Bethany Hamilton, the professional surfer who made a miraculous comeback to the ocean after her arm was bitten off by a shark in 2003, announced on Instagram Tuesday afternoon that she and husband Adam Dirks have welcomed their second child.
“We are overjoyed to welcome our son Wesley Phillip Dirks into the world! It’s been a beautiful time getting life started with the four of us! We are thankful to God for our two lil guys!!!” she captioned the family photo, which shows her with baby Wesley, while Adam holding their 2-year-old son, Tobias.
In October, Bethany revealed that she was expecting baby no. 2 and since then, she has kept her fans updated on her pregnancy stage and the Soul Surfer author has previously expressed her gratitude on Instagram.
“Filled with gratitude to be growing our family,” she wrote. “I want to thank everyone for the warm wishes towards our exciting news!!! The more time I spend as I mother and wife, I realize that it’s such a privilege and joy and I cherish my role deeply.”
She also shared that she still enjoy the waves for several months while being pregnant.
“I surfed till about 6 1/2 month pregnant and then felt it was ready to take a lil break,” the 28-year-old athlete explained. “As hard as that is for me, it’s kinda nice to take a short break, so then when I get back in the ocean I have a fresh spark of excitement!”
Bethany talked about the challenges of motherhood with her first child in 2015.
“Motherhood with one arm, I’ve been kind of thinking about it. I often forget that I have one arm, but when I think about a squirming baby, changing the diaper and just me and this squirmy baby,” she said. “It could be really challenging.”
