Jennifer Lopez Getting Her Work Mojo Back

April 22, 2009 — -- A year ago singer, actress, designer and entreprenuer Jennifer Lopez put her busy career on the backburner for her and husband Marc Anthony's newborn twins, Max and Emme.

The twins turned one Feb. 22, and Lopez is ready to go back to work. Getting her J. Lo drive back took a lot of effort, she said today on "Good Morning America," and completing a triathlon six months after she gave birth was a big part of that.

"Your body becomes sort of this temple for the babies," Lopez told Diane Sawyer today. "I needed to do it [the triathalon] to feel like Jennifer again. It was really great for me physically, emotionally, mentally. It got me thinking about achieving again, doing again."

Lopez, who turns 40 in July, has a movie on the horizon -- a romantic comedy called "The Back-up Plan," according to her Web site. In the movie, she plays a single woman who turns to artificial insemination to answer her ticking biological clock.

She's also raising awareness about pertussis, the potentially fatal disease better known as whooping cough.

Visit www.soundsofpertussis.com to find out more about the vaccine.

Pertussis cases were virtually nonexistent in the United States after a vaccine was developed. Reported cases of whooping cough hit a low of about 1,000 in 1976. That number has been on the rise over the past 30 years, and in 2005, 25,000 cases were reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to a CDC study of the disease, Hispanic infants were particularly hard hit by the disease, though there is no clear reason why.

Immunization from the whooping cough vaccine wears off over time, usually between five and 10 years, so adults can spread the highly contagious disease to infants.

Lopez said babies most often contract the disease from their parents, and it can go undetected. "We'll be OK, but it could be fatal to the babies," she said.

The Sounds of Pertussis campaign educates adults about getting a Tdap booster shot, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.

Happy Family

Despite rumors of a pending divorce between Lopez and husband Marc Anthony, the singer-actress indicated that all was well in the marriage and with the twins.

Lopez and Anthony, a 40-year-old singer, have been married since 2004. He has three other children from previous relationships.

Lopez told "Access Hollywood" that she and Anthony talk about having more kids "all the time."

"Marc says, 'What are we waiting for?' I say, 'To recuperate!' I need a minute. Let me get something out there first -- a song, a movie. I definitely want more kids, though," she told the celebrity TV show.

Both Max and Emme are walking and "babbling," she told "GMA."

"It's mama when they want something, and dada just for fun," said Lopez. "Marc makes them laugh."

Jennifer Lopez is working with the March of Dimes and a drug company to raise awareness of the importance of the pertussis vaccine for new and expectant parents.