Interview: Lisa Rinna
“My girls think I am the kookiest mother.”
by Mary Ann Cooper
June 9, 2009
Many people will be surprised to learn you suffered from severe postpartum depression after you had Delilah and controlled a second bout of depression with medication after you had Amelia. Why write about that in your book?
I felt like if I was going to write a book I wanted to help people and I just wanted to be honest about why I am who I am and how I got here. And so that's a big part of it. That was a huge thing that happened to me. It rocked my world; it turned me inside
out. At the time I had horrible visions of knives, guns and death. I was afraid I might kill my family or myself. Having gone through this, I thought if I shared this and it helped somebody and it somehow gave them comfort or "relatability" then it would be
worth it. At the time it was happening, I kept it under wraps because I thought I'd wake up the next day and it would be all gone. Then 15 months go by and you wake up and say, "Oh my gosh, it's been 15 months!" Harry was supportive, but he was also very concerned
and really didn't know what I was going through because I didn't share as much with him as I should have. Now I know it's completely chemical. It's all hormonal and it's okay to ask for help. I had medication after my second daughter and it made a huge positive
difference for me. I went through it before Brooke Shields and so when her story broke I burst into tears. She was so brave and when her story came out I thought, "Oh my gosh, I m not crazy!"
With two little girls there's always something you need to do for them — help with homework or a school project, drive them to games or dance lessons. How do you keep romance alive?
"Breast implants were the icing on the cake."
It's quality, not quantity, I can tell you that. It takes effort. Harry and I know that if we need to take that time, we do. And we do whatever we need to do to create that spark. We've been married seventeen years and let's face it; it doesn't just turn
on as quickly all the time as it once did. But when you're tired and you're working, you have to make an effort and you have to do something to ignite the spark. You've got to be creative.
One of the ways you lit the flame was to have breast implants. Did that really make a difference for you?
Breast implants were the icing on the cake for me. I had already been to a "sex education party" and taken an "S Factor" strip class, which really got me back in touch with my own sexuality and my body. Yet, having had two babies, I didn't feel like a woman
because of my breasts. I didn't feel sexy. To me, the breasts have so much to do with our femininity. Some may disagree, but for me it is a connection to my sexuality. So it was the cherry on top of the sundae. Harry didn't think I needed to do it. But it was
more about how I felt about myself. Because truly if I don't feel good about myself, it's going to impede my having sex or even being happy and feeling good about myself out in the world. Little things like that can affect you. And I knew within myself that
this was something that was going to help me and I was right.
If a woman can't afford implants, what else can they do to recharge their sex lives?
Women can take time for themselves. They can put themselves first. It doesn't take any money; it takes a mindset. They can take care of themselves. They can mother themselves. They can nanny themselves. I think that most women put everyone else first. I got
a really beautiful message from a friend of mine yesterday who said she really didn't take any time for herself. She said, "I need to do that because that will reinvent my life. I'm a single mom — I doing this, I'm doing that. I have had three really horrific
years and I haven't done anything for myself in five years. And I'm now going to do that and I know my life is going to change dramatically." If my book inspired her to do that, what a blessing!
About the Author
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Mary Ann Cooper is a freelance entertainment journalist living in New Jersey with her husband, Gary. Her work regularly appears in GRAND Magazine. She can be found online at www.maryanncooper.net |
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