Eva Mendes [1] recently graced the cover of Women's Health magazine [2] and opened up about being married to Ryan Gosling [3] and being a parent to her sweet daughters, Esmeralda, 4, and Amada, 2 [4]. The notoriously private actress even shed some light on how motherhood has changed her life [5].

On how she ended up with kids:

"It was the furthest thing from my mind. Ryan Gosling happened. I mean, falling in love with him. Then it made sense for me to have . . . not kids, but his kids. It was very specific to him."

On how she survived raising two children under the age of 2:

"Family. We have an amazing support group: Ryan's mum, my mum, Ryan's and my sisters. It's a village that helped us. My heart goes out to women who do this alone . . . We're just starting to get out of survival mode. I'm starting to feel like a person again."

On the shift from working in Hollywood for 20 years to having her first baby:

"I felt a lack of ambition if I can be honest. I feel more ambitious in the home right now than I do in the workplace."

On how parenting has surprised her:

"Every day is such a learning experience — they challenge you in so many ways. Like, I'm their mum. I have to rise up, and hopefully, most of the time I do, but sometimes it's definitely maddening."

On how she plans to instill appreciation in her kids:

"It's definitely a concern. Not only are we in the industry, but the whole fame component is super scary when you try to raise your kids [6]. What I try to emphasise is that I don't let them see me put attention to how I dress. They've never seen me get ready for something; they've never seen me at work. Which is fine, for whoever wants to do it that way, but the way I keep it normal is by not letting them see me in these situations. I'm just Mum. And I'm more than happy to just be Mum."