You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-Nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss by Vanessa Williams & Helen Williams

Author:Vanessa Williams & Helen Williams [Williams, Vanessa & Williams, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1592407072
Amazon: B005ZOCEBO
Publisher: Gotham Books
Published: 2012-04-17T07:00:00+00:00

“Let’s go!” I finally said.

In the early evening, we drove to Cedars-Sinai.

When we got to the hospital, Dr. Judith Reichman, the most impeccably dressed doctor on the planet, asked if I wanted an epidural.

“Yes!” I was coping but wanted to enjoy the experience instead of cursing Ramon for getting me in this situation and then sneaking peeks of the Lakers’ playoff games. So much for natural childbirth!

I gave birth to Melanie Lynne at 2:52 in the morning of June 30, 1987.

From the moment we brought her home, Melanie slept in bed with us—usually on top of one of us. She needed to feel skin on her all the time or she’d cry and wouldn’t stop. From 5:30 to 7:30 every night, she was colicky. We tried everything. We’d turn the dryer on and put her on top, praying that the vibration would lull her to sleep. We’d get in the car and just drive and drive, hoping the motion would calm her. She had pacifiers everywhere, in every room, on both sides of our bed. She had this piercing cry that we just couldn’t figure out how to stop.

And that’s when my relationship with my parents took another turn: Instead of ignoring their advice, I was seeking it. I was breastfeeding, up most of the night and exhausted a lot, but also loving being a new mom. When I struggled to make it through the day, I thought, Wow, my mom did this, too. She was this career woman who never had any help—just a babysitter while she was at school. She’d work all day and come home and take care of me all night. How did she do it?

I’d get on the phone nearly every day and ask my mom or dad for some type of baby advice: How do I get her to stop crying? How do I get her to sleep? Should I give her solid food yet?

Ramon and I didn’t have a nanny or even an occasional babysitter, so I’d take Melanie everywhere with me—to auditions and recording sessions. During auditions other actresses would watch her in her stroller while I went in to read for a role. I was being sent on lots and lots of auditions, but I wasn’t booking any work.

When I had lived in New York, my first professional theater role was an off-Broadway musical called One Man Band at the South Street Theater, a ninety-nine-seat house on Theatre Row. I played a muse in the background along with Judy Gibson and Kay Cole. It became such a hot ticket that summer of 1985 that Andy Warhol, Magic Johnson, and other celebs stopped by to see it (Andy came backstage to meet me afterward and barely said a peep). Debra Barsha, the show’s musical director, had moved to Los Angeles around the same time as I had. One day she called me.

“I’m doing this gig with George Clinton. Do you know who he is? Do you want to sing backup with me?” she asked.

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