Shawn Johnson and Andrew East have always been open with their personal struggles, discussing taboo topics in order to destigmatize them, like their miscarriage in 2017. In speaking with HollywoodLife.com in an EXCLUSIVE interview, the couple opened up about how their relationship has changed since welcoming their daughter Drew on Oct. 29, 2019. “The biggest surprise I think has been how difficult it’s been for us as a married couple, just because there’s so many adjustments that you have to figure out how to deal with. I feel like we’re maybe just out of the woods with it three months in,” Andrew explained, while promoting the couple’s partnership with Enfamil. “You have to learn how to take a back seat to someone else with your significant other. It’s weird, because you love that third person more than anything in the world, but it’s this like, ‘I’m jealous, but I also love it, but I also want my husband.’ It’s just, it’s hard,” Shawn continued.
The couple revealed they do date nights every Thursday to ensure they’re taking time for each other! “My mom and dad come over, they watched Drew for at least five hours and we go out and have a good dinner, or go watch a movie. But we’ve done it every single week. So at least every week since we’ve had her, we know that we have one night together where it’s just mom and dad!” Shawn explained. “There’s definitely some of those date nights where we’re sitting there in silence just enjoying the peace and quiet! But yeah, that’s been really important for us to continue to build our relationship after welcoming Drew.”
Of course, when it comes to having a new baby, there is no handbook of “the right way” to do things, and Shawn has embraced the challenges she’s faced as a new mom, especially when it comes to feeding. “because I went through the whole like breastfeeding journey, had a meltdown because she wasn’t having it. Went to bottles, started supplementing with formula. We did all of our research… we asked everyone within our circle what formula to use, and they had said Enfamil,” the former Olympian explained.
Shawn and Andrew chose to work with Enfamil to feed baby Drew when Shawn wasn’t able to produce enough milk. “We came across Enfamil Enspire. It’s the only formula brand with added lactoferrin, a key immune-supporting protein also found in colostrum,” Andrew added. Shawn continued, “I feel like we should be teaching moms a little bit more of what actually happens and goes on, because them going through breastfeeding to bottle feeding to formula feeding, yeah, it’s just taboo and everyone feels so guilty about it when you’re just trying to take care of your kid.”