Celebrity Pregnancy Confessions That We Didn't Expect
Some people who have had children talk about the beauty of pregnancy and how rewarding it can be. The bond between a parent and a child often is a special one, with years of growth, celebrations, and struggles between both parties. However, pregnancy itself can be tough and full of its own challenges.
Several celebrities have discussed the difficulties they went through while being pregnant. "I think it's just fear... The fear of not knowing what I'm doing," Vanessa Lachey shared in a 2013 blog post (via Us Weekly). She added, "No matter how many books you read, NOTHING prepares you better than the real thing. I felt lost, unloved, alone and at my wits end."
Since then, other celebrity moms have opened up about how they felt during their pregnancies. These are the unexpected confessions they made while expecting.
Kim Kardashian decided to 'keep it real'
People know Kim Kardashian for several different accomplishments, including being the mother of four children: North, Chicago, Saint, and Psalm. As luxurious and extravagant as her life looks, Kardashian occasionally displays more dressed-down moments on her Instagram feed. She used to do that through her now-defunct blog, opening up about topics near and dear to her. One of those posts discussed her second pregnancy in 2015.
"I'm gonna keep it real: For me, pregnancy is the worst experience of my life! LOL! I don't enjoy one moment of it and I don't understand people who enjoy it," Kardashian wrote (via Us Weekly). The star explained, "Maybe it's the swelling, the backaches or just the complete mindf*** of how your body expands and nothing fits. I just always feel like I'm not in my own skin." Kardashian's first two pregnancies both came with very specific complications.
She shared in a 2019 Instagram video that she had preeclampsia while expecting North, her first daughter, and went into emergency labor. The mom then suffered from placenta accreta, which Mayo Clinic calls "a serious pregnancy condition that occurs when the placenta grows too deeply into the uterine wall," sometimes leading to serious loss of blood. Kardashian shared that with Saint, "I had the same condition and the same awful delivery that I had with my first daughter. Well, after that, I actually had to have five different operations within a year and a half to fix the damage that all of that did from the inside."
Cardi B was 'depressed'
For some women, being pregnant makes them second-guess everything they do and who they will be once they have their baby. Rapper Cardi B had some of those thoughts when she was pregnant. The artist wrote numerous tweets in response to fans who thought Travis Scott's "Astroworld" should have gotten the 2019 best rap album Grammy, which Cardi B won for "Invasion of Privacy."
She shared behind-the-scenes details about her album, including: "I did it all while I was pregnant. Throwing up, drowsy, terrible colds and in a rush to finish it so I can start doing music videos before I started showing. I spend 24 hours for months sleeping on a couch with my pregnant depressed as** in a studio." Cardi B said the Grammys weren't on her mind, continuing, "All I can think about was ...everybody is disappointed in me, am I still going to have a career after this baby ? Is this album going to make me or break me ? I need to finish before I start showing." The mom added that she deserved her Grammy and concluded by stating that she and Travis Scott were supportive of one another.
Cardi B gave birth to her first child (Kulture Kiari Cephus) in 2018 and her second (Wave Set Cephus) in 2021. For her second pregnancy, she went all out with the reveal and announced it during the BET Awards.
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Beyoncé had toxemia
It is not uncommon for pregnant women to develop complications during the nine months of their term. A well-known complication is toxemia, better known as preeclampsia. According to Merriam-Webster, this is "a serious condition developing in late pregnancy that is characterized by a sudden rise in blood pressure, excessive weight gain, generalized edema, proteinuria, severe headache, and visual disturbances and that may result in eclampsia if untreated."
Beyoncé shared the reality of her pregnancy when she had her twins back in 2017. "I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir. I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month. My health and my babies' health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section. We spent many weeks in the NICU," she wrote in an essay for Vogue. The superstar mom added, "I was in survival mode and did not grasp it all until months later." Her experience made her feel connected to other parents dealing with emergencies in childbirth. As she detailed in her Netflix "Homecoming" documentary, the C-section took place specifically because one twin's heartbeat repeatedly paused. The film follows Beyoncé as she prepares for her post-pregnancy performance at Coachella.
