Alex Morgan Says She Was Relieved When Olympics Were Postponed as She Prepared to Welcome Daughter

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Amid a tumultuous year, Alex Morgan stills finds reasons to be grateful.

While many athletes may have felt disappointed to hear that the 2020 Summer Olympics had to be pushed back to 2021 to combat the spread of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a then-pregnant Morgan felt a sense of relief.

The star forward for the U.S. Women's National soccer team and her husband, Servando Carrasco, were getting ready to welcome their first child together, a baby girl, in May — giving the first-time mom just two months to recover after birth before heading to Tokyo.

"I felt like I was able to stop feeling that selfishness of wanting to get back on the field right away after having Charlie," Morgan, 31, tells PEOPLE of her reaction to the Games' postponement to July 23, 2021.

"And I was just like, 'Okay, she could come on her own timeline. I get to stay home and just be a mom and I don't need to — after a couple of weeks or whatever — rush off to the gym, rush off to the field.' So, I really just was on her schedule and it was really, really nice," she adds. "As terrible as the pandemic is for so many businesses, for so many people, for so many families and those who lost loved ones, I feel very fortunate to be able to see the positives in this. And that is to be able to spend way more time with my family than I ever had imagined before."

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Morgan and Carrasco, 32, ended upmeeting their baby girl on May 7. Six months later, the forward made her return to the game with her new team, London's Tottenham Hotspur F.C., playing in Saturday's match against Reading F.C.

Alex Morgan, Servando Carrasco, and daughter Charlie

Still, Morgan says she was happy to finally get that first game out of the way.

"Honestly, I feel like it was a lot later than I had anticipated. I never expected to get onto the field six months after giving birth. I expected more like two months or three months," she explains.

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"For me to take that time and just be patient with my body ... It was a really nice relief, to finally get that first smash out of the way, because I think there was just a lot of anticipation from my end and obviously my own pressures as well. Now I can move forward and continue to get more minutes," Morgan adds.

Alex Morgan and daughter Charlie

In addition to balancing life as a new mom and her work with Tottenham, the soccer pro also recently teamed up with fellow athletes Klay Thompson, Travis Pastrana, and Paul Rodriguez to launch their new CBD brand, Just Live.

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Morgan tells PEOPLE that she was first introduced to CBD five years ago, using it to help with soreness in-between games.

"I felt it helped me so much as an athlete, and so I became a huge believer from that moment on," Morgan says. "And I'm really proud of the products that we've put out. It's been a long time coming and I've just been looking forward to this launch for so many months. I'm very happy to be able to share these amazing products with so many people."

Just Live’s inaugural product line includes topicals, supplements, gummies and more — all of which provide a non-mind-altering form of recovery for physical and mental health.

"I think the amazing thing about Just Live is that it's been able to cater to so many different people's preferences," Morgan says. "I feel it's really helped me as a player on the field, but also with my sleep and with just feeling good daily. I'm really happy with the way that it has launched and I hope people love the product as much as I do."