Local celeb and tennis sensation Serena Williams has revealed to Vogue that she suffered complications in connection with the September 1st birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., resulting in an emergency c-section and other medical measures.
Williams, 36, chose to undergo the c-section when her daughter’s heart rate began dropping during the delivery.
The procedure was successful and Williams gave birth to a healthy daughter, but things went downhill from there. The following day, the Palm Beach Gardens tennis pro had shortness of breath and worried that she could have developed blood clots.
As it happens, she was right: Doctors—who had initially pulled Williams off of her anticoagulant meds before the birth—found that she had indeed developed a number of clots in her lungs.
Williams was put on a drip in response, though the mending cut from her c-section subsequently opened from repeated coughing and the blood thinners that were helping her began working against her as blood filled her abdomen.
Doctors dealt with each crisis as it occurred, and Williams ultimately had a filter inserted in a vein as a countermeasure against clots entering her lungs. Beyond that, the prescription was to rest and take things easy, which was possibly the toughest part for the hard-working pro.
The newly-minted Dad struggled with the adjustment as well.
