In a recent interview with People, "Nashville" actress, Hayden Panettiere discussed her life as a mother since giving birth to her first child, Kaya Evdokia earlier this month.

Panettiere described her newfound motherhood as "surreal" on both her body and mental state since she is getting very little sleep while taking care of her newborn.

"I'm limping around. I'm still trying to figure out what [pregnancy] has done to my body, how it's changed it. What's temporary and what's permanent," Panettiere told People, adding that she is "grateful" to have had an epidural while giving birth.

"I feel like an 80-year-old woman trying to go down the stairs, you know - please tell me this is temporary! But I know some things will never be the same again," she added.

Despite the challenges that pregnancy and motherhood have had on her, the 25-year-old actress gushed about Evdokia and how she sweet she is.

"She's really so sweet," she said about her daughter. "I'm sure that's the way it's meant to be, because when they are putting you through the wringer you're like, 'You are so lucky you're cute!'"

Prior to giving birth to Evdokia, Panettiere revealed to Hello! Magazine that she gained over 40 pounds during her pregnancy.

"I'm 5 feet, 2 inches and I started out at 106 pounds and guess how much I weight now? Around 145 pounds," she revealed. "And the worst part is that my feet are still size five and they're going, 'What's going on with all this weight?' They're about to snap from underneath me with the strain."

Still, the mother-to-be expressed her excitement over giving birth, revealing that she was excited to be having a daughter so that she can raise " a strong woman."

"I feel very empowered myself and I think my daughter will, too," she added.

Kaya Evdokia marks the first child for Panettiere and her fiance, Wladimir Klitschko.

Panettiere gave birth to Evdokia on Dec. 9.

  #klitschko #family #hayden #klitschkoteam photo credit by => @neonostalgia

Ein von WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO (@klitschkowladimir) gepostetes Foto am Dez 12, 2014 at 12:12 PST