On Tuesday April 5, 2022, Serena Williams wrote an essay for Elle magazine. The athlete, mother of little Olympia, agreed to talk about her pregnancy and the first moments with her daughter, whom over the days she has come to love.
A necessary testimony… On September 1, 2017, Serena Williams gave birth to a little girl, Olympia. If the tennis star regularly shares pictures with her child on social networks, she struggled to feel that love that everyone is talking about during her pregnancy. In an essay published in the journal sherevealed the athlete: “I was nervous about meeting my baby. Throughout my entire pregnancy, I had never felt a connection to her. Even though I loved being pregnant, I never had that amazing moment, ‘Oh my god, this is my baby.’ It’s something that people don’t usually talk about because we’re supposed to be in love from the first second.She then added:Yes, I was a lioness who would protect her baby at all costs, but I wasn’t gaga. I waited during pregnancy to feel like I knew her, but that feeling never came. Some of my mom friends told me they didn’t feel the connection in the womb either, which made me feel better, but I wanted to feel it anyway.“
After all, postpartum, the star finally felt that connection she’d been waiting for so much. “When I finally saw her – and I knew it was going to be a girl, that was one thing I knew about her even before it was confirmed – I immediately liked her. It wasn’t instant, but it was there, and from that seed it grew. I couldn’t stop staring at her, my Olympia‘ she shared. With emotion, Serena Williams wrote: “I spent the night in the hospital with my baby in the room. When I woke up she was in my arms. The rest of my body was paralyzed. I couldn’t get out of bed because my legs were still numb, but it didn’t matter. Alexis and I sat alone with our new baby. It was surreal to feel the presence of that third person in the room.“
A difficult birth
After his cesarean section Serena Williams lost a lot of blood. A fit of coughing actually reopened his stitches, leading to doctors discovering multiple life-threatening blood clots in his body. After the arrival of her daughter, the star told People that although she was lucky to be alive, she had spent six weeks in bed recovering while trying to adjust to motherhood. “All my life I have pushed my body to its physical limits. And that was the only time I couldn’t control anything. I couldn’t push my body. My body has reached its maximum. It was so hard‘ she assured.
Widget is loading
Subscribe to the Closermag.fr newsletter to receive the latest news for free