Serena William’s reveals terrifying ordeal during daughter’s birth

You’d be forgiven for thinking Serena Williams – tennis ace, bad-ass lady and rocker of an amazing wedding dress (or two) – is indestructable.

In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking she was Wonder Woman herself.

But we digress.

The 36-year-old has revealed to Vogue that despite her strength and valour, she had a bit of a rough patch during the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia.

She told the magazine how she underwent an emergency C-section after the baby’s heart-rate dropped dangerously low.

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Sep 13, 2017 at 6:39am PDT

If that weren’t enough, the day after this operation, she fell ill with blood clots or pulmonary embolism (something she has had previously, back in 2011).

With a herparin drip treating the PE, thing’s looked good for the star and new mother.

Until suddenly, they weren’t.

Serena explained to the publication that her C-section wound opened because of intense coughing caused by the pulmonary embolism. If that weren’t enough, when she returned to surgery, doctors discovered a large hematoma had flooded her abdomen after the blood thinner (herparin) caused her to haemorrhage.

She was sent for more surgery including the insertion of a filter into a major vein to stop more blood clots dislodging and travelling to her lungs.

She wasn’t allowed home from the hospital until a week later.

As if giving birth for the first time weren’t enough.

“I was happy to change diapers, but on top of everything she was going through, the feeling of not being able to help made it even harder,” she explained.

“Consider for a moment that your body is one of the greatest things on this planet, and you’re trapped in it.”

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Jan 10, 2018 at 5:05am PST

Obviously, it was a rough start for the first-time mother:

“Sometimes I get really down and feel like, man, I can’t do this,” she told Vogue.

“It’s that same negative attitude I have on the court sometimes. I guess that’s just who I am. No one talks about the low moments – the pressure you feel, the incredible letdown every time you hear the baby cry. I’ve broken down I don’t know how many times.”

“Or I’ll get angry about the crying, then sad about being angry, and then guilty, like, why do I feel so sad when I have a beautiful baby? The emotions are insane.”