Tennis GOAT Serena Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have welcomed their second child — a daughter, Adira River.
“I’m grateful to report our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama. Feeling grateful. @serenawilliams you’ve now given me another incomparable gift — you’re the GMOAT,” Ohanian wrote in an Instagram post. “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.
‘Your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.’
Serena’s Health Concerns
Serena did suffer health issues during her first pregnancy with Olympia, and there was concern over her ability to have a successful second pregnancy.
The day after giving birth to Olympia, while recovering in the hospital, Serena suddenly felt short of breath. Because of her history of blood clots, and because she was off her daily medicine regimen, she immediately knew she was having another pulmonary embolism.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion told a nurse that she needed a CT scan with contrast and IV heparin (a blood thinner) immediately. The nurse initially thought Serena didn’t know what she was saying. But the GOAT insisted.
“I was like, a Doppler? I told you, I need a CT scan and a heparin drip,” she recalled to Vogue. The ultrasound revealed nothing, so they sent her for the CT and, sure enough, several small blood clots had settled in her lungs. Minutes later, she was on the drip. “I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!”
Serena’s Retirement
Last summer, Serena penned a first-person essay announcing her “evolution” away from professional tennis, to focus on building her family and her many business ventures.
“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me. A few years ago I quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. Soon after that, I started a family. I want to grow that family.”
Serena Williams won an open-era record 23 Grand Slam singles titles, 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and four Olympic gold medals. She’s been ranked by the Women’s Tennis Association as number one in the world for 319 weeks, including 168 consecutive weeks.
