In an interview with Vogue, actress Shay Mitchell is opening up about her first weeks as a new mom and her shock when she realized how much she enjoys slowing down if it means spending time with her new bundle of joy.
On October 20, Mitchell revealed that she and her boyfriend, Matte Babel, welcomed their first child together into the world. It wasn’t until weeks later, in Mitchell’s interview with Vogue that she revealed they named their baby girl, Atlas Noa, an ode to her love of traveling.
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She told Vogue that she and Matte first heard the name Atlas when “a close friend of ours was listing off names for her daughter that she had had a year and a half ago. Then she said Atlas and I looked at Matte, and he looked at me, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”
“It’s just the perfect name; from that day, we knew it was going to be Atlas. People would ask us, ‘Do you have a name?’ But we were keeping it hidden. I’m sorry to everybody that I lied to!”
The mom also talked about how she’s been doing what she can to keep bits and pieces of herself normal while much of her time is now consumed by Atlas. As Mamas Uncut previously reported, Mitchell said she didn’t want to take maternity leave because her work isn’t work to her and she loves what she does.
However, while Mitchell is still working on her many projects, she admitted to Vogue that she’s actually enjoyed slowing down a bit, adding that she doesn’t mind moving her schedule around so that she has as much downtime with Atlas as possible.
“It’s putting on a nice nightgown if I’m staying at home, which is most of the time now. As much as it is hard because you just want to put on that old T-shirt that’s right next to the bed, I really do try, I have a shower, I put on a beautiful lotion and a nice robe, just something that makes me feel like myself; and then I can continue throughout the day.”
Mitchell added, “I find myself being a lot more present, and I’m just looking at her every single day. You reflect on how fast time passes when you’re forced to slow down. The surprising thing is how much I enjoy this calmness.”
And the new mom credits a lot of her ability to know that what she’s feeling is okay and that it’s important to do little things that help her feel more like herself to her friends who have become moms before her. She told Vogue that her former Pretty Little Liars co-star and real-life friend, Troian Bellisario, has been an amazing resource for her. Bellisario is also a mom to a little girl.
“It’s funny because all my friends have had little girls. When I found out that we were having ours, I was just super-excited [because] we are a close group of families, and hopefully our daughters will be another little close group of friends as well, growing up.”
The actress and entrepreneur also opened up about her first experience with mom-shaming after she was called out for attending rapper Drake‘s birthday party sometime after Atlas was born. Mitchell still has yet to reveal when exactly her daughter was born.
“It concerns me that people are so quick to pass judgment on others, especially without knowing any facts, and behind the protection of the screen. My daughter had been born for several weeks, and when Matte and I chose to take our night out, which was an hour and a half, it surprised me that people chose to be so reactive and aggressive and assume the absolute worst about us—and more so me.”
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And while Mitchell, who can’t wait for her first Christmas as a mom, wishes people wouldn’t jump to conclusions so quickly, she and Matte aren’t letting the haters get them down. “For me, I’m going to do exactly what I feel is right for my family.”
Amen, Shay, Amen!