Although Serena Williams previously revealed that she wouldn’t be celebrating her daughter’s first birthday, over the weekend, the tennis pro did reminisce about Alexis Olympia’s birth.
The mother of one shared a series of videos on Friday documenting what was happening in her life “one year ago,” as she prepared to give birth to her first child with husband Alexis Ohanian.
In the first group of clips, a still very pregnant Williams talked to her husband as they were getting ready to go to the hospital.
“Today is the day we are going to the hospital, but later tonight,” she shared, before addressing her daughter-on-the-way. “And I’m about to get induced because you didn’t come.”
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“You’re so comfortable in there,” the Reddit co-founder added from behind the camera.
Agreeing, Williams replied, “So comfortable.”
She then shared a video of herself looking worn out while in the hospital. “We’re just getting started,” she told the camera. “Friday morning now.”
“This is production,” she added in a separate clip, as she was joined by her mother, Oracene Price.
Following the birth of her daughter, Williams opened up about the difficult time she had in the hospital. In addition to being told she would need to have an emergency c-section, the tennis pro went on to suffer from health complications of her own.
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.
In the cover story to Vogue‘s February issue, Williams revealed that the day after her daughter’s birth, she experienced sudden shortness of breath while recovering in the hospital.
Following a heavy coughing spell her c-section wound reopened and after imploring a nurse for help, doctors soon discovered multiple blood clots including one in her lungs. She was taken back into surgery and put on blood thinners before spending the next six weeks in bed recovering.
Earlier this week, the 36-year-old athlete explained why she and husband weren’t planning a party for their daughter while at a press conference surrounding the U.S. Open.
“Olympia doesn’t celebrate birthdays,” said Williams. “We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, so we don’t do that.”
According to the official website for Jehovah’s Witnesses, followers of the church don’t believe in celebrating birthdays “because we believe that such celebrations displease God.”
“Although the Bible does not explicitly forbid celebrating birthdays, it does help us to reason on key features of these events and understand God’s view of them,” the website said.
One of the reasons for Jehovah’s Witnesses to avoid birthdays is they believe the celebrations have pagan roots.
RELATED VIDEO: Serena Williams Recalls Being ‘Devastated’ By Emergency C-Section and Postpartum Problems
Meanwhile, Williams — who defeated her sister Venus Williams during a U.S. Open match on Friday — will return to the court on Sunday to take on Estonian player Kaia Kanepi.
If she wins the Open, the tennis champ will earn her 24th Grand Slam singles title, besting Margaret Court’s all-time record.
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