Sherri Shepherd talks about how having her son changed her

Comedian and actress Sherri Shepherd recently spoke in an interview with Watching the View, about how her son, Jeffrey, who will be 2 in April, changed her priorities in life. CBB readers may remember how he was born prematurely at 25 weeks, weighing 1lb 10oz. Sherri explains how her son taught her what is really important. She said:

My priorities have definitely changed. Before I had Jeffrey, I was a hustler. I lived, ate and breathed my career. I was always chasing the next job. I was flying out of town every weekend to do standup. Once I had Jeffrey and almost lost him, I had to put Sherri, the actress, on the shelf and be a mom. I watched my son fight for his life for 3 months in the NICU.

Sherri went on to talk about how her guilt over her son being in the NICU, and how she should have taken better care of herself. She said,

I went through a lot of guilt for not taking care of myself. When I was put on bed rest, I didn’t realize how serious my pregnancy was. I thank God all the time that He allowed my son to live. I love what I do, but it’s not the most important thing.

When asked what is the most important thing to her now, Sherri said:

The most important thing to me now is what I leave my son – teaching him character, integrity, a belief in the power of God, compassion, laughter… I didn’t have Jeffrey in my 20’s, I waited late to have him, so my little window for “imparting things” is closing!

Thanks to Winnie at Watching the View.

Comments

That was a great interview. You can just feel the deep love she has for her son pour of her words in the interview. Very endearing.

- FC on March 30th, 2007

i remember when he was born and that everything was incredibly touch and go for a while. how awesome is it that he is two now – and doing so well.

- meghan on March 30th, 2007

My son was born at 32 weeks and was in the NICU for nearly 4 weeks. That was hard enough. One of the hardest things is to see your newborn surrounded by cords and breathing apparatuses fighting for their little life. My son was 3 pound 1 ounce at birth and I thought he was tiny so Sherri’s little boy must have been so small you could hardly imagine that they could survive. He seems to be going well now after having such a rough start at life. Good luck to them both!

- Kim on March 31st, 2007

I truly understand this situation. My daughter was born at 32 weeks and was in the hospital for about 2 weeks. She gained her weight so fast. But the two weeks seemed like 2 years because I just wanted her home with me and my husband. I would go see her everyday and take her breast milk and that really helped her to gain the weight fast. Well, she is almost 11 months old and is doing great. She is walking, talking, and doing just about everything. She is so advanced you would not have thought that she was a premature.

- Tamika on April 4th, 2007