Reese Witherspoon Remembered Thinking "This Is Not Going To Work" When She Welcomed Daughter Ava

    “I did not have a lot of support with my first baby."

    Joyann Jeffrey
    by Joyann Jeffrey

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Reese Witherspoon learned the hard way that it takes a village to raise a child.

    During a new interview for Armchair Expert, Reese recalled what it was like for her to be a first-time mom at age 23.

    While talking to Kristen Bell and Monica Padman, Reese said it was very tough for her because she was doing most of it all on her own.

    “I did not have a lot of support with my first baby, and I learned really early, like, this is not going to work,” she said.

    In 1999, Reese gave birth to her first child, daughter Ava, with her then-husband, Ryan Phillippe. The couple later welcomed their second child, Deacon, in 2003 before they split in 2008. Four years later, Reese gave birth to her last child, Tennessee, with husband Jim Toth.

    Reese recalled having a lot of trouble with daughter Ava’s sleeping schedule. She said she had to try to “muscle through for five months with Ava, just not sleeping, and [she] became delirious.”

    However, it did help that Reese was making good money as an actor. Her hit movie Cruel Intentions was released the same year that Ava was born.

    “I was lucky enough to have money saved, and I didn’t have to work,” she said. “But it’s just not a one-person job. I would even say it’s not a two-person job.”

    Reese learned a lot about motherhood from Ava. You can listen to the rest of her interview here.