TORONTO — Eva Mendes says she is “exhausted” being a new mom to daughter Esmeralda (with Canadian actor Ryan Gosling) because the couple hasn’t hired a nanny.
“Esmeralda has two amazing grandmothers and incredible aunties who come over and really help me,” Mendes said in an interview with Violet Grey. “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 admitted she is open to having a nanny later on.
The new mom said she relies on Esmeralda’s grandmothers and aunts for advice. “I try not to Google too many thing because it is frightening.”
Mendes and Gosling, who have been together since 2011, welcomed Esmeralda on Sept. 12. It is the first child for both.
Mendes said they were committed to protecting their daughter even before she was born.
“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,” she said. “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.”
Mendes explained why they kept her growing belly away from cameras.
“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,” said Mendes. “So I made a decision to eject myself from it completely. I was like, ‘Annnnd I’m out.'”
The 40-year-old actress said she and Ontario-born Gosling, 34, knew they were going to have a girl and knew they were going to name her Esmeralda Amada.
“We both love the Esmeralda character from the Victor Hugo novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame and just think it’s a beautiful name,” she explained. “Her middle is Amada, which was my grandmother’s name. It means ‘beloved’ in Spanish.”
Mendes said motherhood has made her take a second look at the roles and photo shoots she agrees to do.
“The idea that I would ever embarrass her is really heartbreaking for me,” she told Violet Grey.
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