Ashanti Proclaims She Is ‘So Proud’ of Her 4-Week Postpartum Body: ‘No Idea What This Body Can Do’

Ashanti is “so proud” of her postpartum body four weeks after she and her husband, Nelly , welcomed their first baby together.

“Funny how life’s plans aren’t … always on time,” Ashanti, 43, jokingly wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, August 21, referencing her childbirth experience. “I’ve been waiting to be a mom for a long time now but nothing could prepare me for EVERYTHING motherhood brings!”

She added, “This is what postpartum looks like. I’m loving these super cozy @fridamom shorts! I’m so proud of my body for giving me my baby, baby, baby, baby, baby.”

Ashanti uploaded a selfie of herself, wearing a pair of Frida’s postpartum shorts and a matching white crop top. She accessorized her look with a giant diamond chain and blue-and-white silk robe.

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The singer also uploaded a video taken at the same time.

“You have no idea what this body can do,” she quipped, resting a hand on her belly.

Ashanti gave birth to son Kareem Kenkaide on July 18, the couple’s first baby together. The “Hot in Herre” rapper, 49, also shares daughter Chanelle and son Cornell Haynes III with ex Chanetta Valentine and previously adopted his late sister, Jackie Donahue ’s two children after her 2005 death.

Us Weekly broke the news in December 2023 that Ashanti and Nelly were expecting a baby . Amid Ashanti’s pregnancy, she and Nelly secretly got engaged and later married.

Ashanti and Nelly’s Relationship Timeline: From Their On-Off Romance in the 2000s to 2023 Reconciliation

“This new year of my life is such a blessing full of love, hope and anticipation,” she told Essence in April. “Motherhood is something that I have looked forward to.”

Ashanti and Nelly initially dated on and off between 2003 and 2013 after meeting at a Grammy Awards press conference. They reconciled ten years later in 2023.

“Yeah, we cool again,” Nelly said during a September 2023 appearance on the “Boss Moves with Rasheeda” podcast. “I think it surprised both of us though. It wasn’t anything that I don’t think was planned.”

Prior to getting back together, Ashanti saw Nelly for the first time in years at a music festival in 2021. She was a guest of Fat Joe, while Nelly had his own set at the festival. While backstage, the now-couple shared a hug.

“You know what, the crazy part is he didn’t say anything,” Ashanti said during a November 2021 interview on The Angie Martinez Show . “First of all, I didn’t know he was going to be there. I told Joe, like, ‘Joe, why you ain’t tell me he was gonna be there?’ He was like, ‘Sis, I know, it’s terrible.’ He was like, ‘I couldn’t risk you not coming if you knew he was going to be there.’”