Drew Barrymore has two beautiful daughters, Olive, 3, and Frankie, 18 months, but the post-birth emotional affects were very different her second time around.
When she gave birth to Olive, she was lucky to not experience any depression, but after Frankie came what she never expected. "I didn't have postpartum the first time so I didn't understand it because I was like, 'I feel great!'" the 40-year-old actress told People. "The second time, I was like, 'Oh, whoa, I see what people talk about now. I understand. It's a different type of overwhelming with the second. I really got under the cloud."
Suffering postpartum depression is a completely normal thing to experience, but it's also very real, and can take a serious toll on your emotions. As someone with a busy schedule, from acting to writing a new book, she had to find ways to juggle all of this, plus be an amazing mom.
"I just got right on the idea of, where do I need to be the most? Fifty-fity would be ideal but life doesn't work like that. Life is messy," she continued to say. "It was just really challenging and I felt overwhelmed. I made a lot of decisions and I definitely changed my work life to suit my parenthood."
Lucky for her, her postpartum was "short-lived" and only lasted about six months, but it's still a tough time to go through. Some women may also not be able to take it as a positive experience, and something they can learn from, Barrymore did, either. Instead of dwelling on the idea, she used it as a reminder to stay present in the moment,
"It's really important," she said of trying not to lose focus or stress over the little things. "One thing at a time." As for being a role model for her girls, she just tries to show them that juggling being a mom and work "can be a good, positive, fun, happy thing."
"I've worked since I was 11 ½ months old so I have to be able to work, too," she explained. "But I have to put them first. I don't know if it's good enough for anyone, but I'm doing my best."
She and her husband Will Kopelman welcomed Frankie on April 21. "Happy to announce that today we are proud parents of our second daughter, Frankie Barrymore Kopelman," the couple said in a statement. "Olive has a new little sister, and everyone is healthy and happy!"
Actress Hayden Panettiere recently opened up about how she suffered from postpartum depression as a way to bring awareness to this very serious issue, as HNGN previously reported. "It's something that needs to be talked about," she said. "Women need to know that they're not alone, and that it does heal...It's something that's completely uncontrollable. It's really painful and it's really scary and women need a lot of support."
