Lea Michele Says Motherhood Has Given Her a 'Sense of Grounding' After Being 'So Career-Focused'

Lea Michele is opening up about how motherhood has changed her perspective on her career.

Speaking with Drew Barrymore on her eponymous talk show, the Funny Girl actress, 36, explained how she felt like she "couldn't see things clearly" before becoming a wife and a mom.

"It was all about my career. I've been so career-focused my entire life, I think to a fault," said Michele, who shares son Ever Leo with husband Zandy Reich. "I think I have this sense of drive that created a lot of blind spots for me in my life."

In meeting her husband and having her son, Michele felt "a real sense of grounding."

"And then having our son and experiencing the challenges that we did throughout the pregnancy, was something that unfortunately created a stronger bond in us — that I would never wish on anybody — but it did."

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In March 2021, the Glee alum appeared on Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt's Instagram Live series Before, During, & After Baby and opened up about her "very intense, very scary pregnancy."

Michele revealed that she experienced heavy bleeding throughout her pregnancy which made her constantly fearful the pregnancy wouldn't last to term.

"I finally announced I was pregnant, and I still was uncertain if the pregnancy was going to last," she recalled.

She later continued, "I just woke up and I was like, 'I just want to be a mom right now. I want this time.' And it was horrible. It was the lowest I've been in my entire life."

Despite the difficult experience, Michele had a safe delivery and son Ever, now 2, was born healthy.

In September, the actress celebrated Ever's first day of "little school" the day before she began performances as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl.

"Today is a special and important day that within the blink of an eye was here," she began on her Instagram Story.

"I cried as I tied your little shoes this morning," Michele wrote in the caption of a second Instagram Story, which showed Ever wearing a backpack with his initials. "I feel like just yesterday you were born. And now you have your first day of little school. I'm your mama before anything ever and I love you."