Kristen Bell shares labor photos for the first time—and we thought we couldn’t love her more

Kristen Bell is doing some reflecting on daughter Delta’s third birthday—and giving us all a glimpse into her labor experience.

“Three years ago today. 47lbs heavier. Getting through painful contractions with backrubs and breathing,” Bell says in the caption for a series of photos on Instagram. “Occasionally swinging from the IV pole to try and feel sexy and open up my hips.”

Bell reveals she had plenty of time to snap pictures during the full day and a half she was in labor before having a C-section. It all paid off, though, when she received the sweetest gift at the end.

“After 36 hours of labor I met a girl I love more than all the molecules in all the world,” Bell shares along with a picture of her first moments with Delta.

For as candid as she is about many aspects of motherhood and her marriage to Dax Shepard, Bell is famously protective of her daughters’ images. Together with Shepard, they are among the most outspoken celebrities in the “No Kids”movement, which encourages paparazzi to stop taking pictures of stars’ children.

“I’m telling you right now, we don’t want our daughter’s face anywhere ever until she decides because I have the utmost respect for her,” Bell told Access Hollywood in 2014.

Although these are the first pictures she’s shared from her labor (and first peek at baby Delta!), Bell and Shepard have talked about Delta’s delivery experience before.

“It’s still a car crash, and I’m in the passenger seat. I’m playing Katy Perry, and I’m breathing, and I’m rubbing her back, and I have fatigue, and I think, ‘I need something for this. Help me,'” Shepard told Ellen DeGeneres in 2015.

Just like so many of us mamas are prone to doing, Delta’s birthday caused Bell to reminisce on the experience and we’re glad she invited us down memory lane—#meshpanties and all.