Actress Eva Mendes and New York & Company launch the Eva Mendes for NY&C Spring 2014 collection with a pop-up shop at The Beverly Center on March 18, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Angela Weiss)
Eva Mendes is finally opening up about losing older brother Carlos days before the birth of her second daughter with partner Ryan Gosling.
The actress' older brother, Carlos, 53, passed away on April 17 after losing a battle with throat cancer and just 12 days later, Mendes and Gosling welcomed their second daughter, Amada Lee, into this world, according to People.
In an interview for the September issue of Latina magazine, the "Hitch" actress has now reflected back on the emotional rollercoaster she went through at the time.
"Losing my brother brought our family closer, and we were already close to begin with. So to just see everybody be there for one another and show up, I feel so lucky to have them," said Mendes.
The 42-year-old added that her family members were by her side even during Amada's arrival and that they buried Carlos in the same week that her now 3-month-old daughter was born.
"It was really, really intense and obviously beyond heartbreaking, but also kind of beautiful," she said, before adding that she has still not been able to completely process the rush of emotions she went through during that time.
Mendes and Gosling fell in love while working together on their film "The Place Beyond the Pines" and also share another daughter named Esmerelda Amada, who turns two in September.
The actress revealed that both her daughters' names have been inspired by members of her family.
Esmerelda has been named after Mendes' grandmother Amada and Mendes said that even though she already had a handful of other names in mind for her newborn baby, she always kept going back to Amada when she was born and that's what they went with in the end.
Mendes added that she and her family was very emotional when her second daughter was born because of Carlos' recent passing and decided to pick the name "Amada" because of how emotional it made them all feel.
For more on Eva Mendes' take on motherhood, watch the video below:
