Jennifer Lopez says childbirth changed her life

Jennifer Lopez may have hit a milestone when she turned 40 earlier this year, but she credits her toddlers, not her age, with changing her life.

“It totally changes your perspective on everything,” Lopez said In Style’s September 2009 issue about having her twins Max and Emme, who are 19-months. “There’s nothing as huge as giving birth to another human being and having to be responsible for another life. There’s you before kids, and there’s you after kids — and they’re not the same as you.”

Lopez admitted that the twins have made her think twice about her priorities — for starters, she’s no longer No. 1 in her own life.

“You don’t come first anymore,” she told the mag. “There’s somebody else you care more about than yourself.”

Her marriage to singer Marc Anthony is also a major priority. Both have been married three times, but work to keep their relationship going.

“I’m still figuring it out as I go along,” she said. “How do two totally different people come together and make one life and say they’ll do it forever and ever? I mean, I’ve tried it. This is my third time. I don’t even think I tried in my other marriages, which was immature and not knowing better. It’s been a lot of hard experiences and a lot of ups and downs and a lot of mistakes. I believe in life you learn though experience. I’m old enough to know now that relationships take work. That it’s not an easy thing.”

Another thing that Lopez, who is currently filming the 2010-due romantic comedy, “The Back-Up Plan” with Australian actor Alex O’Loughlin, has learned through experience and through success, is to just take on the projects that she really feels represent her.

“It used to be about deadlines,” she said. “I felt like I couldn’t say no. I was on that hamster wheel. But now I’m at a point in my life when I just don’t feel the need to put out anything unless I totally, absolutely feel it says what I want to say.”

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