Eva Mendes talks nannies, privacy & naming her baby Esmeralda
I always forget that this publication, Violet Grey, exists. Doesn’t “Violet Grey” sound like the name of a website for married people to cheat on their spouses? Anyhoodle, Eva Mendes gave her first post-baby interview to Violet Grey, plus she sat for a very dark, moody and be-wigged photoshoot. The photoshoot sucks, in my opinion. She’s trying to look sultry and noir-ish but the images just look flat and try-hard. Anyway, you can see the whole Violet Grey package here, with a longer Q&A. Some highlights:
New motherhood: “I’m completely exhausted. I thought my wild nights were over but these are some of the wildest nights I’ve ever had.”
She doesn’t have a nanny… yet: “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.”
What she does when she has a baby question: “I call one of her grandmothers or I call one of her aunties…. I try not to Google too many things because it is frightening but I do go to babycenter.com and read the comment sections from other mothers because I find so much solace in that. Just knowing that I’m not alone out there and that other moms have gone through the same thing can at least get me through the night.”
Privacy & flying under the radar: “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.”
Appreciating her mother: “Definitely. I cannot believe that by the time my mother was 24 she had three kids under the age of four. She was in Cuba and totally alone. So when it’s the wee hours of the night and I’m feeling a bit insane, I think about her and realize that I have no right to complain about anything.”
She & Ryan knew they were having a girl: “We actually did. We were really excited about naming her.”
The name 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. Her middle is Amada, which was my grandmother’s name. It means “beloved” in Spanish.”
Motherhood is tough: “People always told me that. But I’ve learned that it’s way harder to be a baby. Everything is a struggle for her. For instance, I haven’t thrown up since the ‘90s and she’s thrown up twice since we started this interview. Motherhood is cake compared to what it’s like to be a baby.”
Eva doesn’t give any hint as to what Ryan is like as a father, or if they’re even calling the baby “Esmeralda” or whether they’ve already nicknamed her “Esme” (god, I hope so). It does seem like Ryan is sort of… absent. From the conversation, from the thoughts on motherhood, etc. I kind of think the story about Eva getting knocked up during an on-and-off stage of their relationship is probably true. As for reading the mommy blogs… God help us all! Mommy blogs give me a terrible headache.
Photos courtesy of Emma Summerton/Violet Grey.
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