Soaking it in! Mena Suvari is enjoying her first pregnancy, gushing exclusively to Us Weekly about the “lucky” experience.
“All of my tests have been really good, so I just feel really blessed,” the actress, 41, said on Tuesday, January 12, while promoting her new movie Don’t Tell a Soul. “It’s wild. It’s very surreal. I sometimes don’t have words for it.”
The Rhode Island native, who just reached her 30th week, added that her child’s upcoming arrival feels “really real” now. “I’m trying to just take it day by day and not get overwhelmed,” the American Beauty star told Us. “We get so ahead of ourselves. So I’m taking it moment by moment.”
Looking back, Suvari’s first trimester cravings were the “weirdest thing” that she has ever experienced, she said, noting that she often experienced aversions as well. “I would have these moments where I would buy all these things that I loved eating and I would open up the fridge, it’s full of food, and I’m like, ‘I don’t want any of it.’”
The Six Feet Under alum “couldn’t stomach” much while working and “lived off of ginger tea and saltines.” She recalled “crying on the phone” to her doctor about only eating crackers while her baby’s brain was developing.
Suvari announced in October 2020 that she and her husband, Michael Hope, are expecting their first child by posting an Instagram photo of her baby bump.
“The greatest, most precious gift has come our way,” the American Pie star captioned the social media upload. “Through all the trauma, through all the struggle, through all the doubt, our little angel has chosen us. I will never have enough words to describe my love for this beautiful soul coming into our lives, but I won’t ever stop trying to give him the best life possible. You’re all I’ve ever wanted and the most important thing that will ever matter. We love you, #BabyHope. We welcome, honor, and cherish you.”
She continued documenting her budding belly’s progress via Instagram, from mirror selfies to sandy beach strolls.
Suvari had previously “written off” conceiving a child before becoming pregnant. “We put ourselves in all these categories and we’re not [only] that,” she told Us on Tuesday. “That limited thinking wasn’t ultimately serving me.”
She and Hope want to give their little one the “best upbringing,” she added. “I don’t want to mess them up. I’m trying to … trust in the people I have around me and [know] that we’ll figure it out.”
Suvari has something else to celebrate ahead of her infant’s birth, however. Don’t Tell a Soul, out Friday, January 15, is a “very heavy” movie, which is the type of work the American Horror Story alum enjoys filming most. “I don’t want it to be easy,” she explained to Us.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
