Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson and Andrew East Are Expecting
There’s another little East athlete on the way.
Former Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and former NFL star Andrew East are expecting! Johnson shared the news on Instagram on July 12. Posing on a throne in the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, the Dancing With The Stars alum wrote, “Swipe for a surprise”—the next slide featuring her proudly displaying her bump in a short black jumpsuit.
Johnson has yet to share additional details about the baby’s sex or due date. Nonetheless, her post was met with excitement and anticipation from friends and fans. “I’ve been waiting for this announcement. Been watching the strategic cover-ups for a while. Congratulations,” wrote one user in the comments. “Congratulations! Welcome to the mom of 3 club! You’re in for a wild ride” added another mom.
The 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and former Washington Commanders long snapper are already parents to 2-year-old son Jett James and 3-year-old daughter Drew Hazel. Pregnancy hasn’t always been easy for the soon-to-be mom of three kids.
Johnson contracted a mild case of COVID-19 while pregnant with her son Jett and during her pregnancy with Drew, she faced multiple complications, including dilated kidneys that were retaining fluids and a two-vessel umbilical cord. Before that, in 2016, she suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage. Amidst it all, Johnson opened up about how she was staying positive.
“The human mind does an amazing job at adapting and forgetting. Early on, Shawn and I were praying every day, just being thankful for the baby,” East said. “Then it was like, ‘Okay, she’s pregnant,’ so we got out of that rhythm and took for granted to some extent that we had this [pregnancy]. This was a rude awakening that we really just need to be thankful that we have a baby,” Johnson said in a discussion over her pregnancy complications with Drew.
“It put things in perspective for us,” Johnson said. “Everyone’s always asking ‘Are you having a girl or a boy? What do you want? Are you going to put them in gymnastics? Are you going to put them in football?’ We had those thoughts in the beginning, but now that we’ve reached this phase, we do not care. I don’t care if it’s a boy. I don’t care if it’s a girl. I don’t even care what the name is right now. I don’t care if they do sports—nothing. I just pray that the baby is healthy.”
Our best wishes to Johnson on a happy and healthy pregnancy!
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