Last November, Eva Amurri announced that she was separating from her husband Kyle Martino. It was notable for several reasons. One, Eva is basically Peak Instagram Mommy and a mommy-blogger extraordinaire, so for her to drop the Insta-facade and actually kick her husband out of the house… well, it must have been BIG. Two, Eva was (at the time) and is still pregnant with the couple’s third child. She’s fast-tracking a divorce from him WHILE preg. Again, it must have been BIG, whatever it was. I don’t even think it was just an affair on his part – I think he must have done some crimes AND gotten someone else pregnant. And here’s more evidence that some sh-t really went down, despite her efforts to make her divorce so inspo: Eva isn’t even going to allow Kyle to be there when she gives birth. Lord!!
Eva Amurri is staying true to herself. Opening up on her blog about how she’s preparing for the birth of her third child with Kyle Martino, Amurri — who is over 37 weeks pregnant now — explained that having her estranged husband in the room with her “wasn’t going to feel right.”
“Our intimacy level has totally changed now that we aren’t a couple, obviously, and in order to really let go and allow labor to progress (especially with a home birth) it’s so important to feel completely at ease in your body and support,” she wrote. This time around, Amurri wants to surround herself with feminine energy. “I’ve realized that having a strong female energy present at my birth this time is going to bring that for me. I’ve elected to have my female midwives, my awesome doula (also a woman), and some incredible girlfriends – who are all Mamas as well,” she said, adding that her son Major James, 3, and daughter Marlowe Mae, 5, will also be present. “I’m excited for them to witness the miracle of birth for the first time, and to hopefully take that experience with them forever as they grow into adults as well,” she wrote.
Although he won’t be present for the actual birth, Amurri said Martino will “meet his son directly after he’s born” — a decision they “both feel good about.”
“Not having a partnership present at this birth feels totally different! It’s been taking a lot of intentional thought and work on myself as I near the birth experience to get out of my own fears and to focus on the power I have felt during this pregnancy,” she continued. “Knowing EXACTLY how challenging birth is doesn’t help those fears either.“
“I wish I could go back to the blissful ignorance of my first delivery when I really didn’t know how challenging birth was yet – and I didn’t know what to expect around each corner. I’m really hoping I can lean into the comforts of my experience as a seasoned birthing mama in the next couple of weeks, instead of allowing it to intimidate me,” Amurri added.
Oh, the buried lede is that her children are going to watch her give birth at home while a dozen midwives, doulas and girlfriends mill around too. I’m sorry, I know I’m being “controversial” and people will yell at me but for the love of God, don’t make your children watch you give birth to their sibling. Yes, it will be memorable. It will be so memorable that it will scar them for life. (And what if some medical emergency happens? Oh God.)
As for not allowing Kyle to be there… her body, her pregnancy, her choice, her birth plan. If she doesn’t want him there, God bless. I get the feeling that he was never really the supportive partner to her in those kinds of moments when they were together, so she probably just realized she might as well do it her own way.
Photos courtesy of Instagram.
