To call Shay Mitchell a strong woman is an understatement.
The 32-year-old actress took to Instagram on Sunday, Oct. 20, to announce the birth of her firstborn with partner Matte Babel. In the first photo she shared of her baby girl, she simply wrote, “Never letting go…”
Shay, who has been documenting her pregnancy on YouTube, shared an emotional birth video on Monday that showed her enduring a whopping 33 hours of labor.
“The past nine months have been more than I ever imagined. Pregnancy has been one of the most exciting, challenging and physically demanding things I’ve ever done. It’s brought a new meaning to family and my partnership with Matte — I’ve watched my daughter develop and grow and now I’m READY to meet her!,” read the video description on YouTube.
The 11-minute long video details the 33 hours Shay underwent labor before meeting her baby girl. “Oh my god, my water’s breaking,” Shay says at the start of the video. “For shit.”
“Thank god I’m wearing these diapers,” Shay lightheartedly tells the camera before the video takes a turn for a heavier tone.
Shay, who’s now on her way to the hospital, says, “I really thought I was going to be able to stay at home for a long time, no. Especially when [the doctor] is asking me if I can feel her moving and I can’t. It freaks me out, it really does. ‘Cause this last time I felt pain like this was not a good experience.”
Once in the hospital, it was clear that Shay was still worried about not being able to feel her baby move lately but an ultrasound quickly proved that her baby was doing just fine.
Seven hours into her labor, Shay’s doctor told her that it’s going to “take a long time to deliver” — and boy, was he right. Evidently exhausted, Shay told her partner Matte, “I don’t know how people do this for like 36 [hours]. Some people 72 hours, like how? I’m just, I’m just so tired. I didn’t sleep last night.”
Then at the 13-hour mark, Shay began having stable contractions and her doctor went on to tell her that they’d have to get the baby to “kick in a little bit.” In order to do so, the doctor began giving her Pitocin. Shay’s doula explained that Pitocin is “used to make a labor move faster but the labor, the physical experience with the labor is completely different because the Pitocin labor is pretty rough.”
Officially 17 hours into her labor, Shay was seemingly growing more distressed, unable to get any sleep and her contractions were getting much more intense.
Once she hit the 23-hour mark, Shay had officially not gotten any sleep in two days and decided to get an epidural to help the labor progress.
Nearing the finish line, Shay’s doula tells the camera that her water has been broken for 30 hours now which increases the risk of infection. “We are really trying to avoid a cesarean and doing everything we can to help the labor progress and she’s been quite the trooper,” her doula said in the video. “She not complained during any parts of this.”
The new mom had also recently opened up about possibly delivering her baby girl via C-section which she didn’t want to have to do.
A whopping 33 hours later, it was time to push.
“Good job babe,” her partner Matte told her in the moments leading up to the birth of their baby girl.
“My body is just doing something naturally,” Shay said during labor. “It just feels like… I can’t look… I can’t. Oh it’s so crazy.”
Moments later, Shay and Matte officially welcomed their daughter into the world. “I was 99% excited to meet her and 1% excited to eat something,” Shay says as she holds her little bundle of joy to her chest.
“This is definitely the most intense experience of my life,” Shay says. “Matte and I are parents and I can’t believe it. We thought getting pregnant was a journey? We’re realizing we have just begun.”
You can watch Shay’s full video on her labor and delivery on YouTube.
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