Cardi B Pregnant—What the Star Has Said About Motherhood
Cardi B undoubtedly stole the show during the BET Awards on Sunday, when she announced that she was expecting her second child with husband Offset.
The "WAP" rapper, 28, joined Offset's group Migos onstage to perform their track "Type S***"—but her choice of revealing ensemble became the talk of the show.
She took to the stage in a rhinestone-encrusted black bodysuit, which featured a sheer panel at the abdomen area, allowing her to show off her flourishing baby bump.
Cardi B, real name Belcalis Almánzar, also timed an Instagram post announcing her pregnancy to go live as she performed at the awards show.
Captioning the image, which showed the star posing as a cast was made of her stomach, she wrote: "#2! ♥️," while also tagging her husband.
Indeed, this is the musician's second child, as she and Offset—real name Kiari Cephus—are already parents to daughter Kulture Kiari, who turns 3 in July.
And Cardi B has been typically candid with her fans about her experiences as a mother, sharing a series of tweets and videos on social media since welcoming Kulture.
For instance, she admitted to fans that no amount of advice or reading could have prepared her for such a big life change, as she had to learn on the job.
She told her fans, per Vogue: "Moms always give advice like, 'Oh, when you have a baby things change, you will see, it's not easy.' It's true. No matter how many books you read—cuz I read some books—you just really have to have a baby to see.
"I just want to say that I respect mothers more than ever now. I see moms differently, especially the young ones that, like, are so young and barely have experience or money. I don't even know how they can do it."
The star also spoke about the instant bond she felt with her offspring, saying: "Bro, there's this feeling as soon as my baby came out that is like, I can't leave my baby now for like one second.
"A lot of people keep telling me, like, you gotta find a nanny, you gotta start working soon and it's so hard because, like, I wanna be with my baby every second. Even when I'm doing my hair in the other room, I just gotta be around her."
When it comes to breastfeeding, Cardi B had something to say about that, too, admitting in true-to-form comedic style that she had inherited a new "boss" in Kulture.
"I met my match," she told her fans in another social media post. "She is very demanding, like, I can't believe I have a boss. When my baby wanna eat, she wanna eat. It's not like, 'Oh three minutes?' No. Give me the milk now."
There were also more serious moments, like Cardi B's battle with post-partum depression. "I thought I was going to avoid it," she said. "When I gave birth, the doctor told me about post-partum, and I was like, 'Well, I'm doing good right now, I don't think that's going to happen.' But out of nowhere, the world was heavy on my shoulders."
Ultimately, though, the star said that becoming a mother has motivated her to work all the more harder, as she ensures her child's future is secure.
"I could shake my a**, I could be the most ratchet-est person ever, I could get into a fight tomorrow, but I'm still a great mom," she said. "All the time I'm thinking about my kid.
"I'm shaking my a**, but at the same time I'm doing business, I'm on the phone with my business manager saying, make sure that a percentage of my check goes to my kid's trust. I give my daughter so much love, and I'm setting her up for a future.
"I want to tell her that a lot of the s*** that I have done in life—no matter what I did, knowing that I wanted to have kids made me go harder to secure a good future for my kids."
Cardi B chose a similar way to announce her first pregnancy, when she unveiled her burgeoning baby bump during an April 2018 performance on Saturday Night Live.
The star tied the knot with Offset, 29, in September 2017. They have endured their fair share of ups and downs, with Cardi B filing for divorce last fall, though they reunited in November. Offset has three children from previous relationships.
