Hallmark Star Erika Christensen Couldn't Keep Her Second Baby's Gender A Secret For Long

Celebs can be very protective of their children (and for good reason), often keeping their gender, names, and faces confidential until they're ready to share details with the public. However, when you're a parent trying to withhold information about something as special as your kids, it can be quite the challenge not to gush and let a big baby secret slip.

Hallmark's Erika Christensen knows the struggle all too well. The "Anything for Love" star announced in an Instagram post that she was expecting her second baby in May 2018. The star already shared a daughter, Shane, with her husband, Cole Maness. People reported that, like other Hollywood parents, Christensen had set out to conceal the baby's gender, stating, "It's fun to have secrets." However, it proved incredibly hard for the "Swimfan" actress to remember to use gender neutral phrases to refer to her little one-to-be when talking to reporters.

In an interview one month later, the mom gushed, "She seems to grasp. My mom got her a t-shirt that says, 'Big sister.' She seems to grasp that there's a baby in here. She's giving the baby some kisses," referring to her firstborn, Shane. But then she slipped, accidentally revealing that baby number two was a girl, "Hopefully, the little one will learn a lot from her sister." With the cat out of the bag, there was nothing Christensen could do but admit her mistake, "Oh, well, there you go," she added.

Erika Christensen only had a few more months of pregnancy to go when she let slip in June 2018 that baby number two was a girl. Before she and her husband, Cole Maness, could get totally prepared to head to the hospital, their second daughter was in their arms.

Polly Christensen was born on August 10, 2018, at the couple's house. In an Instagram post of a picture of Christensen with her newborn, it appears that she and the little one are sitting on her bed at home. The "Parenthood" actor captioned the sweet image, "It happened! It happened this morning. And it will go down in history because babygirl's own incredible dad delivered her all by himself. My fault entirely as I didn't know she would come so quickly and didn't call the doc until far too late." She confessed that their doctor arrived about one minute after Polly made her grand entrance.

Fortunately, her mother was on hand along with her husband, as Christensen revealed it was she who snapped the adorable photo of the newest family member. In the same post, Christensen (consciously) revealed her second child's name, officially introducing Polly to the world instead of deciding to keep her name under wraps.

Since welcoming Shane and Polly Christensen, Erika Christensen has been trying to keep it real while raising them. In an interview with Us Weekly, the mom revealed that she isn't in the business of hiding things from her kids. "I want to teach them to be smart, but I don't want to teach them to be afraid," she admitted. Though she didn't expound on what issues or potential dangers she was cluing her little ones in on, she did explain, "As a parent, that's more of your job to be afraid. I think of it as there are forces of good and evil and you may as well continue to contribute to the forces of good in the way that I can."

Christensen, who is a Scientologist, had expounded a bit on her view of parenting after the birth of her first daughter, telling Dax Shepard on his podcast, "Armchair Expert," that as a Scientologist parent, she was "trying to temper absolutely necessary discipline and rules and structure with fostering independent thought and freedom of personality."

It sounds like the "Wicked City" star strives to be open and honest with her children. Even though she initially wanted to conceal Polly's gender, she's since been pretty revealing with her thoughts and opinions on parenting. Similarly, Christensen isn't afraid to post family photos of her adorable kids, often praising her supportive family members for helping her raise her girls.