David and Christina Arquette talk about growing family, morning sickness
Christina and David Arquette are adjusting to life as new parents again.
The couple have 3-year-old Charlie, as well as 13-year-old Coco from David's previous marriage, but the couple told CBS News that they're still learning new things after welcoming 3-month-old son Gus in March.
Christina, for example, learned that an easy first pregnancy does not necessarily mean the same when expecting a second child.
"I had such a beautiful pregnancy, but this pregnancy was really hard with morning sickness," she told CBS News. "I didn't have any experience with it and I didn't have it in the morning -- it was mostly at night -- and it would hit me really hard."
Christina learned from talking to friends and other mothers at Charlie's school that she wasn't the only one suffering, and she was surprised she hadn't heard more about it before.
"A lot of women don't talk about it," she said. "People assume they have to suffer all the ailments -- heartburn, morning sickness -- but that's the beauty of health care and medicine today."
David said it wasn't easy for him to see his wife suffering.
"It was really hard," he said. "She couldn't put Charlie to bed; she'd be too sick to take him to school or give him baths, so I had to step up and do all the stuff for her." Christina added that when she vomited, David would be by her side, sick as well.
Christina said she found relief when she was prescribed Diclegis; the Arquettes are paid spokespersons for Duchesnay USA, the company that manufactures the drug. Diclegis is FDA approved for treating morning sickness, but has been found to have only limited effectiveness in studies.
Now that Gus has arrived, the two are enjoying life with their infant.
"He's just a big old boy -- he's 18 pounds," joked Christina.
The Arquettes named their son -- whose full name is August Alexis -- after David's late sibling, Alexis.
"Alexis had such a big personality -- so artistic, creative, so funny and smart," said David. "Gus is really young now, but you can see that he thinks a lot and he's really thoughtful and finds joy in things and he's really smiley so I look forward to when he gets older and I can introduce him to Alexis' memory and show him clips of Alexis."
The Arquettes are also busy with a documentary they produced, "The Survivor's Guide to Prison," narrated by Susan Sarandon.
Christina said she was particularly moved by one woman featured in the film.
"There was a grandmother who's my own mother's age who didn't commit the crime she was accused of, but she served 20 years in prison," said Christina. "It's just unbelievable to hear these stories, and that primarily had a lot to do with her lack of access to money and an attorney and all the things we should have access to."
David added, "The fact that we have more prisons than universities and that we imprison the most people in the entire world and we're supposed to be the land of the free -- it's something we wanted to raise awareness about."
At home, the Arquettes like to cook for their growing family: David does mostly barbecue, while Christina serves up Southern classics like chicken and dumplings and fried okra.
"It's been really grounding to be able to be there for them and able to talk to my older daughter and have fun with Charlie and Gus," said David. "Christina helps relieve the stress of raising kids. It's a lot, but we've been doing it and it's the best thing in the world. It's the hardest job, but it's also the most rewarding."
