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“Can Barely Sleep at Night”: Pregnant Olympian Opens Up on Struggles in a Painful Confession

Published 05/24/2023, 4:33 PM EDT

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The genesis of a new life takes a lot from one’s body, and recently, MyKayla Skinner experienced the same thing during her pregnancy. On March 25 this year Olympian MyKayla Skinner and her husband, Jonas Harmer announced they were going to be parents through a joint Instagram post. However, the transition from medals to diapers has not been an easy one for the artistic gymnast.

It is important to create awareness around just how harsh a pregnancy can be, and MyKayla Skinner spoke out the truth about what a hard time she has been having with hers. Her purpose seemed to be educating others while venting her feelings simultaneously.

MyKayla Skinner brings her truth out in the open

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The beauty and power of creating a human are unique, and empowering as well. But spades of pain, discomfort, and a plethora of other symptoms come with it as well. Seems like Skinner is experiencing all of them right now. In a video that she posted on her Instagram stories, Skinner revealed all the problems she’d been having during the past few months. As you might have already guessed, the first one was nausea. She revealed, “…I have been doing a lot better but just feeling really nauseous lately, which hasn’t been fun.”

via Reuters

Nausea is just the beginning. It was also followed by a gazillion other issues, such as indescribable pains. Regarding this, Skinner revealed, “I really thought I was going to work out, during this pregnancy, and I just really can’t. Like I’ve had so many growing pains and it hurts so bad I can barely sleep at night.” It was evident that not being able to keep her food down, and not being able to work out was having an adverse effect on the 11-time National Champion’s mental health. In the video, Skinner said, “And it’s just been really hard. And I’ve felt… not depressed… but just a little.”

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The reason for this was simple, she was not able to do what several other moms could – simple things such as light exercise during pregnancy. However, Skinner reminded herself of the purpose of dealing with these adversities, and said, “I need to remember my body is growing a human in it, and, that it is okay to not be doing things that I see any other pregnant person do.” This is not the first time Skinner has confessed to the hardships she has faced while pregnant.

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Skinner and her candid conversations about her pregnancy struggles

When Skinner was about 13 weeks into her pregnancy, she broke out the news to the world at large, and while doing so, she also made them privy to all the hardships she had been facing. Apparently, nausea had taken hold of MyKayla Skinner even then, as she revealed she had been “throwing up” constantly for the past two days. Her nausea and subsequent expulsions had also made her lose weight.

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Skinner revealed that she had lost close to 11 pounds only because of throwing up and she also had to get shots and an IV to cure the nausea. She started experiencing queasiness six weeks in, but it gradually decreased after 13 weeks. Now that she is further in her pregnancy, it seems like it has returned. One can only hope that Skinner gets over this hurdle, and all others that she has been facing, pretty soon. Nevertheless, her indomitable spirit to be truthful about her experience is definitely testimony to her spirit.

Watch this story: Top-10 Moments of Olympic Sporting Spirit

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Written by:

Apoorva Behl

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Apoorva Behl is a sports writer for EssentiallySports. With a range that would make Bruce Lee proud, Apoorva’s writing embodies the philosophy of "Be Like Water," flowing seamlessly between a diverse range of sports and sensitive angles. Her articles are known to resonate with her audience, earning her a common spot on the Editor’s Pick list.
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Edited by:

Anupama Ghosh