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Lauralee Bell

By iParenting Staff

Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a mother who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a woman and a mother. Above all, the Mom of the Month is dedicated to her children. Rich or poor, famous or not, she shines as an example of what mothering is all about.

Actress Lauralee Bell is no stranger to television. She's been around it her entire life. Her father, William Bell, helped write or create many of today's most successful daytime dramas including Days of Our Lives, Another World, Guiding Light and As the World Turns. With her mother, Lee Phillip Bell, he also created The Bold and the Beautiful and CBS' The Young and the Restless.

Bell grew up in Chicago, though The Young and the Restless – for which her dad is executive producer – was filmed in Hollywood. So the family made frequent trips back and forth on vacations and holidays. At 9, Bell asked to be an extra on the show, and it snowballed from there. At only 17, she became a regular, playing Cricket, a shy junior fashion model, after her family moved to the West Coast.

On the show, her character, Cricket, has developed into the confident, passionate international corporate attorney Christine Williams, who often places career before marriage and family. In real life, Bell has blossomed into an equally confident woman and mother, but one who definitely puts family first.

After marrying photographer Scott Martin in 1997, the pair welcomed their first child, Christian, in January 2001. Then, Bell and Martin added a daughter to their family. Samantha Lee arrived healthy on October 28, 2002, weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces, though the doctor didn't make it in time for the birth. At the time of this interview, Bell was 7 months pregnant with Samantha.

While Bell had an easy pregnancy with 18-month-old son, Christian, her second experience has been a little more difficult – and busy. "It's so different this time around," Bell says.

With her first pregnancy, she found that she always knew how far along she was to the week and spent lots of time needle-pointing all sorts of creations for the baby on the way. But things are a lot more hectic now keeping up with a toddler. "There were days I would forget I was pregnant," she says.

Now Bell can tell you how far along she is only by month and never mind needle-pointing, she says. She's started a few things, but has nothing completed yet for baby No. 2. "You just don't take time to sit by yourself," Bell says. "It's just a lot more stress."

And exercise? Forget it. She says keeping up with her son is enough right now. "He's so active," she says. But Bell does hope to revive her weightlifting routine once her daughter is born.

This pregnancy has been harder for Bell physically as well. Not only was she more sick and tired at the beginning, but she also spent a night in the hospital after a pain in her rib cage and a high fever, both of which went away and caused no further problems.

While the pregnancy has been more trying, Bell is hopeful that the delivery will go as well as her son's. Though she suffered a few minor setbacks during the birth, overall, she felt it was a good experience.

At 10 days overdue with Christian, her doctor discovered her amniotic fluid was low and induced labor. It then took more than 24 hours for her to deliver. "The wait was a little long," Bell says.

Her cervix stalled at 3 centimeters dilation and didn't seem to want to progress. At that point, her doctor had decided to perform a Cesarean section, but Bell asked him to give her just a little more time. After an hour of praying and doing visual imagery of circles opening, she dilated to 7 centimeters.

Once she was complete, the actual delivery was smooth sailing. "When it came to pushing and having him out, it was a breeze," she says. It was healing that was the worst for Bell. Despite avoiding an episiotomy, she says, "I was very swollen."

She's hoping with her daughter that she'll go into labor naturally. "I really hope that I can experience water breaking or going into labor at the house," Bell says.

One thing she knows for sure is that she will breastfeed her daughter. She breastfed Christian until he was 11 months, though she'd hoped to do it for a year, as she's planning with this baby. She stopped a little early because the holidays were rolling around, and she says, "I really missed my wine. One or two glasses is all I really ever need." Plus, she says, "He was really kind of getting done with it."

Bell recommends that all new moms give breastfeeding a try. "If you are able and you have the time, the pros so outweigh the cons," she says. "I strongly urge people to give it a shot." She believes breastfeeding has contributed to her son walking and talking early and to his robust health.

As far as becoming the mother of two, Bell says she'll just have to wait and see how it goes. "I'm certainly going into it with a very positive frame of mind," she says.

She describes herself as a very relaxed mom and expects her daughter to easily fit into the routine she and her son have developed. But sometimes she wonders how she's going to manage it all and has visions of trying to get down the stairs carrying a newborn, holding her unsteady son's hand and getting tripped by the dog.

But she hopes having been through it once before will make things go more smoothly. "I hope it will be a breeze since I learned so much the first time around," Bell says.

Since everything was new with her first baby, she took a year off of the show to spend with him. With her daughter, she's planning on at least two months off. She hopes to get back as soon as she can, but only if the baby has no problems. The show allows her a very flexible schedule, working two to three days a week for four to five hours a day, and she plans to keep that up when she returns.

Bell has help in the form of a husband-and-wife team who look after Christian and do some things around the house while she's at work. But as soon as she gets home, she sends them on their way. "I've really tried to do this as much on my own as I can," she says.

Bell also plans to have a live-in baby nurse for a few weeks after the baby is born. This baby nurse spent six weeks with Bell after her son's birth. "She's like reassurance," she says. "She really takes care of the mother."

As for the future, Bell has lots of plans, but not until she feels the time is right. Besides supervising her L.A. clothing boutique On Beverly Blvd., which has dressed such stars as Jennifer Lopez and Minnie Driver, she has lots of ideas for sitcoms. "I really have a strong passion about shows I want to sell," she says. She also plans to further her acting career. "When I feel the time is right, I'll audition for a few things here and there," Bell says. "It's all about the right thing at the right time."

And she thinks there will definitely be at least one more addition to their family, maybe after the first two are in preschool.

But for now, she and her husband want to enjoy their children. "The best advice you can give is to just be there as much as you can," Bell says. "There are things that happen every single day. It is a struggle; it is a tough day; it is exhausting. I am wiped out, but still I wouldn't want to miss anything."