It's official: Ashanti is part of the celebrity moms club. On Wednesday, news broke that she and Nelly have welcomed their first child together just as Ashanti shared her first postpartum photo on Instagram. She might be a brand-new mom, but the singer is already keeping it real about what the fourth trimester is actually like — even if it's not what her fans are used to seeing on her account.
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Ashanti revealed her baby had arrived by appearing on Instagram at four weeks postpartum.
Posing in a pair of Frida Mom disposable underwear in a new Instagram post, Ashanti wrote a caption about how "proud" she is of her body during this time.
"Funny how life’s plans aren’t … always on time … lol. I’ve been waiting to be a mom for a long time now but nothing could prepare me for EVERYTHING motherhood brings!" she wrote.
"Four weeks postpartum. You have no idea what this body can do," she says in the video included in her post.
The new parents confirmed the birth of their baby boy the same day.
In a statement to People, the couple's rep confirmed that their baby had finally arrived, saying, "Ashanti and Nelly welcomed their baby boy, Kareem Kenkaide Haynes, on July 18, 2024. The proud and happy parents are so in love with KK!"
How exciting!
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Kareem's name was Nelly's idea.
As Ashanti told Entertainment Tonight, her husband came up with the name with "a lot of pride."
"We were going back and forth for a long time on his name and he was very adamant. He was like, ‘This is what I want, I love this,'" she said. "I thought it was just so amazing and so thoughtful and so sweet because Kenkaide is my dad’s name and obviously my dad has only girls, so Nelly was just like, ‘I think that would be really dope.’ This was all his idea."
Her baby boy was early, but Nelly was able to fly in just in time.
"Just having all of us in the delivery room and seeing his face for the first time, I cried," Ashanti told ET. "It was just so emotional and so spiritual. Kind of having a vision of this moment for so long. I always wanted children, I always wanted to get married. I didn’t know that I was going to spin the block and be with my ex from a long time ago."
She said it was 'electrifying' to finally have her, Nelly, and KK together.
"It just validated all of that. It was very emotional and spiritual to say the least," she shared.
This is such an exciting time for Ashanti and Nelly. We can't wait to find out more about baby KK, but until then, we hope they're soaking up all the precious newborn cuddles they can handle.
