Jennifer Lopez Recalls "Panicking" Over Baby Emme's Health Scare
Credit: Stefanie Keenan/WireImage.com
It's every new parent's nightmare.
Days after welcoming twins Emme and Max in February 2008, Jennifer Lopez discovered a mysterious lump on her little girl's head.
"I just remember that feeling, 'If something is wrong with that baby . . I'm gonna die,'" Lopez, 42, tells CNN's Alina Cho in "Big Stars Big Giving," (in a quote excerpted by the New York Post) a special airing next weekend.
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The singer, actress and American Idol judge admits in the interview that she and husband Marc Anthony were initially at a complete loss.
"I remember looking at Marcand 'We should call the doctor' . . . I started panicking a little bit." Anthony, 43 (they announced their split this past July) was "panicking too," she recalls.
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"We were thinking, 'Did somebody drop her when we weren't looking? . . . I just remember looking at him and saying if this baby, if Emme's not going to be OK . . . I'm not going to be OK."
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Latin crooner Anthony wasn't any calmer, she reveals. "He's like, 'I'm not going to be OK. None of us are going to be OK."
The duo then rushed little Emme to the hospital. "Luckily for us, it turned out OK," she reports.
But the scare inspired action in the star. "I was (thinking) like what if I didn't have that? What if I didn't have access to great health care?" she ponders. "What if I was a mom just sitting there and there was something wrong with my baby and there was nothing I could do about it?"
The superstar couple then founded the Maribel Foundation -- named after Anthony's sister Maribel, who died of brain cancer at age 8 -- to provide pediatric care to those in need.
Tell Us What You Think
13oh get over it. Go see a doctor and see what it is. Dont over react till you know for sure. My little girl was born with a mark on her nose. Later I found out she will out grow it or when she turns 10 she can have it remove.
while I think that it is a scary thing for any first time parent, I am not sure why this is being brought up at this time. If this happened a few years ago, why now is it being annouced as news?
first time parents are going to freak out over every little thing, i did when i had my first, it's a very real, very scary concept to find something mysterious with your child, whether it is a bump, a lesion, or what have you. and i think that it is great that they decided to fund a group for pediatric care for those less fortunate, good lord the rest of you naysayers need to curb it
OMG,if it's just a little lump,LET IT HEAL ON IT'S OWN!!!!!!!!!!! it's as simple as that!!!!!!!!
I have to agree with Elsa,,,, Sorry JLO!
Jesus how much did she get paid everytime she said OK, cause we all know J.Ho does nothing without getting paid. BTW if this story is true what horrible, horrible, parents to sit around one upping each other who would not be OK more instead of being FIRST concerned for the child being OK. Good Lord she says herself after her and Marc cried about how NOT OK they would be only then they took her to a doctor. SICK!!! She is well into her 40's, not a teenager or a young mother. Outrageous response from her to thik of herself first. I again call BS on this entire regurgitation. HOpez claimed back in the People Magazine spread when these twins were only THREE WEEKS OLD she found a bump on the girls forehead. At first HOpez claimed she thought the bump was Cancer so they had a biopsy done. Now she claims her THREE WEEK OLD had a bump that was so large it caused her to think someone dropped the baby yet her reaction was not 911 or a rush to the hospital. Amazing these kids have made it past their second birthday. FYI, HOpez mothers, real mothers who care for their children not use them as props and ploys for attention DO NOT SIT while their child is hurt or sick they seek treatment one way or another. One more question, HOpez, the world's largets charity tracker, Charity Navigator does not list you or Marible Foundation as an authentic organization. In fact they do not list you at all...so how about you put out your foundations tax id for us all to verify this supposed charity actually exists. Also how about making public how much you pay yourself for adminstration, promotion, food and transportation. One last quick question, you said from that 6 million People Cover you were donating the sum to chairty. Which charity was that again? HOpez is scum using a child's illness for publicity. She is obscene for making up a lie a child was sick for her own press.
No every parents worst nghtmare IS finding out that your child has a life threatening birth defect!! You should try and write about the ones who actually have something wrong with them.
Marc is dating a twenty something Mexican model. They have both moved on with younger partners . Don't be so bitter and jealous
To set the record straight, Marc Anthony received the "Sounding Off For The Cure" award in June 2011 for his work with the Maribel Foundation. Maybe he should have been interviewed for the CNN program instead of his ex.
is that before her young boy toys or after? she does not care...she only cares about herself!...selfish woman!...Migdalia i totally disagree... Marc Anthony is a different story ...he is not running around after fremales
That's a nice thing to do, nice to hear.
JLO you are a good mother,but if your sister in law died of brain cancer is good you take your little Emmes every yrs to the DR.Take care and keep the good work.I lOVE YOU,GIRL.
@Jennifer & Marc; you are both good parents to your twins; they were so lucky for having you:]