Beyonce is on the cover of Vogue’s September issue. The singer had unprecedented control over the cover. In a series of essays in the magazine she opens up about motherhood, her body, Coachella and so much more. “I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir,” the singer tells Vogue in captions that accompany photos taken Tyler Mitchell — the first black photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue in the magazine’s history — for the its September issue. “I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month. My health and my babies’ health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section.”

After the C-section, my core felt different,” Beyonce revealed. “I needed time to heal, to recover. During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier. I accepted what my body wanted to be.” Knowles took her time preparing for Coachella, temporarily becoming vegan and giving up alcohol, coffee and fruit drinks. “I was patient with myself and enjoyed my fuller curves,” she says. “My kids and husband did, too.”

Beyonce also reveals that she recently researched her ancestry and discovered she is a descendant of a slave owner who married a slave. “I pray that I am able to break the generational curses in my family and that my children will have less complicated lives,” she said in the article.

The Vogue September 2018 issue is available for preorder on Amazon and will be on newsstands in New York and LA on August 14th and nationwide August 21st!!