Ashley Tisdale is opening up about becoming a mom during a pandemic and why she’s struggled with her changing body.

The High School Music actress, 35, and her husband Christopher French welcomed their first child yesterday. They named their daughter Jupiter Iris and revealed her birth with a sweet black-and-white photo of Jupiter’s tiny hand holding her parents’ fingers.

Days before she gave birth, Tisdale spoke with Motherly about her pregnancy and her hopes for her growing family.

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“Physically, I am definitely ready,” Tisdale said about the prospect of giving birth. “No one prepares you for the end. It’s definitely not the easiest, I am ready to get her out,” she joked.

“Emotionally, I’m just really excited. It’s going be a huge life change and both my husband and I are excited for this next chapter in our lives,” she added.

When it came to being pregnant during a pandemic, Tisdale said that there were pros and cons. She enjoyed being able to stay home during these last months to really prepare for their daughter. But she missed seeing her friends and being able to share her pregnancy with them.

“I wish I could have done my baby shower,” she said. “But I wanted to be safe—that was more important to me.”

“I want to be very present as a parent and I do think this pandemic has helped me be more present in my life, surprisingly,” she added.

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Tisdale said the best part of her pregnancy was seeing what her body is capable of. “I think I have struggled with the changing of my body,” she said. “Physically, it has not been easy as I’m short and it’s a lot of weight towards the end. So, every body part hurts.”

The actor elaborated on her complicated feelings with her changing body in a blog post on her website Frenshe this week.

“I popped pretty early in pregnancy, and I had people say ‘I think you’re farther along than you think’, ‘Are you having twins?’—all very invasive things. However, I brushed those comments off as I do with any type of criticism. I think change can be hard, but I continue each day saying I love you to my body because it’s doing so much, and it’s creating is a beautiful miracle. I have to let the ego-mind go and appreciate that my body can even do this. It’s letting go of my own needs because the needs of my baby are more important,” she wrote.

“I don’t know what my body will be like after the baby comes, but I do know I’m going to give it time, let it heal, and take really good care of it. I wanted to share this because I’m sure that like a lot of other people, I felt ashamed that I was uncomfortable at first. Yet, it’s important to honor how you feel and understand that everyone has a different experience with pregnancy,” she said.

Tisdale told us that she might be a new parent, but she’s not afraid to trust her instincts when it comes to raising Jupiter.

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“I believe in listening to your intuition and you can read every book out there, but in the end, you will know what’s best for your baby!”

She has some pretty great instincts already—Tisdale says she spent a lot of time singing to Jupiter before she was born. The actor also enjoyed playing music in the car for Jupiter and says that her daughter already has a favorite musical act.

“She is a huge Justin Bieber fan,” she revealed.

While she readied for Jupiter’s birth, Tisdale also partnered with Carter’s to curate a baby shower giveaway with daily prizes for new mothers and moms-to-be. Tisdale said as an expectant mom, she wanted to help other women to “set them up with everything they need for this incredible life-changing moment.”

We love to see women supporting other women, especially in their journey to motherhood.