Gwen Stefani Reflects on Life Before Her Divorce

The singer, now dating Blake Shelton, said there was "a lot of struggle."

ByABC News
November 6, 2015, 1:40 PM

— -- Gwen Stefani said the years leading up to her divorce from Gavin Rossdale weren't the easiest.

The singer, who's now dating Blake Shelton, told InStyle magazine for its December cover that there was "a lot of struggle."

"I didn’t tour at all. But I did record the No Doubt album, which was super hard. I was torn the whole time," she said. "Every day I would take the kids to school, drive to Santa Monica, work on the album, and then I’d think, 'Oh my God, if I don’t leave by 2:30, I’m not gonna get home in time for dinner.' And Gavin being on tour… I’m not gonna say there weren’t some incredible moments making that album. But it was a lot of knocking my head against the wall."

In August, Stefani, 46, and her Rossdale, her husband of 13 years, announced their marriage was over. Still, they have three sons together, Kingston, 9, Zuma, 7, and Apollo, 1. Getting pregnant with her youngest, which she said was not planned and "such a miracle," changed her.

"I was trying at the time to do more music with No Doubt. Then I got pregnant, and I was like, 'OK, well what am I gonna do now? I need to make some changes,'" she recalled. "There’s only so much energy.”

Now, the "Voice" coach, who says she's in a "really positive place," said she's learning to balance being a musician and a mom.

“In the beginning, I didn’t want to think of myself as a mother. I was like, 'Wait a minute! Ain’t no hollaback girl is who I am!' I had to learn quickly to accept it," she said. "Being a mother and having a career-those are just different roles you play. You’re still the same person you were before, but now you’re more because you’re a mother too, with a lot to do."