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Keri Russell got some much-deserved sympathy from the ladies of The View on Friday, when she revealed that she was in labor for 38 hours when she gave birth to her son, River Russell Deary, in June.

“It was intense… It was a long time. But it all worked out okay,” she said.

Also impressing the panel on Friday? Russell’s slim figure five months after delivering.

“I would love to say I worked out every day. But it’s truly genetics,” Russell, 31, said. “You have what you have, and then you work hard or you don’t. And I… It was genetics.

So, did she work out at all? “I didn’t - because I didn’t have a babysitter until two weeks ago. It was like walking through the park. And I have to say, breast-feeding, you burn so many calories, and I’m still doing it.”

Russell also had some kind words for her carpenter hubby Shane Deary. “It’s like living with MacGyver. He can fix anything.”

Waitress star Keri Russell and husband Shane Deary welcomed their first child, a son, her rep confirms.

River Russell Deary was born June 9 in New York. The birth was announced on Monday.

Russell, 31, who gained fame on TV’s Felicity, now appears in the hit indie romantic comedy Waitress.

She previously told PEOPLE of her pregnancy, “I’m one of the lucky ones. … It’s a big, life-changing experience, and we’re excited.”

PEOPLE movie critic Leah Rozen reports from Park City:Though there are plenty of movies that stir emotional responses at the Sundance Film Festival, for pure poignancy it would be hard to match Sunday afternoon’s premiere of Waitress, a movie written, directed by and costarring Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered last fall in New York City.

At a public Q%26A session that followed the screening, star Keri Russell was overcome with emotion when asked about working with Shelly. She retreated from the mic to wipe away tears, motioning for the movie’s producer to take over.

Russell and other cast members, including Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines and Jeremy Sisto, all came to the Sundance screening to show their support for the late director.

Shelly, 40, best known for her appearances in such indie standouts as Factotum and Trust, was murdered in Manhattan last November, allegedly by a workman who was renovating a Greenwich Village apartment one floor below her office. They had a confrontation after Shelly complained about the noise.

She left behind a husband, Andrew Ostroy, and a 2-year-old daughter.

Shelly had completed Waitress, a sprightly comic drama, before her death, and it had been accepted at the festival, although she hadn’t yet been notified. “There’s a joie de vivre in this film that I think Adrienne would want us all to celebrate,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, director of the festival, when introducing the film.

The movie is about a pie-baking waitress (Russell) in a small town who is less than thrilled to find herself pregnant by her abusive husband (Sisto). (Russell’s own real-life pregnancy, with fiancé Shane Deary, was announced last week.)

After the premiere, Russell told PEOPLE, “I haven’t ever been part of a film that has so much good will here. Our film has a sweet hope to it that I think is refreshing for this crowd. I saw it for the first time here – it cracked me up and it made me cry.

“People had such a nice, warm reaction that I felt like I just can’t believe (Shelly) isn’t here to experience this. She was like a firecracker – she loved this world. I just feel like we have to talk for her, and get word out about the film.”

Shelly’s husband announced the creation of The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, which will give scholarships and grants to female filmmakers. More information can be found at www.adrienneshellyfoundation.org.

Former Felicity star Keri Russell is pregnant, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The actress, 30, and fiancé Shane Deary, 30, a contractor, will welcome their first child this summer, according to Russell’s rep, Jill Fritzo.

Russell and Deary have been dating for several years and were engaged to be married last year. No wedding date has been set, Fritzo says.

Russell played the title role of Felicity Porter in the hit WB drama from 1998 to 2002. In 2006 she appeared opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 3.

Her new movie, the indie romantic comedy Waitress, was directed by the late Adrienne Shelly and screened at the Sundance Film Festival. The Cover Girl spokeswoman will also star later this year in August Rush with Robin Williams and Girl in the Park with Kate Bosworth.

Of her pregnancy, Russell, who’s in her second trimester, told PEOPLE at Sundance, “I’m one of the lucky ones. So far it’s been nice and easy. It’s a big, life-changing experience, and we’re excited.”