It’s been one year since the scary fall that left country music icon Carrie Underwood with 40 stitches on her face and a broken wrist, and today, she’s opening up about how the accident compromised her ability to do what she’s best at — sing.

During a new interview with Vulture, the 35-year-old shared the mental and physical impact the experience had on her at the time (she was recording her new album, Cry Pretty, when it happened). “I felt like the differences were more in my head than they were in anybody else’s that would listen to the things I was doing. I had wanted to be in the studio sooner than I was, actually recording these songs, but I had stitches inside my mouth, outside my mouth. It was physically impossible,” she shared with the news outlet.

Carrie Underwood
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Carrie continued, “Going into the studio for the first time, it was a mind game: ‘Do I sound the same? Is my diction the same? Does my mouth move the same as it did before? I would sing something and then look at David [Garcia] and be like, ‘Did that all come out clearly?’ My m’s and b’s and p’s were kind of the issue. And he was like, ‘I thought it sounded great,'” the award-winning musician shared of her producer.

And while it was a difficult experience, Carrie — who is now expecting baby No. 2 with her husband, Mike Fisher — is learning to accept the change. “Things change just as you get older; muscles change. I kind of expect I’m not always going to sound like I’m 22 coming off of American Idol. Hopefully, I get better,” she said. We personally think she sounds better than ever!

In November 2017, Carrie first shared the news of her fall with her worried fans. She later followed up by saying she “might look a bit different” after the fall, although she was “doing great” post-wrist surgery. “I just wanted let everyone know that I’m doing great. Had surgery on my wrist yesterday & all went well… even though I’ll be setting off airport metal detectors from now on,” she tweeted last year. “I’m so thankful for the doctors, nurses, family & friends who’ve been taking such great care of me.” We’re so thankful that she’s doing better today!