Kehlani is opening up about how not everything is always exactly as it seems.
The singer took to Instagram on Sunday and posted a photo of herself cradling her bare baby bump as she wore a tan bra and colorful pants. In her caption, Kehlani described her “struggle” with her pregnancy and some of the difficulties she has faced along the way.
“oh is dat kehlani wit another essay caption… who woulda thought!” she began her caption. “i’ve been getting lots of preggie folx saying i been making it look easy, and how they wish their pregnancy was/is going the same as mine seems to be… i will say this: the internet makes everything look lovely and wonderful.”
The “Good Life” singer went on to explain why everything isn’t as “lovely and wonderful” as it appears at first glance. She wrote, “2 days away from the 3rd trimester and this has been the hardest thing ever.”
Kehlani wrote that she has been experiencing prenatal depression and it has been very difficult for her. She said it felt like it was “hitting me like a bag of bricks, to being very isolated and alone internally and externally these days, to just the normal terrible sleep/no appetite/anxiety.”
The 23-year-old offered up her advice to anyone else experiencing prenatal depression. She said, “what’s been helping me is: talking about it. sharing. reminding myself isolation doesn’t have to be the answer. waking up early and getting OUT of bed to get sun.”
She shared that she doesn’t like “being this vulnerable online,” but the support she receives from loved ones and her community is “EVERYTHING.”
Kehlani’s third trimester begins on Christmas, she explained, and she’s “ready for this final round.”
The “Peace of Mind” artist surprised everyone on Oct. 12 when she revealed she was expecting her first child. She said the pregnancy was “the HARDEST to hide.”
“If you know me, you know i’ve dreamt about motherhood since i was very young. when asked what my goals are, it’s always the idea of a big healthy happy family & whatever comes along is a plus,” she penned in the first caption announcing her pregnancy. “dearest little girl, i am so proud to be your mommy. i am so proud to have received you.”
About a month after divulging her pregnancy, Kehlani posed on the cover of Nylon and explained that she had received lots of backlash about it. The singer publicly identified as queer in April, which became a central part of the negative criticism she got about her pregnancy.
“I’ve gotten everything from ‘I thought she was a lesbian’ to ‘she was using queerness to promote her career, then went and betrayed us with a man’ to ‘her baby father is just a sperm donor’,” she told the magazine.
She added, “I have always said, and will always say, there are people out there in this community fighting for equality in realer ways than making songs about it and performing at events like I am, and those are the ‘queeroes’.”
Here’s to a healthy third trimester, Kehlani!