Jennifer Lopez Worried That Motherhood ‘Wasn’t Going to Happen’

Jennifer Lopez has many titles — including actress, singer, dancer, producer. But the one she holds closest? Mom.

The 47-year-old star dropped by Today on Thursday to discuss the second season of her hit NBC show, Shades of Blue. But while chatting with mother-of-two Savannah Guthrie, Lopez couldn’t help but talk about her own two kids — 9-year-old twins Maximilian David and Emme Maribel.

“They just make my life so much better,” Lopez said, getting emotional. “I’m forever grateful. I didn’t have kids until later. I almost thought it wasn’t going to happen for me, so I’m very aware that I was blessed with that and it could have been something different. I don’t take it for granted.”

Lopez is extra busy these days — not just with the press tour for her TV series, but also with a new Spanish-language album she’s recording and her hit Las Vegas show. (“I need a nap!” Lopez joked).

And along the way, her kids are always by her side.

“It is a little bit insane,” Lopez said. “I take it one day at a time. Me and the kids are like gypsies. We’re traveling all over the place and just getting it done and doing what we can.”

“I feel really lucky,” she added. “I’ve been in the business a long time … I love what I do and I feel very fortunate to have been doing it for so long and to keep being inspired and to keep wanting to push the envelope and to keep doing better — not just as a performer and an actress and a singer, but also as a person. I think that’s the artist kind of soul in me. To just always to be creative and do more and learn more and get better.”

And though she wanted to be a mom, she told PEOPLE and other reporters at the Shades of Blue premiere on Wednesday night that she wasn’t ready for twins. “I certainly wasn’t prepared,” she said.

One piece of advice for parents who are going to have twins? “Stay calm!” Lopez urged.

If there’s one relief, it’s that Max and Emme appear to be busy with other interests outside the spotlight

“I don’t know if they want to perform, they want their own YouTube channels,” she told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show Wednesday. “Honestly, I don’t even know what it is. I know what it is, but I don’t know what it is. I don’t partake as much. They just talk on it, and watch other people on their YouTube channels, and then they see who is watching it — I guess it’s just like all social media.”

She added: “They’re like little adults. They have their own schedules, they make their play dates.”

With reporting by Mary S. Park

This article originally appeared on People.com