In 2011, Queen Bey took the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards and revealed her first pregnancy after performing "Love on Top." Her eldest daughter, Blue Ivy, was born in 2012.
Kelly Clarkson said pregnancy is 'horrible'
Kelly Clarkson's legendary career has put her at the top of everyone's list of favorite "American Idol" champs. From multiple albums and awards to appearances on TV and film and hosting her own talk show, the original winner has done it all. While furthering her career, she also acquired the title of mom.
In 2014, Clarkson gave birth to her firstborn, River Rose, and two years later welcomed her son, Remington Alexander. The artist once told People, "[Pregnancy] was literally the worst moments of my life." She didn't elaborate, but after Remington (Remy) was born, Clarkson told Entertainment Weekly that pregnancy affected her diaphragm, the muscle singers use to breathe.
The mom also revealed to Jenny McCarthy on Sirius XM that both she and then-husband Brandon Blackstock were fixed; Clarkson got the procedure done as soon as she could after having her son. "It's horrible. Nothing is beautiful, nothing is magical. Whatever, you're that person that gets that pregnancy, good for you. But I will remind my children every day of their lives what I did." Blackstock and Clarkson finalized their divorce in March 2022 and have joint custody of Remy and River. Blackstock has two other children from a previous marriage.
Tamar Braxton disliked being pregnant
Singer Tamar Braxton gave birth to her son Logan Vincent Herbert in 2013 and has always been very candid about what her pregnancy was like. In an interview with Flaunt, she prided herself on being transparent: "I'm not a liar. I'm always myself." It is that honesty that allowed her to discuss the rawness of being pregnant. "It's beautiful and it's great just like everyone says, but there's another side to it. My back. My feet. My skin went absolutely nuts. I had the itchies the whole day. Imagine scratching all day and you can never get to the itch."
On her show "Tamar & Vince," the reality star decided to be honest about her first moments of motherhood, sharing that she did not feel an immediate maternal connection to her child. "It's not that I didn't love him; it's not that I didn't want to connect with him. I was upset because I didn't instantly connect with him," she told Flaunt. That connection certainly developed for the mom and her son. Braxton told Glamour in 2017, "He's the best thing that ever happened to Vince and I. Considering I was told I probably wouldn't be able to have kids [without help], that's why Logan is a real miracle baby." She discussed her fertility journey with the outlet, including having a miscarriage.
Amy Schumer said her pregnancy was 'a bummer'
Instagram often amplifies the most attractive parts of life, and pictures of new moms might show them looking serene, or even radiant. However, as all these celebs indicate, pregnancies are hard and don't always leave new parents feeling good in their own skin. Amy Schumer has used her platform to detail the ups and downs of her motherhood journey.
In 2019, right before giving birth to Gene David Fischer, Schumer sat down with Seth Meyers and said, "It's been pretty tough. I didn't know that pregnancies could be such a bummer. ... I still have hyperemesis. I threw up a bunch of times on my way here." According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, "Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a rare disorder characterized by severe and persistent nausea and vomiting during pregnancy that may necessitate hospitalization."
Schumer's "Expecting Amy" docuseries was released on HBO Max in summer 2020. The Atlantic's Sophie Gilbert praised the project for showing Schumer navigating her physical condition while continuing to do her job everyday. The comedian made an Instagram post in 2020 as she explored fertility options after Gene's birth, writing, "I'm a week into IVF and feeling really run down and emotional." Schumer said during a 2022 "Dear Chelsea" appearance that her uterus was removed (she previously had endometriosis) and she and her husband would enjoy life with their one son.
