Brenda Song may be living the suite life, but it's a busy one, too.
In a new interview with The Cut, the actress spoke about her routine with her fiancé, Macaulay Culkin, and their 9-month-old son, Dakota, and returning to work on her show, Dollface, 12 weeks after giving birth.
Describing a typical morning, Song admitted it looks "very different" than did it before she and Culkin welcomed their baby, who was born in April.
"Now it revolves around my son," the Disney Channel alum, 33, told the publication. "I wake up, get him out of his crib, change him, get our breakfast ready, and drink my matcha. As a new parent, I don't sleep at all. I'm someone who likes to wake up and go-go-go. Now, it's when I put my son down for his first nap that I get my work done. I take that time to do emails and plan my day. I try to do everything in his nap-time window. If I have time, I'll work out—I have a little gym in my garage and do a lot of circuit training. To be the best mom, I have to be the best me. And exercise helps me not worry or overthink. So I try to find a little time. Sometimes I'll read and knit. I don't do phones in the morning."
And she can count on her loved ones for help. "My fiancé and I are very hands-on," Song, whose engagement to the 41-year-old actor was confirmed last week, continued. "We don't have a nanny, but my mom has been here with us since my son was born. He's 9 months old now. When I was working, my mom would bring him to set so I could breastfeed and see him during the day."
She also encourages other new parents to ask their friends and family for help if they can. "People tell you a lot about labor and pregnancy, but not about the fourth trimester," Song added. "To my girlfriends that are pregnant I say, make sure you have help. Because your instinct is to want to do it all and you physically can't."
While Song said she feels "incredibly lucky" to have a job that she loves and to know her child is in good hands while she's away, she also acknowledged there can be challenges. In addition to waking up at 4:00 a.m. for shoots, memorizing lines and working long hours, Song experienced pressure as a new mom.
"The biggest challenge is being away from family," she told The Cut. "I know everyone feels that way. There were so many long days where I'd get home and my son would already be asleep. I put a lot of pressure on myself to keep pumping and breastfeeding him while I was working. I pumped throughout production. Me and [costar] Kat [Dennings] would sit there and go over lines. She was the best, hiding me and holding up my sweater while I pumped."
Indeed, navigating this new chapter wasn't easy. "I had no idea what I was doing. I went back to work so early. It was harder than I thought," Song told the outlet. "I pride myself on always being first on set. So to be like, 'Hey, I need 20 minutes to pump,' was difficult. The hours away from my son took a toll on me. Learning my own boundaries while trying to take care of my son and my family—that was hard. But I had a great support system and knew my son was taken care of; I just had FOMO. Missing those hours with my newborn son, it pains me, but at the end of the day, Mama's got to put food on the table. You've got to make those sacrifices. Hopefully he'll understand."
Dollface season two premieres on Hulu Feb. 11.