Gwen Stefani: Writing music is like an impossible pregnancy

Gwen Stefani feels like she's "pregnant with 14 babies all at once" when writing music for an album.

The 45-year-old singer started working on her new LP back in June and has so far penned 14 tracks for the record.

But the differing tones of the songs have led to a somewhat confusing time for her as the author.

"It's like getting pregnant with 14 babies all at once," she told People magazine. "Every song that is added to the batch makes it different. Every single time I write a song, I think it's my single and it's very dramatic and everyone's like 'Okay, Gwen. Shut up. We know it's not the one, but I'm glad you're excited.' "

Gwen has embarked on a new stage in her life, having split from husband Gavin Rossdale back in August.

And when it came to pursuing a tone for her upcoming record, she decided it was all about honesty.

"[It's] just truth," Gwen said of her album theme. "Just being clear and being true to myself. I just want to be fulfilled. It's really quite selfish."

As well as developments in her professional life, Gwen is also preparing for another big landmark in her personal life as her 46th birthday is fast approaching.

But the No Doubt frontwoman, who is mother to nine-year-old Kingston, seven-year-old Zuma and 18-month-old Apollo, isn't too excited about her upcoming big day.

"I hate birthdays, although I feel very blessed to be alive still," Gwen said. "It's been a really, really amazing journey. You can't ever picture what it's going to be like and there's so many great things ahead, you know what I mean? I feel so grateful."

However, while she isn't exactly looking forward to her birthday, Gwen has thought about some plans for October 3rd.

And they are typically low-key celebrations.

"I heard The Sound of Music is playing live in L.A.," Gwen said. "I might take the boys to that, and then probably [eat] some kind of Mexican food."