Beyonce hardly recognized herself while pregnant
Beyonce "barely recognized" herself as she checked into hospital to give birth to her baby girl - because she had gained so much weight during her pregnancy.
The pop superstar packed on 50 pounds (22.68 kilograms) while carrying daughter Blue Ivy, who was born in New York in January (12), and she admits she felt anything but pretty at the end of her pregnancy.
Beyonce, who has just been named the Most Beautiful Woman in the
World by editors at People magazine, says, "I didn't feel that I
looked beautiful during birth - but who does? After being pumped
with all those fluids and gaining so much weight, with my swollen
lips and cheeks, I barely recognized myself.
"I tried my best to roller-set my hair, and I wore my (lip) gloss
when I arrived at the hospital. I committed to the end and wore my
kitten heels. It makes me laugh thinking about it.
"But after many hours of labour, I didn't care how I looked. It was
all about the miracle that God gave me - the opportunity to deliver
a human being."
Beyonce has managed to shed almost all of the weight she gained,
although she reveals it's been a challenge.
She says, "I'm proud that my waist came back so fast... I had to
get my tone back. I'm definitely softer. But I feel my body
bouncing back. Whatever was tight and muscular, like my legs, I'm
seeing it come back. You just have to work at it."
And she's keen to clear up some crazy rumors about her rigorous
twice-a-day exercise schedule: "I'm a new mother; I don't have time
for that. And no, I don't have a trainer living with me."