Maria Menounos Shares Candid Update on Her Health and Motherhood: 'Grateful to Be Alive and to Have Thrived'

Maria Menounos is reflecting on the highs and lows she's experienced over the past several years.

On Wednesday, the former E! News correspondent, 45, shared a lengthy life update on Instagram, letting her followers know how she's doing in the wake of her January stage 2 pancreatic cancer diagnosis and the birth of her first baby via surrogate in June.

"Hi friends! Motherhood is going great," she wrote, alongside a photo of her holding her 6-week-old daughter, Athena, while wearing a T-shirt with the word "Mother" across it. "She’s currently asleep on me as we get some morning light. I’m so in love it’s crazy."

After thanking her fans for their love and support, she reflected on everything she's been through lately.

"I look back at the last six years — it’s been kinda crazy. Mom gets a brain tumor, then me, two brain surgeries later, then both my parents are hospitalized with covid, then I lost my mom, then I got diagnosed with type one diabetes, then a Neuro endocrine tumor on my pancreas…some other crazy stuff in between too," she wrote.

She said her husband, Keven Undergaro, had been encouraging her to take time to pause and process all of her big life events. "Kev says I maybe roll too well with the punches and I should sit back and acknowledge it all more — maybe at some point I will dig in deeper," she shared.

For now, it sounds like Menounos is focusing on gratitude and appreciating her blessings. "Just that list makes me so grateful to be alive and to have thrived. To be here to enjoy this beautiful little girl. Thank you god! Thank you St Nectarios and Panagia. I pray all of it is behind us and only great days ahead!" she concluded her post.

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The TV personality also spent a little time chatting with her followers in the comment section. One person wrote that their father dealt with Type 1 diabetes for more than 20 years, and Menounos promised to share more about her personal experience with the disease.

"Gonna do a whole diabetes week coming soon on @healsquad. Trust me you need to listen as I’ve had lots of breakthroughs to share," she replied back.

Another asked Menounos if her Type 1 diabetes correlates with her pancreatic cancer diagnosis. "They say no. Who knows," she answered.

Menounos previously shared a little update about her life as a new mom while guest hosting Live with Kelly and Mark last month. "We're just so overjoyed. It's the greatest feeling in the world," she gushed to Mark Consuelos.

"I never knew when people would be like, 'Life is about kids and family,' and I was so busy with my career and running around. Now I get it. It really is," she said. "This is just the greatest feeling in the world."

She also shared that Ungaro has been pitching in with diaper changes — though he hasn't quite managed to master the skill yet. "He hasn't done a lot of them," Menounos explained. "So yesterday, before I left, he was changing her diaper. And you know, when you're not doing it all the time, maybe you're not great at it."

"So I'll fix a few things in there, and try to keep him confident. Don't want to break his confidence. 'You're doing great honey, just a few minor adjustments,' " she said, turning to the camera. "Honey, you're doing great!"

She also told Consuelos, 52, how she chose her daughter's name. "[Athena is] the goddess of war and wisdom and courage and strength, all of those wonderful things. Her middle name, Alexandra, is the defender of human kind. I didn't put all that stuff together, so it's kind of crazy." she explained, seemingly referring to the fact that Athena arrived in her life at a time when she needed those very attributes to face her health challenges.