<\/p>\n
Days after Serena Williams announced she had withdrawn from competing in the Australian Open, the 36-year-old mother shared an adorable photo of her 4-month-old daughter Alexis Olympia<\/p>\n
January 10, 2018:\u00a0\u00a0Serena Williams\u00a0may have had an easy pregnancy while carrying\u00a04-month-old daughter Alexis Olympia, but\u00a0giving birth to her first child\u00a0came with some major health complications for\u00a0the tennis star.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0the cover story to\u00a0Vogue\u2018s February issue, Williams reveals that her plummeting heart rate reached dangerously low levels during contractions, leading to an emergency cesarean section.<\/p>\n
Though the surgery went well, what followed was a six-day battle with a pulmonary embolism that led to multiple surgeries and a handful of additional medical troubles for Williams.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was an amazing feeling,\u201d Williams, 36, recalls of having a crying newborn fall silent when laid on her mother\u2019s chest seconds after birth. \u201cAnd then everything went bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Symptoms for Williams\u2019 problems began the day after her daughter\u2019s birth, as Williams experienced sudden shortness of breath while recovering in the hospital.<\/p>\n
Having had blood clots in the past and because she wasn\u2019t taking blood thinners due to her c-section, she knew that the breathing problems she was experiencing were due to another pulmonary embolism and immediately told the nearest nurse (between gasps for breath) that she needed\u00a0a CT scan with contrast and IV heparin.<\/p>\n
The nurse, however, thought Williams was just feeling confused from her pain medication. Instead, doctors performed an ultrasound of her legs, which ultimately revealed nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018A Doppler? I told you, I need a CT scan and a heparin drip,\u2019 \u201d Williams remembers.<\/p>\n
When they finally listened, the CT turned up several small blood clots, which had settled into her lungs. \u201cI was like, \u2018Listen to Dr. Williams!\u2019 \u201d she jokes as she was put on the blood thinner drip.<\/p>\n
Dr. Williams couldn\u2019t have imagined what would happen next, though.<\/p>\n
Intense coughing spells sparked by the pulmonary embolism would cause her c-section wounds to pop open, leading to a return to the operating room. During surgery, doctors found a large hematoma flooding her abdomen that had been caused by hemorrhaging at the site of her c-section. In order to prevent more clots from dislodging and moving into her lungs, she returned to surgery for a third time to have a filter inserted into a major vein.<\/p>\n
A week later, she was home \u2014 though was unable to get out of bed for six weeks and didn\u2019t have a night nurse to help take care of Olympia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happy to change diapers,\u201d now-husband Alexis Ohanian explains to\u00a0Vogue.<\/em>\u201cBut on top of everything she was going through, the feeling of not being able to help made it even harder. Consider for a moment that your body is one of the greatest things on this planet, and you\u2019re trapped in it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/div>\n That\u2019s just one of the ways the first couple of months of motherhood tested Williams, and she admits to not always feeling as though she could pass those tests.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes I get really down and feel like, man, I can\u2019t do this,\u201d Williams says. \u201cIt\u2019s that same negative attitude I have on the court sometimes. I guess that\u2019s just who I am. No one talks about the low moments \u2014 the pressure you feel, the incredible letdown every time you hear the baby cry.\u201d<\/p>\n She adds, \u201cI\u2019ve broken down I don\u2019t know how many times. Or I\u2019ll get angry about the crying, then sad about being angry, and then guilty, like, \u2018Why do I feel so sad when I have a beautiful baby?\u2019 The emotions are insane.\u201d<\/p>\n People.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Serena Williams and\u00a0Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. for\u00a0Vogue Mario Testino Days after Serena Williams announced she had withdrawn from competing in the Australian Open, the 36-year-old mother shared an adorable photo of her 4-month-old daughter Alexis Olympia January 10, 2018:\u00a0\u00a0Serena Williams\u00a0may have had an easy pregnancy while carrying\u00a04-month-old daughter Alexis Olympia, but\u00a0giving birth to her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n