Charisma article on pregnancy & being a working mom

[VisionGirl]

I really love this article. At first I thought it was going to be boring, all about product placement! But I really like what she has to say about body image, self-image, working in that type of image-obsessed field, and motherhood in general. Very inspiring!

November 03, 2010
Charisma Carpenter Dishes on Pregnancy and Being a Single Working Mom

Charisma Carpenter may have played Cordelia, a snob on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," but in real life, this mom of one is so sweet. And she's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to beauty products. In fact, she was quick with the hair help when I told her about my own greasy hair issues!

Fresh off her appearance in the summer blockbuster The Expendables, Charisma took the time to talk to me. And though her son, Donovan, is seven years old, she vividly remembers her pregnancy and has some great advice for you mamas-to-be. Check it out.

http://www.whattoexpect.com/blogs/s...s-on-pregnancy-and-being-a-single-working-mom

 

[Goby]

What's interesting is that when Charisma was pregnant (and I didn't know it at the time), I thought she absolutely beautiful. She was stunning. She was glowing!! Wow!

I wonder if her difficulty in finding work had to do with her hiding her pregnancy from Joss.

I also read that she had to pay her ex $300 a month child support. That is really quite shocking, and means she was really making virtually nothing at the time of her divorce.

 

[Fusions2]

Very interesting article. I found it quite shocking to read how much she hated having short hair in the end and that it went curly whilst pregnant. I didn't know that could happen. I do prefer Charisma with long hair, but I do love her honesty througout the interview.

 

[VisionGirl]

I also read that she had to pay her ex $300 a month child support. That is really quite shocking, and means she was really making virtually nothing at the time of her divorce.

Goby, do you mean palimony, or did her ex have primary custody after the divorce?

Very interesting article. I found it quite shocking to read how much she hated having short hair in the end and that it went curly whilst pregnant. I didn't know that could happen. I do prefer Charisma with long hair, but I do love her honesty througout the interview.

My hair definitely changed: I spent my teens curling my hair (like all good girls in the '80s!) but after a decade of having children I struggle with some curl & much more frizz than I ever did! The postpartum hairloss is what threw me for a loop & is something I always hated. Dang hormones!

I do like her talking about breastfeeding: that's nice to hear from Hollywood. Her honesty overall is refreshing.

 

[Willow My Love]

Fantastic article. Somehow, I really thought she knew she wouldn't be in Angel s4. After what she pulled, why would she expect to have a job waiting for her?

 

[Goby]

Goby, do you mean palimony, or did her ex have primary custody after the divorce?

They were married, so there would not be palimony. In California, Child Support is primarily based on the incomes of the parties and the amount of time each party has with the child. She and her ex shared the child 50/50. For her to pay him $300 a month means that she was only earning about $1100 a month more than he was. And it means that she wasn't earning much.

If they were both earning big money, then he would not have needed the $300 a month. If she was earning $100,000 a month (which she was probably earning, if not more, on Angel), then he would have received $5,000 a month or more.

The article said she had a prenup, which probably means she kept all the residuals from Buffy and Angel and did not have to pay spousal support (alimony). But her income would still be used to calculate child support.

That's probably more than you needed to know. lol

 

[Willow My Love]

They were married, so there would not be palimony. In California, Child Support is primarily based on the incomes of the parties and the amount of time each party has with the child. She and her ex shared the child 50/50. For her to pay him $300 a month means that she was only earning about $1100 a month more than he was. And it means that she wasn't earning much.

If they were both earning big money, then he would not have needed the $300 a month. If she was earning $100,000 a month (which she was probably earning, if not more, on Angel), then he would have received $5,000 a month or more.

The article said she had a prenup, which probably means she kept all the residuals from Buffy and Angel and did not have to pay spousal support (alimony). But her income would still be used to calculate child support.

That's probably more than you needed to know. lol

That makes perfect sense. Someone in her position SHOULD have a prenuptial agreement. That's what they're for. It astounds me when stars like Paul McCartney DON'T get one... But that's off topic.

 

[VisionGirl]

Fantastic article. Somehow, I really thought she knew she wouldn't be in Angel s4. After what she pulled, why would she expect to have a job waiting for her?

