Serena Williams Just Gave Her Newborn Daughter The Most Beautiful Name
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There's was another huge celebrity pregnancy birth announcement this week. This is not a drill! Serena Williams, 41, announced on Instagram that she has given birth to her second child with her husband Alexis Ohanian. And the footage is incredibly sweet.
Serena first announced her second pregnancy at the Met Gala. Before the event, she shared an adorable family portrait with a caption that subtly announced her pregnancy. "Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the 3 of us to the Met Gala," Serena wrote in the post.
The photo featured Serena and her husband in full Met Gala glam. If you didn't quite catch Serena's drift in the first photo, the second slide features the professional tennis player holding her baby bump, followed by a few other poses that accentuate the bump. Obviously, people (including Lindsey Vonn, Ciara, and Ziwe) were freaking out in the comment section, and Serena's post was quickly on its way to a million likes.
Since Serena is such a mega-famous tennis player and entrepreneur, it's natural to want to dive into all of Serena's pregnancy details. Don't worry. Women's Health has got you covered.
When is Serena due?
Serena never confirmed an exact date yet, but the new baby, a girl named Adira River, arrived in August. Adira's birthday is not clear ATM, but it seems like all is well and good at the Williams-Ohanian household.
"I'm grateful to report our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama," wrote Alexis on his IG. "Feeling grateful. @serenawilliams you've now given me another incomparable gift — you're the GMOAT. Thanks to all the amazing medical staff who took care of my wife & our daughter 🙏 I'll never forget the moment I introduced @olympiaohanian to her baby sister."
Serena has been trying to have another child for a while.
In August 2022, Serena told Vogue that she was retiring from tennis, and trying to have another child with her husband, Alexis Ohanian.
"[Alexis and I] recently got some information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family," Serena told Vogue. "I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out."
Does Serena have other children?
Yes! This is Serena's second baby. Serena had her first child, her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr., in September 2017. However, Serena's pregnancy announcement with Olympia didn't go quite as seamlessly. The tennis player mistakenly uploaded a photo of her baby bump to her Snapchat story and leaked the news, per Us Weekly.
In a Vogue profile last year, Serena spoke very openly about her relationship with Olympia, her hope to grow her family in the next few years, and how that choice left her grappling with her retirement from tennis.
"The fact is that nothing is a sacrifice for me when it comes to Olympia. It all just makes sense. I want to teach her how to tie her shoes, how to read, where babies come from, and about God. Just like my mom taught me," Serena told Vogue. "I think tennis, by comparison, has always felt like a sacrifice—though it’s one I enjoyed making."
Serena (obviously) loves spending time with her daughter, and also shares super cute Olympia content on her Instagram from time to time (Olympia also has her own Instagram account, @olympiaohanian).
Serena has also said that Olympia has been asking for a little sister for a while. There's no word on the gender of Serena's baby yet, but for Olympia's sake I hope it's a girl!
Serena opened up about giving birth to Olympia.
For Black Maternal Health Week in 2023, Serena shared a vulnerable Instagram post about her birthing experience with Olympia. In 2018, Serena opened up in an op-ed for CNN about her near-death experience while delivering Olympia, and re-shared the story in her recent post.
In 2017, Serena had an emergency c-section to deliver her daughter, but later was pulled back into surgery when she suffered from a pulmonary embolism. Serena's condition led her to have an intense coughing fit, which caused her c-section scar to rupture.
When her doctors pulled her back into surgery, they also discovered, and repaired, a hematoma. Serena shared her story to raise awareness surrounding Black maternal health. Black mothers are three times more likely to die due to childbirth-related causes, according to the Center For Disease Control and Prevention.
"[My doctors and nurses] knew exactly how to handle this complicated turn of events. If it weren’t for their professional care, I wouldn’t be here today," Serena wrote.
Serena and Alexis Ohanian have been together since 2015.
The couple officially tied the knot in November 2017, a few months after they welcomed Olympia. However, the pair has been linked since around May 2015, according to PEOPLE.
Alexis is an entrepreneur, and the pair first met at Cavalieri Hotel in Rome in 2015, per PEOPLE. Alexis reportedly randomly sat down at a table with Williams at the hotel. In 2017, he proposed to Serena at the same table.
"He's incredible—a really nice person. I think he definitely treats everyone the same, which is really cool to see. Really, really nice to see," Serena said of Alexis at a press conference shortly following their engagement, per PEOPLE.
Serena loves being pregnant.
While she didn't open up a ton about her second pregnancy, Serena has said she loved being pregnant with her daughter Olympia, and had a very easy pregnancy. And here, she references her new baby "Jellybean," and talks about posing with her soon-to-be born daughter for Lincoln.
"I love being a woman, and I loved every second of being pregnant with Olympia," Serena told Vogue. "I was one of those annoying women who adored being pregnant and was working until the day I had to report to the hospital."
I cannot wait to watch Adira grow up with her sis!
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