Priyanka Chopra Opens Up About Daughter Malti's 100 Days in the NICU: 'I Had to Be Her Strength'

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is recalling daughter Malti's time spent in the neonatal intensive care unit after her birth

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is appreciating all the special moments being a mom brings.

Covering Today's spring digital issue, the Citadel actress, 40, talks about her new understanding of "work-life balance" since becoming a mom to daughter Malti Marie, 15 months.

Chopra Jonas says that no matter what, once her workday is over, it's time to give her baby girl a bath.

"After that, I'm not available. We do bath time, storytime, bedtime," she tells the outlet. "And then it's our time (for me and Nick), whether we … have friends over or just sit together and watch a movie."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Related:Nick Jonas Carries Daughter Malti During 'Her First Soundcheck' in Sweet Working Dad Moment

The actress and husband Nick Jonas, 30, leaned heavily on each other after Malti was born and subsequently spent over 100 days in the NICU.

"I remember [Nick] just held me by my shoulders, and I said, 'Just tell me what to do, because I don't know what to do,' " she recalls. "And he's like, 'Just get into the car with me.' And we drove to the hospital."

Chopra Jonas continues, "She was born, and from the moment she took her first breath to now, she's never been without one of us, ever."

Though the two navigated the time by making sure someone was always with Malti, the new mom looks back and notes, "I don't think it was our test. I think it was her test."

"I realized very, very early that I did not have the luxury to be scared or to be weak because she was scared and weak. And I had to be her strength as her mom," Chopra Jonas explains. "I needed to make her feel at every given moment that she's not alone … that we've got her."

Even once their little girl came home, the mom struggled with adjusting to how to take care of her baby outside of that environment.

"[In the NICU], you know your child is alive because you can see their heartbeat (on the monitor). I couldn't sleep for days because now suddenly she was home without a monitor," she shares. "I used to put my ear on her chest. I would wake up every couple of minutes just to see if she was OK. For weeks, this went on."

Chopra Jonas says that motherhood "just makes me want to conquer the world."

"When I wake up and do a million things, I can do them really well, because I know that I come back home to my family," she says. "And that's such a priority to me now."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.