You mean season 5, right? I think there was fault to be found on all sides. In her defense, I believe that she had a miscarriage the year before. It is quite natural after experiencing that that she would be reluctant to broadcast her pregnancy until after the 1st trimester. I also believe that Joss' reaction to the issue was fairly immature.

That's probably more than you needed to know. lol

Lol, no, it's just enough info. I have never been divorced, I'm not a lawyer, & I don't live in California, so I didn't know anything about it. 🙂

 

[Goby]

Lol, no, it's just enough info. I have never been divorced, I'm not a lawyer, & I don't live in California, so I didn't know anything about it. 🙂

Great!!

BTW, I read her article and jumped on the treadmill this morning. Thanks Charisma!

 

[brinkster130]

That was an interesting read, thanks for posting it VG! 🙂

Having never been pregnant myself, I can't imagine the stress she felt over the baby weight and her looks during that time of her life. It is nice to see someone talk about how hard pregnancies (and losing the baby weight) can be; it seems like so many women in Hollywood talk about how easy it is.

And poor Charisma...overhearing a boss call her fat. That's horrible.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I was bored by all the product talk in the beginning, but the last part was really great. Charisma is so honest about how pregnancy is for some women and I love that. 🙂
I hate that she went through such an emotional wringer because of her pregnancy and how Joss treated her. I think she should have told him a little sooner, but since she had a miscarriage the year before he should have realized why she might have wanted to wait, and handled it a lot more gracefully than he did.
I really hope to see Charisma back on a series sometime... She's such a beautiful person and I would love to be able to see her on TV every week again.

 

[sisterofmercy]

Interesting article, her honesty is admirable. I have to admit though it just cements the fact that I never want to have children, sounds like an awful experience.

 

[BuffyElevated]

Interesting article, her honesty is admirable. I have to admit though it just cements the fact that I never want to have children, sounds like an awful experience.

It definitely can be a bad experience. I have a couple of cousins who never had a single bit of sickness or pain, though; it varies from person to person.
Personally, since I nearly died on the operating table with my first one, and then was stuck on bed rest for the last 3 months with my second, I've decided I'm done. I have my children and I'm grateful for them, but the birthing experiences and the problems I had were too hard on my body for me to want any more.

 

[sisterofmercy]

It definitely can be a bad experience. I have a couple of cousins who never had a single bit of sickness or pain, though; it varies from person to person.
Personally, since I nearly died on the operating table with my first one, and then was stuck on bed rest for the last 3 months with my second, I've decided I'm done. I have my children and I'm grateful for them, but the birthing experiences and the problems I had were too hard on my body for me to want any more.

Crikey I hope your children appreciate you then, considering what you went through to bring them into the world.

 

[Goldilocks]

I looove Charisma 🙂 And love the article!

 

[prophecygrrl]

I love Charisma and I love this article. I only really read the last few parts though cause the product stuff probably isn't targeted towards me, lol. I think the details are fuzzy on the pregnancy issue and I've heard that there's fault on both sides. Charisma may have waited too long to tell the writers, or the pregnancy was just really unexpected and she didn't know, or she was worried about miscarrying. Joss apparently also kept his initial plan a secret from everybody except for the writers. Charisma couldn't have known about the overarching plot anyway. No one really knows for sure what happened there, but we know what came of it... 😡 I'll be over here, cursing Joss's name.

I read somewhere (forgot where, but it was a pretty reliable source) that she was working on Angel up to her 8th or 9th month when she was pregnant. That must have been so stressful. I really admire Charisma!

 

[Taake]

I read somewhere (forgot where, but it was a pretty reliable source) that she was working on Angel up to her 8th or 9th month when she was pregnant. That must have been so stressful. I really admire Charisma!

Yeah I've read that too and that that was why they had her ore or less just lying around in a 'magical coma' for the last eps. Either way she's a trooper for staying at it for that long. 🙂

 

[Kanazaka]

After reading that article, I wonder now if she posed for Playboy in part to celebrate her post-baby body in that pictorial. After all, it seems like she put a LOT of hard work into it.