 KPRC Local 2 anchor Lauren Freeman has always been a morning person; which is a good thing when you have to be on the air and picture perfect delivering Houstonians the latest news by 4:30 a.m. But add a newborn baby into your routine and mornings can get a little crazy. "I always thought I had an advantage over other new moms because I was used to waking up at 3 a.m.," says the blue-eyed, blonde haired beauty. "But my baby never slept, which meant I never slept." Finally after sheer exhaustion, Lauren and her husband turned to tough love and let their son, Rhodes, cry himself to sleep when he was thirteen months old. "He figured it out in only two days," she laughs. "Hearing him cry it out was extremely difficult, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have done it much sooner." Motherhood is a learning process the Texas native declares. "Everyone wants to give you advice, but you have to make mistakes and figure things out on your own," she admits. That includes letting your baby sleep in the bed with you. Freeman says she started the habit early on because it was easier to breast feed her son and comfort him back to sleep. "Unfortunately I created a child that couldn't sleep on his own or be away from me," she says. Her advice to new and expectant moms is to make sure your baby sleeps in its own bed early on. Freeman was born and raised in Childress, Texas outside of Amarillo and she knew from a very young age she wanted to go into the news business. She attended college at Baylor and became a reporter and anchor in Waco immediately after graduation. After a few years working in Minnesota and Florida, she was ready to come back to Texas. "My family still lives in Childress and it was important for me to come home," she says. In 2006, she joined KPRC as the morning and 11 a.m. anchor. "I love my job and my co-workers," she says with a smile. "Owen, Anthony, Jennifer and I have a great time in the mornings. We genuinely like each other and I think it shows on air." It was a fellow co-worker, Rosanne Rogers, who introduced Freeman to her husband, a plastic surgery resident in the Texas Medical Center. The two immediately hit it off and were married a short time later. They quickly got to work on starting a family. The first few months of Freeman's pregnancy, however, were extremely difficult because of severe morning sickness. "Whoever coined the phrase morning sickness was clearly a man," she says, "because I was sick all day long." Freeman's doctor put her on medication which helped, but she also found keeping her stomach full at all times with crackers or rice cakes made a huge difference. "I only threw up on the set twice," she laughs. "Luckily Owen was off those two days." Because of her severe morning sickness, Freeman and her family were convinced she was having a girl. For the first few months of her pregnancy she bought loads of girl outfits, until an ultrasound in her second trimester revealed she was having a boy. She and her husband were genuinely stunned, but quickly got used to the idea of having a son. "Hopefully the second one will be a girl," she laughs, "because I have plenty of pink clothes." Speaking of clothes, one of the most common questions Freeman gets is regarding her outfits on air. All the KPRC anchors do their own hair, makeup and pick out their own clothes. However, they do get a small clothing allowance. During her pregnancy, Freeman says she was hesitant to buy too many maternity clothes. "I poured myself into my tops and jackets until the very end," she giggles. The last few months she splurged with a few outfits from Old Navy and Pickles and Ice Cream. But her best kept pregnancy secret—yoga pants. "I wore yoga pants my whole pregnancy behind the anchor desk," she says. Her other fashion splurge…flats. Freeman's feet swelled so bad, she couldn't wear any heels for the last few months of her pregnancy. It's a habit she has carried into motherhood as well. "Carrying around a twenty pound child with high heels on is impossible," she says. "I love my flats." Losing the pregnancy weight has been more difficult than Freeman expected. Before she got pregnant she could eat what she wanted when she wanted, but having a baby has dramatically changed her eating habits. "The last five to ten pounds were really hard to lose," she admits. "I had to make a commitment to eat healthy for myself and my son." Freeman now consumes mostly a plant based diet full of raw fruits, vegetables and lots of fish. She has never been a meat eater and says sweets are her weakness. Eating healthy was difficult at first because Rhodes was born during the Christmas holiday which was full of temptations. "There was so much food around me it was impossible to resist," she laughs. Breastfeeding and time on a newly purchased elliptical machine have helped Freeman return to her svelte figure. She and Rhodes enjoy power walks in the stroller as well. Most of the time it's just the two of them in the afternoons, but a college-aged nanny does assist in the wee hours of the morning when Freeman leaves for work and her husband is often just returning from the hospital. "Our schedule has its ups and downs, but luckily my husband finishes his residency next year," she says. For now, Freeman says she is relishing her new role as mother. "I believe life is a marathon not a sprint and you have to embrace it and be thankful for what you have, she says. "Being a mom is such a blessing and I am so thankful for everything I have." |
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