When Laura Prepon became a first-time mom last summer, she was slightly alarmed when her newborn didn’t flash her a big grin.
“I didn’t know that babies don’t smile right away,” Prepon, 38, told Us Weekly at an Orange Is the New Black event in NYC. “I was like, ‘What’s with the not smiling.’” (According the American Academy of Pediatrics, by the time a child is six to eight weeks, “they may smile when they see a face.”)
The OITNB star, who shares daughter Ella with her actor fiancé Ben Foster, admitted she’s learning the parenting ropes as she goes. But she’s sure of one thing: Leaving Ella to film her Netflix hit is hard.
“It’s torture,” Prepon told Us. “I went back to work at six weeks. I was directing when she was a 4-month-old. But she would be proud if she knew what I was doing.”
And Prepon is so proud of Ella, who is sitting up on her own and learning to stand. “Everyone always talks about how curious and relaxed she is and it’s because I bring her to a ton of places,” the That ‘70s Show alum revealed. “It’s just try to expose her. When I have to run errands and do stuff, she’s with me.”
Us Weekly reported in August 2017 that Prepon and Foster, 37, had welcomed a baby together. The couple, who began dating in July 2016 and announced their engagement in October of that year, have been friends since they were teenagers.
Pregnancy agreed with Prepon. “I’m creating life and it’s so incredible,” she gushed to Us a month before giving birth. “I’m so ecstatic for this experience.”
Ella will celebrate her 1st birthday in August.
