Eva Mendes on What It's Like to Be a New Mom

Eva Mendes very impressively flew under the radar the entire time she was pregnant with the unofficial sexiest man alive's baby. Even when Esmerelda Amada Gosling officially entered the world, the actress and boyfriend Ryan Gosling were very quiet about the whole thing—forgoing the celeb-fave route of splashing a baby pic on the cover of a tabloid to announce her arrival. And, Mendes, explains in her first post-baby interview with Violet Grey, that was all very intentional:

Whether we like it or not, privacy is going to be very difficult for Esmeralda. I think it’s unfair but that’s our reality. So Ryan and I decided early on to give her as much privacy as we could. And my pregnancy was the first opportunity to give her that. It’s such an intimate time for the mother, too. I know that it seems all very innocuous when you’re flipping through a tabloid at the doctor’s office or see a photo of a pregnant lady online, but I find the media’s 'bump watch' obsession to be both intrusive and stressful. So I made a decision to eject myself from it completely. I was like, 'Annnnd I’m out.'

The 40-year-old actress also reveals in the interview that—surprise—despite the fact that she's a super beautiful human, she's still a human! And a really tired one at that. "I’m completely exhausted," she says. "I thought my wild nights were over but these are some of the wildest nights I’ve ever had." And for the moment, she's doing it without help:

I’m doing it without a nanny for now but I’m open to the idea of having a nanny in the future. Esmeralda has two amazing grandmothers and incredible aunties who come over and really help me. But as far as a nanny or a night nurse, for me that part of being a mother at this early stage is the struggle of not being able to sleep and not knowing what I’m doing and really going through it with her and battling out those nights.

Mendes also goes into the name, telling Violet Grey founder Cassandra Huysentruyt Grey that she and Ryan not only knew they were expecting a girl, but they were also really excited about christening her: "We both love the Esmeralda character from the Victor Hugo novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame and just think it’s a beautiful name. Her middle is Amada, which was my grandmother’s name. It means 'beloved' in Spanish."