‘Madam Secretary’ Star Patina Miller On Her Pregnancy: ‘I Love My Belly’

Patina Miller plays press coordinator Daisy on the CBS series Madam Secretary, and restored order to Panem as Commander Paylor in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay films. Now she’s gearing up for her biggest role to date: mom. Miller is expecting her first child with her husband, venture capitalist David Mars. Miller talks to Yahoo Style about her changing body and getting ready for her daughter:

“I’m 27 weeks. I’ll be 28 weeks in a couple of days. It’s getting closer and closer. I’m having a girl. I kept asking all my friends and mom if I’m allowed to celebrate Mother’s Day. I don’t have anything planned. I’ll nest a little bit more. And try to relax. My husband will do something nice for me, I’m sure. We have two dogs, and my husband treats them like queens. He’s such a mush. He talks to my stomach before we go to bed and in the morning. He whispers to her. It’s really heartwarming to know that he’s going to be the best dad in the world. He won’t be the strict one. It will be me.

“In the beginning, I was so excited to get pregnant. We’d been trying for a couple of months. I was super worried all the time about staying pregnant. I kept checking to see if it was real. Was my stomach getting big? You can’t see anything. So I was super worried and so excited. In the second trimester, when I saw my baby looking like a baby on the ultrasound, I was able to breathe.

“My face is doing some weird stuff. My skin has changed. It’s a lot more oily. I have these little tiny breakouts around my chin. I make sure I see my facialist every two weeks. I’ve been lucky so far. I don’t know if it gets worse. I’m watching what I’m eating as well, so that’s helped my skin. I haven’t battled too many breakouts. I’m religious with the products that I use. I’m using this non-toxic cream called Luzern. My facialist is Mamie, from Skin by Mamie. And I’m using her products since I started going to her. I love to use the Glossier lip balm. Hello — they’re amazing.

“My hair has been doing its own thing. I used to wear my hair curly. It has grown and gotten a lot thicker. Everyone says you get this long, luscious hair. I have just started to see the changes. I use coconut oil on the ends of my hair. I just make sure I wash my scalp a lot more because it gets oilier.

“I go back and forth from feeling super sexy and confident to asking, ‘Who is this person?’ This is not my body. It had a little bit to do with me filming most of my pregnancy. I hadn’t really told anyone. I spent a lot of time hiding and trying to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I was self-conscious a lot. But since it’s out, I love my belly. I love my belly. Every time I feel a kick, it calms me down. This is all worth it.

“With the show, the writers and I have not talked about it, but it’s important to me to tell the story of how a career-minded woman can also be a good single mom. She’s been all about guys so far. I want to see that shift. That’s not the story I want to tell going forward. We have an opportunity to see Daisy blossom into this strong woman raising this child.”

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