Olympic shot put star Dame Valerie Adams has given birth to a baby boy.
The child arrived a few weeks earlier than planned, with the gold medalist joking that he was “just as keen as mum and just as healthy.”
She announced the happy news via an Instagram post along with a photo of her, husband Gabriel Price and their new arrival in hospital.
”Kepaleli Tava Sydney Adams-Price💙, welcome to our family and a safer Aotearoa. A little early – just as keen as mum and just as healthy. Happiest parents in the world.”
Adams has been open in the past about the difficulty she went through trying to fall pregnant.
She and Gabriel began trying for a baby after the Rio Olympics in 2016, but they soon discovered Valerie suffered from a low egg supply. They sought the help of a fertility specialist and decided to undergo in-vitro fertilisation.
After her first round of IVF turned out to be unsuccessful, an MRI scan revealed she was suffering endometriosis.
“It was horrible – the worst experience ever,” Dame Valerie revealed to Woman’s Day. “My heart was broken. All we could do was cry.”
A different cycle of IVF was decided on and not long after, Valerie fell pregnant with baby Kimoana, now two years old.
“Nothing prepares you to become a parent,” Valerie told Woman’s Day after Kimoana’s birth. “I’ve never felt this kind of love for any human being in my life. Once upon a time, our lives revolved around my travels and competitions, and Gabe’s career too, but now it’s all about baby’s sleep schedule. Nothing else in this world matters.”
The 34-year-old insists that the birth of her second child will not get in the way of her plans to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Valerie returned to competition six months after Kimoana’s birth, winning silver at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
“I don’t want to come end of Tokyo, look back and have any regrets,” she told One News when she announced she was expecting her second child.
“That’s what I didn’t want to happen because realistically, my fertility situation isn’t great and this was my only chance. My timeframe was limited and I knew that.”
“It’s possible to come out and have a pregnancy, have a baby and create your family but also go back to high-level sport, there’s nothing that says you can’t do that.”
