Ciara kicks off her 2021 a’front of SELF Magazine.

Beyond styling, smizing, and stunning in the Travis Matthews lensed shoot, CiCi opened up in earnest about her current life within her accompanying feature.

Indeed, she dished on being pregnant with son Win during the pandemic and what giving birth was like under lockdown conditions.

She also spilled on how she keeps her relationship with Russell Wilson healthy and mutually fulfilling.

Head below for pics and quotes…

On Working With Husband Russell Wilson On Various Ventures:

“Us being able to pursue our dreams together and come together and build up things with love from the ground up together has been very special and has been a blessing and a gift in the midst of the chaos. Just being able to do that has definitely brought us moments of joy.”

On How She Dealt With The Current Climate:

“It was just not being able to do things to really, truly free your mind. That was just, by far, the greatest challenge of it all because it was like these four walls. What do I do?. Thank God, with Russ and I, we held on up. We did alright. We still have the same level of love for each other. If anything, it makes you have even more because you literally are going in circles, the same thing over and over, but figuring it out.”

On Being Pregnant During The Pandemic:

“That was just such, wow, an out-of-body experience. [Russell] drove me all the way down to my doctor’s office, an hour drive to my doctor’s office, to sit in the car and FaceTime with me to see the screen.”

On The Day Baby Win Was Born:

“Russ was literally everything in one. He was my husband. He was the photographer, the videographer. He was so cute because he set up the cameras. He was looking at the camera, checking the angle, and [saying], ‘The baby is going to come out this way, so I’ll be right here, and this camera will be right here.’ And then he also got to help pull the baby out, which was really sweet.”

On Wearing A Mask While Giving Birth:

“My obstetrician, who’s delivered all my babies, was not playing any games about this COVID. I literally made my first push with Win and then he was like, ‘She needs a mask on. Get a mask on.’ It happened so fast, so I still had my mask [down]. But he was like, ‘Oh, no, no. She gon’ put that mask on.’ My mask was pretty good. I could still breathe alright through it, so that was good. But it was like, ‘Wow. This is crazy. I’m having to deliver a baby with a mask. What in the world?’

[Luckily] it was literally three pushes, good ones. Three good pushes and he was here.”

On The Secret To Her Relationship’s Success:

“We do have to put ourselves first as husband and wife, and that’s a hard thing to really understand, I think, especially for women, moms. We love our babies so much. But we got to make sure our love is feeling good too, our husbands are feeling good too.”

On Her Present Headspace:

“I feel like I’m in my best place ever in my life. I love where I am in every area. I’m grateful for the wisdom that life has given me with my experiences. I love my confidence that I have as a woman.

I’m loving every bit of me, and that feels good.”

Your thoughts?

[Photo Credit: SELF / Travis Matthews]