People.com Celebrity Parents Reese Witherspoon Recalls Not Having 'A Lot of Support' After Birth of Daughter Ava Reese Witherspoon shares daughter Ava, 21, and son Deacon, 17, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, plus son Tennessee James, 8, with husband Jim Toth By Georgia Slater Georgia Slater Twitter Georgia Slater is a writer/reporter on the Parents team at PEOPLE. She began at the brand in 2018 as an editorial intern and later returned as an intern on the Food team. Upon graduating from the University of Maryland in 2019, Georgia worked as an entertainment intern at USA Today before coming back to PEOPLE as a digital news writer. In April 2021, she began her role as a Parents writer/reporter. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 30, 2021 06:00 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Reese Witherspoon and family. Photo: Reese Witherspoon/Instagram Reese Witherspoon is opening up about her early obstacles with motherhood. During a recent episode of Dax Shepard's podcast Armchair Expert, the actress, 45, spoke to Kristen Bell and Monica Padman about the struggles she faced when she and her then-husband welcomed their first child. Witherspoon gave birth to Ava, now 21, in September 1999, about two months after she and her ex-husband, Ryan Phillippe tied the knot. The pair would then go on to welcome son Deacon, now 17, in October 2003, before separating three years later in 2006. "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 explained. "I tried to muscle through for five months with Ava, just not sleeping and I became delirious." Never miss a story â sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Reese Witherspoon Shares Sweet and Silly Selfie with Her Oldest Children: 'Goofy Is Genetic' Noting that she "couldn't have worked" through the first few months she was a new mom to Ava, Witherspoon explained, "I was lucky enough to have money saved and I didn't have to work, but it's just not a one-person job." "I would even say it's not a two-person job," the Big Little Lies star added. Over the weekend, Witherspoon, who is also mom to son Tennessee James, 8, with husband Jim Toth, shared how grateful she is for her two older children with a sweet post on Instagram. "Gosh, I'm lucky to be their mom đď¸," the proud mother captioned the adorable family snapshot. Posing together for the photo, Witherspoon sat between her two kids as the trio each flashed smiles for the camera before them.