
more comfortable. I had the wonderful women
on the show who had kids who taught me stuff
in between those [baby] scenes. They all gave

PH

OT

OS

:^ H

OW

AR

D^ W

IS

E/J

PI

JIL

L^ J

OH

NS

ON

/JP

I

Fashion

Statement:

Wood used

her alter

ego’s strut

down the

catwalk to

announce her

pregnancy to

her co-stars.

Practice Makes

Perfect:

Golden Girl:

The actress

had hubby Elan

Ruspoli by her

side when she

was named

Outstanding

Lead Actress

at the Daytime

Emmys in May.