Just one day after announcing the birth of their daughter, actress Shay Mitchell and her boyfriend Matte Babel have released a video detailing their daughter’s birth on YouTube.
Over the last four months, Mitchell has used the video platform to give her fans an inside look into her pregnancy. From the highs to the lows, Mitchell has talked about miscarriage, prepartum depression, epidurals, birthing plans, and so much more.
And now that her pregnancy has come to an end, Mitchell is opening up more and more about her daughter’s birth. We now know that the 32-year-old actress endured a 33-hour labor. We know that after about 13 hours in labor, the doctor administered Pitocin, a drug that helps induce labor. And fans got to see how intense Mitchell’s contractions got after she was given the drug.
Then around hour 17, as her doula tried to ease her pain, Mitchell joked that she was going to “kill” Babel while showing him sleeping peacefully on the couch. “Why didn’t you wake me up, babe?” “Because I was being nice.”
Finally, 23 hours into labor, Mitchell made the decision to get an epidural. She said after receiving the epidural, “This is the most comfortable I’ve been for a long time.” In one of Mitchell’s earlier videos, Babel was against her getting an epidural, but seemed supportive of his girlfriend’s decision when the time came. He even wore a shirt that said, “No ovaries. No opinion.”
In an Instagram Q&A hours after releasing the video, a fan asked Mitchell if she was “glad you took the epidural?” She replied saying, “YES. I. AM.” And in the same Q&A, the actress also talked about the shakes she got nearing the final hours of labor.
“Were you shocked about the shakes? Why don’t moms warn us about them?” Mitchell replied, “Yes I was shocked. Consider this your warning, hahaha. The shakes came from the fever I got from the epidural, it’s one of the side effects.”
But perhaps the most emotional moment of Mitchell’s birth video was the moment they met their daughter for the first time. Although the screen went black, fans could hear Mitchell’s reaction. Through tears, Mitchell admits her “body is doing something naturally,” just before her baby girl is laid on her chest. And her reaction will make anyone burst into tears.
“Oh my God, I can’t. Oh, it’s so crazy. Oh, God. Oh, it’s so crazy. Hi, baby.”
And while the actress has been so open and honest about her journey so far, there is still a lot her fans don’t know. In the Q&A, Mitchell revealed that she was in the hospital for “two days after she was delivered.” That means her baby girl’s exact birth date may not be October 20.
Fans also don’t know how much the tiny tot weighed, how tall she was, or her name. And while all of those things may be revealed in time, Mitchell called the birth of her little girl the “best experience of my life.”
“Nothing can prepare you for the feeling you get when you hold your child for the first time.”
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