Washington - Cardi B is at the height of her career, but earlier this month she hit the pause button to give birth to a daughter she shares with fellow rapper Offset.
Still, the Invasion of Privacy rapper had planned to hit the road with Bruno Mars for the remainder of his 24K Magic World Tour. And then she released a statement announcing she was bowing out.
"I thought that after giving birth to my daughter that 6 weeks would be enough time for me to recover mentally and physically," she wrote on Instagram. "I also thought that I'd be able to bring her with me on tour, but I think I underestimated this whole mommy thing."
She added: "Not only am I just not ready physically, I'm not ready to leave my baby behind since the doctors explained it's not healthy for her to be on the road. I hope you guys understand that this decision has been the hardest to make but I have to do what's best for myself and my baby!"
Cardi is just the latest celebrity to open up about her expectations of motherhood and confronting the reality of the situation.
Because of the wealth and fame that gives celebrities the best products, healthcare and nannies (or even nannies at all), it's easy to think famous women are also super-humans with perfect pregnancies, trouble-free deliveries and easy entries back to their jobs. But even Serena Williams, one of the world's greatest athletes, faced life-threatening complications during labor.
Williams opened up about the scary moment, and even filmed an HBO docuseries about her pregnancy and return to tennis. Her experience also highlighted the fact that black women are more likely than white women to suffer from life-threatening childbirth complications; Williams told the BBC that "doctors aren't listening to us, just to be quite frank."
"I was in a really fortunate situation where I know my body well, and I am who I am, and I told the doctor: 'I don't feel right. Something's wrong.' She immediately listened," Williams said. "She was great. I had a wonderful, wonderful doctor. Unfortunately a lot of African-Americans and black people don't have the same experience that I've had."
Williams has also opened up about other challenges of being a working mother, including missing her baby's first steps. Many other working moms could relate.
We're in a moment of celebrity where fans love to see their favorite stars get real and authentic, and being a tad rough-around-the-edges just adds to the charm. Cardi B is the perfect encapsulation of this; much of her stardom has been driven by her adept approach to social media.
But even more private superstars have also taken time off and returned to the spotlight well after giving birth. Beyoncé, who gave birth to twins in June 2017, performed in April at Coachella. "I am so happy to be here. I was supposed to perform at Coachella before, but I ended up getting pregnant, thank God," she told the crowd. "This is a very important performance for me tonight. I'm happy to be back on stage."
Comedian Ali Wong taped both of her Netflix specials while pregnant, and tells jokes with graphic detail about going through labor and breast-feeding.
In Wong's first special, Baby Cobra, she addressed all of the pressures moms face, which she noticed even before giving birth.
"I can already see how there's this crazy double standard in our society," she said. "It takes so little to be considered a great dad, and it also takes so little to be considered" a bad mom.