Gisele Bundchen on giving birth: “I felt a huge sense of accomplishment”

Gisele Bundchen Photocall

So Gisele Bundchen has a new blog, maybe, according to Us Weekly. And on this blog she has written out a long statement about what becoming a mother means to her. Now, I like Gisele. She’s not my favorite person in the whole world, but I think she gets a raw deal a lot of the time, I think people pick on her unfairly sometimes, and I actually find her pretty funny. Like, she’s not joke-y or anything, but she seems to be in the habit of giving overly-enthusiastic interviews, and sometimes I find her phrasing and her speech habits absolutely charming/funny. Like this: “When [the baby] finally was placed into my arms, I looked into his precious eyes and felt an overwhelming, unconditional love. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment.” Now, I totally get what she’s saying, and the emotion and sentiment she’s trying to convey, but her phrasing is funny to me. I’m not mocking her for not speaking English as a first language, at all – I’m impressed with all of the languages she speaks, and how well she does. I’m just saying, the way her mind works cracks me up.

Gisele Bundchen may have said that labor didn’t hurt “in the slightest,” but she does admit that her natural childbirth was “a powerful experience.”

The 29-year-old supermodel — who gave birth to Benjamin with hubby Tom Brady in December — is opening up about being a mom in her brand-new blog!

“Being committed to building a family, becoming a mother and raising a child with love and awareness is for me, the single biggest responsibility a woman could have,” she wrote in her first post Monday. “Giving birth was the most intense and life-changing experience of my life… I never felt so vulnerable but so strong at the same time.”

She also writes that she was “blessed” to welcome Benjamin into the world at home “where I was able to feel safe.”

The star recalls “allowing my mind and my body to let go and be free to experience the changes taking place within” while she was “surrounded by love.”

And how was seeing her son for the first time?

“When he finally was placed into my arms, I looked into his precious eyes and felt an overwhelming, unconditional love,” she writes. “I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. ‘We did it! We did it together!’ He and I. I never felt so complete and empowered in my life.”

Becoming a mother makes her appreciate the dedication of her own mom, Vânia Nonnenmacher.

“My mom devoted her entire life to her family and did it with such grace,” she writes.

“She couldn’t have been more of a loving and caring mother. She is the reason why I believe that a woman is the core of a family. I can only hope to be for my kids what she will and always be for us.”

[From Us Weekly]

Well, bless her heart. She’s been keeping a pretty low profile since giving birth, although rumors abound of her upcoming modeling projects. I don’t know if she’ll end up being like Cindy Crawford or Christy Turlington, and still be an in-demand, working model post-baby. She probably will.

Here’s the magazine cover Quem, which got the first photo of Gisele and baby Benjamin:

quemcloseup

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

33 Responses to “Gisele Bundchen on giving birth: “I felt a huge sense of accomplishment””

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. LOVE ANGELINA says:

    LOL anytime English isn’t the first language it can be a hilarious or a disastrous situation. I think she is very sweet and really smart, and I imagine going through the pain of child birth and then successful delivery of a baby with out drama would feel like a huge accomplishment.

  2. Lady Jane says:

    Actually I totally get the sense of accomplishment. Maybe it is a homebirth thing, but that (along with love etc) was exactly how I felt: “Yay baby! We did it together!”

  3. scorpiogal says:

    That is so sweet….and so true. I remember saying the same things, although not in those words.

  4. ForestW says:

    I feel accomplished after a large bowel movement after a Starbucks coffee.. I couldn’t imagine childbirth. I would be raving it about it forever! But less endearing & sweet as Giselle…

  5. the other mel says:

    I felt the same way after giving birth to my daughter 18 years ago. I can’t imagine anything else ever coming close to that feeling.

  6. anna says:

    gisele is so nice. and yes she will be exactly like cindy and christy in future mdoeling works. icons are always in style.they never go away, havent we learned that by now? lol

  7. Lantana says:

    No doubt who’s the baby-daddy. Geez does that kid look like Tom.

  8. tiffi says:

    She wil not work a lot in the future,she said recently ,that she is more wife and mother. She will only fullfil her contracts

  9. girl says:

    Good for her. Seriously. Many women have child birth stories that make them sad, even when baby is fine. I have had births that were like that. Difficult to deal with. But I have also had fully medicalized births that I felt very good about.

    More women should be able to feel that way. People talk about women needing “choice” whether or not they should keep a pregnancy. Choices in childbirth seem to be very lacking. And how sometimes women are manipulated into having interventions done that have more to do with covering a doctor’s ass than for the benefit of mother and baby. Certain types of midwivery are illegal in some parts of this country. That is insane.

  10. sara says:

    I live in the near from Tom,her ,and Benjamin. ,soon they move in a bigger houes outside from Boston.

    Lucky they have nothing to do with New York

  11. Sumodo1 says:

    Re-birth Tom Brady’s career, Jizz! That would be an accomplishment!

  12. nycmom10024 says:

    Sara,
    I’m going to go out on a limb and guess nyc is not your home city, nor english your first language.

    NYC is quite a wonderful city, sorry you don’t feel the same way.
    —————————————-
    Giving birth can be a very positive and moving experience for many women. I still remember that first moment my daughter was placed in my arms 11 years. Always happy when another woman has that amazing clear headed experience.

