Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson Welcomes Baby Girl After Suffering Heartbreaking Miscarriage
Miscarriage is something that many women experience, regardless of status or standing in the world. Rich, poor, famous or not, up to 25 percent of women who know they’re pregnant end up losing their pregnancy, according to WebMD.
In 2017, Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson East found out she was pregnant — but just a short time later, she lost her pregnancy and shared her and her husband’s struggle with the world.
“Today’s video is a little bit sensitive,” Johnson East said during a video posted on Oct. 21, 2017. “It’s not the happiest video but we feel like a lot of people go through this so we wanted to share it.”
In the video Johnson East said they hadn’t been trying to get pregnant, but it’s clear from the way she spoke and the way East responded to the news (after the initial shock) that the two were excited at the prospect of becoming parents.
“The past 48 hours have been some of the happiest, scariest, and saddest times of my life,” the caption of the YouTube video read. “My husband Andrew and I found out that we were unexpectedly pregnant, only to find out hours later some tragic news. I have been crying more than I ever have, but am still optimistic for what is next.”
So, two years later, when the couple found out they were expecting again, they were elated — but they were cautious, especially after having experienced a miscarriage before. Johnson East admitted to People that the process of pregnancy was difficult for her because she felt so out of control.
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“The lack of control is really hard,” she said. “I’m kind of a control freak, and with pregnancy, none of it is in your control.”
“But we’re most nervous right now in this phase, about getting to the finish line. We can’t wait for the baby to get here to hold them in our arms and introduce them to the world.”
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The pregnancy wasn’t breezy, though, and the Easts got a scare at the anatomy scan when they found out their baby’s kidneys were underdeveloped and the baby’s umbilical cord only had two blood vessels instead of three — both of which could point to Down syndrome.
However, the testing came back negative, and they kept an eye on the baby’s development — but everything progressed well.
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“It was this fear that we could lose another, and our celebration of being able to cross two things off our list instead of three things to worry about was exciting for us because it gave us hope that we were going to be able to hold this baby in our arms,” she said.
And on Nov. 4, Johnson East posted a photo of that baby in her arms.
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“You are our everything,” the caption on the photo read. “Welcome to the world baby girl.”
Like any self-respecting socialite, the little one has her own Instagram account where updates and photos will be and have been posted ever since the couple first announced the pregnancy.
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