Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson East and her husband Andrew East shared a video from the recent 20-week ultrasound of their third child during an episode of their podcast, “Couple Things.” In the video, the couple remarks on the “amazing” images of their baby on the screen, and later shared those images with their other children.
“I don’t care what you say, this is one of the best parts of pregnancy right here,” said East about the scheduled ultrasound.
Johnson East agreed, “I think finding out you’re pregnant, the anatomy scan, and then birth, those are like the three big ones.”
Though the couple was nervous about the anatomy scan, where doctors check to make sure the baby is developing properly, they were also filled with excitement to see their new baby. They hadn’t done genetic testing with their first two children, saying it wouldn’t change anything, until an anatomy scan revealed they should do some testing on their daughter Drew, which came back “fine.” She had a two-vessel umbilical cord rather than three-vessel and Johnson was worried that the same would happen with baby number three — but all appeared to be well.
READ: Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson East and husband Andrew tell of heartbreaking miscarriage
As they watched the ultrasound, the couple talked to the baby and pointed out his or her features with excitement. East shouted that he got goosebumps watching his baby and remarked that he could see the heart valves flapping. “It’s so amazing,” he said.
Johnson East noted that it is during this particular scan that she begins to feel that her baby is okay for the first time. This can be a common feeling for women who have had a previous miscarriage as Johnson East has. She explained about the emotional moment she sees her baby on the screen, “It happens immediately and I don’t know why but I’m laying on the table [and] as soon as I see that baby I just have tears that just start to roll down my face consistently for the entire time.”
East noted, “You walk in there and maybe you’ve felt the baby kick, maybe you didn’t. Maybe the bump’s showing, maybe it’s not. Then they pull out the ultrasound machine, and you see the chambers of the heart, you see the rib cage, and all the amazing bones that are part of that, the spinal cord. You see the femurs and the toes and the hands and then if you’re lucky, you see the face.”
“We’ve done this multiple times now and this whole concept still baffles me,” he added.
After the ultrasound, Johnson East finally felt that she could relax, and “sleep for three days.” She felt they got a miracle when their daughter Drew was deemed healthy after the testing, and she felt guilty asking for another miracle.
She was relieved that the ultrasound showed that the baby is doing well, measuring at the 50th percentile.
“It’s just a really special time for you and I to kinda be with the baby … It’s kind of a real moment where we’re getting ready to have another little one in our house,” East told Johnson.
When they arrived home, their other children, Drew and Jett, raced to see the pictures of their little brother or sister. Johnson East showed them the baby’s face and nose and pointed out the baby’s smile. Drew and Jett smiled and asked questions.
Drew reacted: “I like my baby.”
