Martha Byrne

By Lyn Mettler

Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a mother who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a woman and a mother. Above all, the Mom of the Month is dedicated to her children. Rich or poor, famous or not, she shines as an example of what mothering is all about.

Meet March's Mom of the Month, actress and mother Martha Byrne, who has managed to successfully balance motherhood and fame. Byrne is a dedicated wife, mother of two and award-winning actress on As the World Turns.

Award-winning actress Martha Byrne is used to two jobs in her dual role as separated-at-birth twins on CBS' As the World Turns, but now she's doing double duty at home as well, after she became mother to her second child early last fall.

Byrne, best-known for her portrayal of heroine Lily Snyder and her flashy twin sister Rose D'Angelo on As the World Turns, is a two-time Emmy award winner and has also starred in a variety of TV shows and made-for-TV movies.

But now, 32-year-old Byrne and her husband Michael McMahon, a New York City police officer, are turning their focus to their new son, Maxwell Vincent, who joined the family in September, weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce.

Byrne, 32 weeks pregnant at the time of this interview, found her second experience with pregnancy a bit more trying, but she attributes it mostly to a busier schedule, keeping up with 4-year-old son, Michael, and of course, being four years older. "It's definitely been harder than the first one," she says.

Unlike during her pregnancy with Michael, who was anxiously awaiting the birth of his new brother, she now plays two characters on the show and has to drive an hour and a half each way between work and home. That, she feels, caused some additional side effects this time around such as headaches and sickness.

Though the pregnancy was more difficult, she did find herself making wiser choices. "With this one, I was much more cautious about what I was eating, and I wasn't as hungry," Byrne says. With Michael, she was hungry all the time and gained 65 pounds.

Like her first pregnancy, she found herself craving what she calls "boy stuff" – mainly protein in the form of red meat, peanut butter and eggs, but it wasn't a problem, because she enjoys cooking. "I love to cook," she says. "It's like my favorite thing in the world to do."

One of her favorite places to cook is at her beach house in New Jersey where she loves to grill out. "I marinate like crazy," Byrne says. And at the time of this interview, she was in the process of cooking and freezing some meals in preparation for the baby's arrival.

With such a hectic lifestyle, Byrne finds it very important to relax with her family. She tries to get away whenever she can to the comforts of the beach. "That to me is my down time," she says. "I spend my life and my career trying to stay together. When I'm off, I like to take a rest."

She credits her husband with enabling her to get some much-needed breaks. He's great about taking their son out for a few hours so she can have some time to herself, she says. "I couldn't do it without him," she says. "I'm so blessed." She advises new moms to be sure and take that time for themselves. "As a mother, your first instinct is to take care of that baby," Byrne says. "Part of that job is to also take care of yourself. A lot of women forget that."

One of her favorite things to do on her off time is walking, especially on the beach, which, she says, is mainly how she keeps in shape. "I love to just walk," Byrne says. "I felt when I walked, that was 80 percent of what I needed to do to keep myself in shape." Before becoming pregnant, she would walk three to four miles every other day.

At the beginning of her pregnancy, she kept up with her regular exercise routine of walking and light weightlifting with a personal trainer, but as her due date grew closer, she found she was just too tired. "[Exercise is] a backseat to staying rested and healthy," says Byrne, though she says she still did Pilates-type stretching and relaxing every night before bed.

Though her second pregnancy was more difficult than her first, she was hoping her delivery would be easier. With Michael, her 22-hour labor ended in a C-section, because her son was just too big for her to deliver. "It was not a good experience for me at all," she says.

This time around, she planned a C-section, so she didn't have to worry about going through a long labor. "I had no desire to go through that again at all," Byrne says. And she thinks that's one of the reasons she waited four years before deciding to have another child. Once she decided to have another C-section, she says, it made the decision to have another child much easier.

Byrne says she was also looking forward to breastfeeding again, though she found it quite trying at first with Michael, whom she nursed for six months. "That to me was one of the hardest things," Byrne says. "I had no idea how hard it was." But, she says, "It gets better."

Byrne recommends giving it at least six weeks. She says that's when she and her son finally started to get into a routine. "I wanted to quit many times," she says, but she just reminded herself how good it was for him.

With the wisdom of experience behind her, she was hoping she'd enjoy it more this time around and hopes to breastfeed this baby even longer.

In addition to the birth and breastfeeding, Byrne knows getting accustomed to life as the mother of two will be a challenge in itself. "I think it's going to be an extreme change for me," she says. "[Becoming a mother of two] is a huge adjustment. You have to start over and delegate parts of your life differently."

To help make the transition, she scheduled a four-month maternity leave from work. She's also counting on her husband's help, as he took a month off from work to be with her and the baby.

With Michael, her husband was a great support, she says. "He was just as involved as I was, if not more so," Byrne says. "He would get up and be half awake watching me feed the baby."

Now, that extra care has paid off in a wonderful relationship between father and son. "My son and my husband are best friends," she says. "[My son] will always have a relationship with his father that is special, trusting, loving."

Byrne was planning to wait and see which turn her world would take after the baby arrived, and she said she was open to whatever comes her way. Who knows, she says, "I may hate not having enough time to share." In that case, she and her husband are ready to alter their work schedule if need be or make whatever adjustments are necessary.

"I'm OK with whatever needs to happen to make everybody happy," Byrne says. "I don't mind change. It has to work for everybody in the family."