Former Rare Staff
While speaking with PEOPLE, mom-to-be Serena Williams opened up about how her pregnancy has been going so far and how she’s preparing for the birth of her first child. The tennis star particularly values bedtime rituals and hopes to pass down a very special tradition she shared with her sisters to her child.
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“Growing up, I would sleep with one of my sisters and they would tell me stories about sisters!” she recalls. “That was my thing. I would say, ‘Tell me a sisters story.’ I was so grateful to them.”
Williams wants to make sure that she and fiance Alexis Ohanian continue the routine in their growing family.
“Alexis is really good at telling stories,” she says. “He loves doing that. One of us will have to tell our baby stories. That is going to be really important to me.”
As Williams’ pregnancy has progressed, she’s even started some new nighttime habits herself.
“Every night I grab two huge jars and fill them with water and usually get a snack, like watermelon, because I’m always starving and I keep it by the bed so I don’t have to get up and go all the way to the kitchen,” she explained. “I go to bed at like 9 p.m., but wake up at 5 a.m. My brain is different, it’s so weird!”
Williams, who is due in September, has stated that she hopes to return to the tennis court by January and plans to juggling her sports career with promoting several of her different partnerships.
“It’s a lot, and I know that, but it’s been done before and that keeps me going, knowing a lot of people have done it,” she says. “If they can do it, I know I can do it. I’ll do the best I can.”
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