Q. How did you meet Tom?
A. I was walking behind him at a flower shop, and I loved his voice. I thought, Oh my God, you’re stalking someone, get out of the store! I asked the sales woman, “Who’s that guy?” She said, “Do you want to leave your number?” It’s wild—my whole new life got created that day. If that woman hadn’t said that, I wouldn’t have left my number.
Q. You’ve said that the years between Melrose Place and Desperate Housewives were a time of personal transformation for you. How so?
A. When I wasn’t getting as much acting work, I went to school and got my masters in psychology. I kept growing and striving and changed a lot internally. Because I got healthy inside, I was able to love a man who was right for me.
Q. You’d struggled with infertility for years. Did you ever get to a point when you thought, I’ll never have kids?
A. Before I hit 30, I was already longing for kids. But for years, love and marriage eluded me. In my early 40s, I considered adoption, and I tried getting pregnant on my own through a sperm donor, but neither worked out.
Q. Then you got pregnant soon after getting married.
A. We decided to skip our honeymoon and try in vitro after the wedding. I had already been through infertility treatments. It’s very, very difficult to get pregnant in your 40s. It’s costly and tough on your body and your relationship. Before Tom and I got married, I told him, “I don’t know if this is gonna happen.” Tom said, “I want children, and if we can’t have kids together, then we’ll adopt.” I wept and thought, This is the man for me.
Q. What was your reaction when you discovered you were having twins?
A. Tom and I were deliriously happy when we found out I was pregnant. When we found out we were having twins, I was terrified. As a mother, being outnumbered is scary.
Q. Did you tell anyone on the Desperate Housewives set about your pregnancy?
A. You don’t want to tell anyone at first. In my biz, news spreads like wildfire. I did tell my makeup artist, Stacy Halax, though. You have to have friends to support you.
Q. Was being pregnant what you thought it would be like?
A. I had really romanticized being pregnant. Then I realized, This is awful! I was so nauseated in the beginning.
Q. Did you change how you ate when you were pregnant?
A. I ate so much. You would think it’d be fun, but it wasn’t. I was up at 2 in the morning eating steak!