Zoe Saldaña's body 'crashed'
Zoe Saldaña has given birth three times. In 2014, she and husband Marco Perego welcomed twins Cy Aridio and Bowie Ezio, while in 2016 she gave birth to Zen. One of the biggest struggles for the actor was what was happening to her body in the aftermath of giving birth — particularly following her twins.
She used Facebook to address her fans and discuss her physical transformation five months after the twins' birth. "Your body changes dramatically, inside and out. You grow in places you never knew you could, and you are tired beyond belief. In some cases more than others, your body experiences a kind of trauma through childbirth that is difficult to explain unless you've had that experience. My case was like that, everything from my thyroid to my platelets crashed," Saldaña wrote.
In 2019, the actor told People not to expect more babies from her. "If we were individuals that lived a much more consistent life, then we would entertain [having more kids]. But we don't know when we're going to be traveling and for how long, so bringing more children into an already hectic and full life just feels a bit irresponsible for us." Saldaña added that her three kids matter most to her.
Katherine Heigl struggled with indigestion
Many moms around the world know that even though they are pregnant, life keeps on turning at its normal pace and they must carry on with their obligations as much as possible. For some, that means going into the office while dealing with morning sickness. For others, it means showing up on set burping.
"The thing that really got me was the indigestion. You can ask my co-stars [on the set of 'Doubt'], I never stopped burping," Katherine Heigl told People. "And I felt terrible about it, but there was just nothing I could do — I would be in the middle of saying something and I'd just start burping. It was awful. I felt like a frat boy."
In the past, Heigl and her husband Josh Kelley had decided to adopt daughters Adalaide Marie Hope and Nancy Leigh Mi-Eun. So her first pregnancy came to her as a surprise. "I've never been determined to experience pregnancy, but I'm so grateful that I did. I think that if it hadn't been a surprise, I'm not sure I would have done it. It was an incredible experience, it was kind of magical."
Melissa Joan Hart felt very 'uncomfortable'
Melissa Joan Hart gave birth in 2006, 2008, and 2012. She loves her three boys, but as she told she told OK! back in '08, "I did not like being pregnant. I was just reading a magazine where there were a group of celebrities that loved being pregnant, so they never wanted to stop. ... And I just hated it."
Everybody's favorite teenage witch shared that her expectations for her pregnancies might have been high because of her mother having seven kids. "My whole life I said, I can't wait to be pregnant. I thought that would feel so feminine and beautiful and wonderful and I could eat whatever I wanted and I'd enjoy it. It is so uncomfortable and you just feel so out of sorts."
In 2012, during her third trimester with her youngest son, Hart echoed her sentiments to Grow by WebMD. Though she was glad her pregnancies had gone smoothly, Hart experienced more nausea and hormones with her third. But it was all worth it. Posting a throwback shot of herself with sons Brady, Mason, and Tucker, she wrote on Instagram in 2022, "I never imagined I would be a boy mom and now I can't imagine my life as anything else."
Anne Hathaway spoke about painful moments
In 2019, Anne Hathaway announced she was pregnant with her second child, Jack, through an Instagram post (her first son, Jonathan, was born in 2016). From the very beginning, she was conscious of how difficult it can be for some women to get pregnant and didn't shy away from saying she had also struggled. "...for everyone going through infertility and conception hell, please know it was not a straight line to either of my pregnancies. Sending you extra love," the actor wrote.
As a fictional queen, Hathaway takes a positive and elegant approach to life. This applied to additional conversations surrounding maternity. In an exclusive for ET, Hathaway acknowledged the pain that so many face on the road to parenthood. "I just knew that somewhere my announcement was going to make somebody feel worse about themselves because ... it's just, you can't help it, you want something so bad, and it feels like it's happening to everyone else but you," she said.
Hathaway spoke about this topic again in 2022 with WSJ Magazine. "There's this tendency to portray getting pregnant, having kids, in one light, as if it's all positive. But I know from my own experience...it's so much more complicated than that," the star explained, stressing the importance of letting people know they are not alone.