Shawn Johnson is sharing candid details about the birth of her third child.
In a Dec. 22 post to her Instagram story, Johnson shared personal details about welcoming her son via caesarean section. She said she made the decision to decline “narcotic pain meds,” citing her past struggles with Adderall, a stimulant often used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Alongside a photo cradling her newborn son against her chest in the hospital, Johnson wrote, “Long story short during my comeback in 2010 I was prescribed Adderall to ‘curb my appetite and give me more energy’ by a not good doctor.”
“Fast forward 7 years of being heavily addicted to it and having it control me, when I finally freed myself of it I swore anything even remotely addictive I’d stay away from,” she added. “It affected every part of my life and changed who I was. I never want to feel out of control like that again."
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Explaining her refusal of narcotic pain medication, which can be addictive, she wrote, "So…Tylenol and Motrin for me."
Johnson previously opened up about her experience with Adderall in a YouTube video posted in June 2020. In the video, she recounted her struggle with body image issues and a past eating disorder.
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She said that in an effort to return to her Olympic weight, she took Adderall and weight loss pills and tested out various fad diets.
Shortly after releasing her video, Johnson appeared on TODAY to reflect on speaking out about her experience.
“I mean, it all started out with, ‘What do I want to teach my daughter?’” she said. “And I want to be the mom that teaches her through my mistakes.”
In addition to their newborn son, Johnson and her husband Andrew East also share daughter Drew Hazel, 4, and son Jett James, 2.
The former Olympian and NFL star announced the birth of their third child in their FamilyMade newsletter on Dec. 14.
Johnson shared the first photos of Barrett in an Instagram post on Dec. 15, posting a series of snaps of the newborn solo, with his brother and sister, and with his parents.
After teasing her son’s name in the Instagram caption by adding a bear emoji, she finally revealed his name on Dec. 17 in another post.
In the caption, Johnson revealed his full name as well as his fitting nickname, Bear.
“We’ve all been waiting for you,” she added in the caption.
The gymnast announced her pregnancy in July and continued to give her followers on social media a glimpse into her journey. She even demonstrated her gymnastics skills in several Instagram videos in September, performing a back walkover, handstand and cartwheel — all while pregnant.
As for whether Johnson and East will be expanding their family again in the future, she told TODAY.com in July that it’s likely her last pregnancy, but she hasn’t ruled out other options.
“I told Andrew we could talk about adoption,” she says. “We can talk about having babies in other ways after this, but I am done with pregnancy.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
