Emily Procter: Regaining Body After Baby Is Not My Priority

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

There are plenty of new mamas that worry about how fast they will bounce back after baby — but Emily Procter isn’t one of them.

“I think, ‘For who?’ Not for your child. Your child’s not looking at you and going, ‘Mmm, I love a clavicle. Let me nestle into that,’” the actress, 42, tells WebMD.

“If at six months I’m carrying a lot of extra weight, then I’m going to get drastic about it.”

But for now, adds Procter — who gained approximately 45 pounds during her pregnancy — her priority is on daughter Philippa, whom the new mom and boyfriend Paul Bryan call Pippa.

“I’m going to let myself off the hook, because if there’s one thing that is not my focus at the moment, it’s how much I weigh,” she explains.

Basking in first-time motherhood bliss, Procter has learned to treasure each moment with her 6-month-old baby girl, including the unexpected joy of the former midnight feedings.

“When she started sleeping through the night — and I know there are people out there who are going to want to throttle me — I missed the quality time that the two of us had in the middle of the night,” she recalls. “I just felt like it was the two of us, alone in the world.”

And it was during these quiet moments when Procter sang her first lullaby to Pippa — despite Bryan’s shock at her song choice.

“I couldn’t remember any songs when she was first born, so I started singing the Oscar Mayer bologna song,” she admits. “I told him, ‘Look, there’s spelling in the song. I think that’s wonderful.’ And bologna is a difficult word to spell!”

These lasting memories with Pippa have become even more special since Procter — who returned to the set of CSI: Miami four weeks after delivering her daughter — has gone back to work. Now between scenes, the actress finds herself juggling her baby’s needs on short 10 minute breaks.

“The first or second week back, I had to shoot a compound bow,” she shares. However, when Pippa’s feedings began to interfere with the schedule, Procter didn’t hesitate to take matters into her own hands, shooting several rounds in a row.

“I was like, ‘People! I’ve got a baby to feed!’” she laughs.

– Anya Leon

Comments

miche on June 23rd, 2011

I had wondered if she had had her baby. Congrats on your baby girl!

Mina on June 23rd, 2011

Finally, a REAL woman who UNDERSTANDS! Congrats to her and her baby!

Molly on June 23rd, 2011

I adore Emily. She seems so funny and sweet. I bet her little girl is just adorable.

Anna on June 23rd, 2011

Love the bologna song, thats too funny! She sounds like a great mom and I absolutely adore the name Philippa even before Duchess Catherine’s sister

Sara on June 23rd, 2011

She sounds like a great mother. I love her baby’s name too!

MJ on June 23rd, 2011

Is it just me or is this article contradictory? For example, her statement ‘if at 6 months she is still carrying extra weight…’ and then mentioning the baby is 6 months old. Also the statement she returned to the set 4 weeks after delivery and then saying she has just returned to work?

ecl on June 23rd, 2011

Looks like it might be an earlier quote put into a newer story. Funny quote about the clavicle, though!

Katie on June 23rd, 2011

I generally don’t comment, but this made me laugh so much. I couldn’t remember too many songs from my childhood either, so I had a series of four that I sang when my son was a baby – My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean, the Oscar Mayer song, Kookaburra, and Doe a Deer. Emily Procter is the only other person I’ve heard of resorting to the Oscar Mayer song, and I love it!

Maggie on June 23rd, 2011

MJ, if you click the link to WebMD, this article is from their May issue. So the baby was 5 months old at that time…and who knows when the interview was actually done. There’s quite a lead time from interview to publication when you’re dealing with a monthly magazine rather than a weekly one. So likely Emily said “if at six months…” when Pippa was 4-5 months, but it’s just coming out/being read now.

Love the bologna story!

K on June 23rd, 2011

Very sweet! Anna – I also loved the name Phillipa prior to knowing Catherine’s sister had the same name.

Anna on June 24th, 2011

I also find it contradictory that she says she’s focussing on the baby instead of weight loss but returning to work 4 weeks after giving birth doesn’t sound like focussing on the baby.

Jillian on June 24th, 2011

Anna, she said, “my focus is on being a mom and right now that is hard enough.” If you read the whole article, she said that she wasnt focusing on losing weight because being a mom is the most important thing. I think this is wonderful. Now for many prople, being a mom also means working. She is the breadwinner in her family. Some peole have to go back to work. And some right away. Her daughter is with her everyday, which I think is wonderful!!

dsfg on June 24th, 2011

Mina, all women are real! Not everyone has the same lifestyle or makes the same choices, but that’s the nice thing about being an individual; everyone is different.

J on June 24th, 2011

dsfg,

Really? Women crammed full of silicone and botox who dump their newborn “accessories” off on nannies while they hire chefs and personal trainers who get back into a size 2 in 3 weeks and then go on television and talk about how hard motherhood is and how they hope they’re role models to women everywhere are “real”? I beg to differ. Obviously, we’re not talking the literal definition.

I love Emily.

Jess on June 28th, 2011

i love her and can’t wait for the fall to watch csi:miami again. i agree that losing the weight shouldn’t be a priority. it takes nine months to make a baby, then it should take at least 9 months to lose the weight you gained. there’s nothing wrong with an actress returning to work four weeks after their daughter is born. at least they have the flexibility to have their baby on set with them which is what she did. so she is making her baby her priority. she even said that when the feedings started to interfere she fired a compound bow a couple of times before taking a break to feed her child. i think she is doing a bang up job as a parent. and congrats to her and her boyfriend.

ruby on February 25th, 2012

She looks even more beautiful now that she’s a mother! Love this story