Serena Williams cried every time her daughter did in the early stages of motherhood.
The tennis star – who has 10-month-old Alexis Olympia with her husband Alexis Ohanian – admits she found it really "tough" in the beginning and shed a few tears because she didn’t know how to help her little girl.
She told People magazine: "It’s tough in the beginning. The baby’s crying all the time and you don’t know why – you don’t know if it’s gas, you don’t know if she’s sick, you don’t know if it’s just colic. So I just started crying with her because I couldn’t help her and I wanted to help her and I couldn’t, so I just started crying."
Serena’s admission comes after she revealed she prayed and "cried a little bit" when she stopped breastfeeding Alexis.
She admitted: "I literally sat Olympia in my arms, I talked to her, we prayed about it. I told her, ‘Look, I’m going to stop. Mommy has to do this.’ I cried a little bit not as much as I thought I would …
"After [I stopped breastfeeding], like literally I lost 10 pounds in a week. It was crazy. I just kept dropping. I was like, that’s when I learned that everything was different. Sorry to go on about that. I wanted to say that so women out there know that’s not true. Everyone takes things different. I think it’s important for us to share that message."
Though she loves being a mother, Serena was shocked when she realised how much she’d missed the pressure of competing out on the court.
She said: "It definitely surprises me. I have this amazing child, all these grand slams… it was all super bonus. I definitely feel a lot less pressure out there but I’m a little bit shocked at how much I almost want that pressure."
Serena Williams’ tough start to motherhood