  13. Scarlet Vixen says:

    Darnit! I’ve been trying not to like her, and have always taken Bridget Moynahan’s side in the whole “Jack is my baby” “No, he’s my baby!” argument. But, I had my son in a natural birth two years ago, and felt exactly like Bundchen did. I couldn’t have said it better myself! Altho I don’t know if I completely believe the whole “Ah, it didn’t hurt” crap. I had a 9+ lb baby, and it hurt like hell-I ain’t gonna lie.

  14. Sumodo1 says:

    Accomplishment? Did Gisele win a couple of Superbowls I never heard about? She had a (*yawn*) baby.

  15. princess pea says:

    Hey Sudini,

    ac·com·plish·ment –noun
    1. an act or instance of carrying into effect; fulfillment: the accomplishment of our desires.
    2. something done admirably or creditably: Space exploration is a major accomplishment of science.
    3. anything accomplished; deed; achievement: a career measured in a series of small accomplishments.

    Giving birth at all, let alone without painkillers, IS an accomplishment. It doesn’t have to be rare or unique to count (not like winning the Superbowl is unique, anyway).

  16. sara says:

    @nycmom100

    GIsele is happy to live in Boston since May 2007, and only to work in NYC.

    Boston is more wonderful than NYC

  17. Lady Jane says:

    haha Scarlet Vixen. I know – the natural route was the way for me too but I also though that whole, ‘it didn’t hurt’ thing was a bit much. Of course it hurts. Of course it’s worth it.

  18. Trillion says:

    Awww. Makes me wanna have another one. For a second. I loved childbirth. Yes, it can be fun!

  19. Goosie says:

    I had that same feeling after my pre-planned C-section. Having a baby is so wonderful and amazing; that feeling of seeing your bebe for the first time is beyond beyond.

    Am *really* glad she didn’t try and say that natural childbirth is better than modern birth in a hospital. Because it’s not (and it’s much much more dangerous) but I hear a lot of homebirth and natural birth moms imply that doing it with no drugs is somehow better. As long as the result is a healthy baby, it’s all good!

  20. Emily says:

    @Goosie, yeah, my first thought was the danger of homebirthing. I mean, I know it works for some women, but if you have a dodgy midwife, you better be living close to the hospital if anything does go wrong.

  21. ThunderC*nt says:

    The Quintessential BUTTERFACE. Start those pilates, a nice ass takes you places.

  22. ThunderC*nt says:

    #16, NYC is the center of the Universe. Boston is nothing short of depressing. I’ll hit Quebec City if I want a northern city, but thanks anyway.

  23. Goosie says:

    @Emily, totally! although I have to say, I’m admitting bias here, because I l-o-v-e-d my c-section! It was painless (seriously the IV was the most painful part), easy, and I had a fabulous recovery. I got to hold my baby as soon as they got her out and cleaned her off, and I nursed (or attempted to) as soon as I was back in the room…those 2 things were what I cared about most.

  24. Dana M says:

    As a two-time natural childbirth mom (no drugs), I can relate to her “sense of accomplishment” feelings. You really have to prepare your mind and body for the delivery. It’s like preparing for a marathon. You have to be in shape and your mind totally focused on the prize. When marathon runners feel the pain and burn, do they take pain killers? No. It’s mind over matter, in my opinion. But to each his own. Personally, I didn’t want my babies to be born with drugs in their systems. Nobody knows what causes SIDS, autism, etc. So I see this as taking preventatives measures.

  25. Abbie says:

    Oh please, there are millions of women who give birth on this planet every day…. it is not an accomplishment for crying out loud. Get over it, Gisele!

  26. JC126 says:

    I did think it was a bummer that Tom Brady didn’t stay with Bridget Moynihan, but Gisele came after that split. I like Gisele – she seems smart, has opinions and does some environmental charity/water access thing, and gave $1.5M for Haiti relief. She seems really interesting and cool, not just another model.
    But she should tell Brady to get a little more focused on the field! GO PATS!

  27. Carrie says:

    I like Gisele too- she’s obviously intelligent and has put her time and money into some good causes, which is pretty rare for a supermodel (Naomi Campbell, anyone?)

    I get what she’s saying here, and I don’t have a problem with it. Yes, women have babies everyday, and for each of those women it is a profound experience- she should be able to be excited about it.

  28. Peanut says:

    Hell yeah it’s an accomplishment! I definitely feel that way after giving birth to my daughter. Doesn’t really matter that women “do it everyday”, carrying a baby for 40 weeks (more or less) and then birthing a child (in all fashions… c-section, drugs, no drugs) is a HUGE accomplishment.

  29. Ana says:

    I use drugs for the pain, but I mainly felt relief that it was over and I could finally hold my baby. I wasn’t much for getting there, just excited for the results!
    I find it interest that she felt the safest place to give birth was at home. (I’m not critizing, just interested.) I felt completely different. I wanted the sterile, hospital environment. I loved my birth and am glad she loved hers as well.

  30. annie says:

    I had a set of twins and 2 10 plus pound babies naturally, the 5th was a section, I begged for it, he was 10 pounds 10 ounces, but I gotta say, I never felt like it was an accomplishment, it was just something you did if the circumstances were right. I just happen to dilate quickly. All’s well that ends well, thats the main thing.

  31. jule says:

    My baby and I would of died if it werent for medications, they had to knock me out for the C section, so in essence I didnt get to meet him until 3 hrs later. And once I did, I felt all of those above things….

  32. Blythe says:

    New Yorkers don’t realize how provincial they are.

  33. Rosanna says:

    Not everybody likes NYC… some people actually hate it and prefer Chicago by far.

    As for Gisele, I think she just rocks.