Eva Mendes shows off post-baby figure on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, tells why she and boyfriend Ryan Gosling kept mum about the pregnancy

Eva Mendes made her first television appearance just eleven-weeks after giving birth to her baby daughter Esmeralda Amada with her live-in boyfriend Ryan Gosling at the December 3 edition of the The Ellen DeGeneres Show looking slim, fit, glowing and wearing one of her own signature designs from the holiday collection of her New York & Company collaboration line.

"Congratulations, liar," she was greeted by Ellen who proceeded to grill her on why she didn't want to admit she was pregnant before. "I was so early on and all mom's will understand, you're not supposed to tell anybody during your first, well certainly not the world, in your first trimester," she replied.

Eva also told Ellen and her audience why she and Ryan opted to stay so quiet on the baby news. Said she: "I think just early on, we decided it's going to be very hard for her to have privacy. And we thought this is the first opportunity we can give her to protect her and so then I had a nice calm pregnancy, which I did."

Previously, in an interview she did for the cover story in the November issue of the Violet Grey fashion and beauty magazine, Eva also said: "It's such an intimate time [the period of pregnancy] for the mother, too. I know that it seems all very innocuous when you're flipping through a tabloid at the doctor's office or see a photo of a pregnant lady online, but I find the media's 'bump watch' obsession to be both intrusive and stressful. So I made a decision to eject myself from it completely. I was like, 'Annnnd I'm out.'"

Ellen asked the 40-year-old brand new mother how she managed to get her figure back so fast. She replied: "You know, breastfeeding. I've always heard it. It really does help to shrink your uterus back to normal size. It does! I know it's a really weird thing to say, but it does. So breastfeeding is really helping and then obviously you want to be healthy for the baby because she's eating kind of what I'm eating so you want to make good choices."

For those interested, Fashion & Style says Eva's dress, from her Jacquard Maria Dress line, which she showed off at Ellen's TV program is available in three colors for $69.95, while her golden filigree bracelet is $36.95 and her jeweled fringe choker is $39.95, all available at New York & Company stores nationwide and online.