A new chapter for Canberra's Paralympians Vanessa Low and Scott Reardon: pregnancy

There was a fist pump from Low's father, when herself and fellow Canberra-based Paralympian Scott Reardon told her family they were expecting their first child, followed by a double fist pump from her grandfather.

It marks another new chapter for the five-time Paralympic medal duo in 2022, with Reardon retiring from sprinting and finishing his teaching degree, the pair becoming athlete and coach, renovations under way at their Bruce home and now another addition to add to the mix; a baby boy due early July.

The couple's plan was to fall pregnant this year, with Tokyo originally scheduled for 2020 and the World Para Athletics Championships scheduled for 2021 in Japan, before both were pushed back a year due to COVID-19.

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The long jumper was always planning to not attend the Commonwealth Games later this year in Birmingham, as her classification was not offered, and then the one meet she was set to miss - the world championships - was also cancelled.

"I always wanted a family. I don't think I wanted to wait another Games, so we always had the idea it would be possible to have a baby between now and Paris, not thinking that we would be so lucky that it would work out," Low said.

"There has been quite a spike in high-calibre athletes successfully returning to sport and it's not saying that every woman wants that, some do want to move on ... but if you feel like your heart is still in it, you should be able to have the option to do that. It was quite inspirational to see a couple of athletes in Tokyo ... and I think that was probably one of the biggest arguments as well for us to give it a go.

"I always said if I haven't slept for six months, and I don't feel like going back to sport then so be it. But at this present moment, I wish to do that."

Low's plan was to continue running until 23 weeks, alongside gym sessions and swimming to keep some movement, and she has done just that. After she gives birth, she plans to get back to the long jump pit in time to be ready to defend her gold medal at Paris 2024, and Athletics Australia has been offering its support to make it happen post-pregnancy.

There are some extra challenges that go along with being a mother with prosthetic legs, the main one being fitting into them during pregnancy to stay mobile, alongside Low's pregnant belly impacting the areas she controls for balance and, for both parents down the road, the walking stage of development.

The married couple, however, are ready to tackle the challenges together, and they said they were excited to grow their family of four, with their two Boston terriers taking on the role of big sister and brother.

"I always knew that pregnancy wasn't going to be as straightforward for me being on prosthetics and so I wanted to make sure that I can move and stay as active as I can," said Low, who started representing Australia in 2019.

"Both of us have been thinking outside the box for such a long time and always trying to find adaptions that worked for us personally, and finding the right people to support us and and find guidance, and asking for help. I think that has worked out really well for us in the past. So that's going to be the path we're going to go down."

Reardon added: "The biggest thing for us is when the baby starts walking. Because we're fast on running legs, but we don't walk on running legs. That's something that's going to be probably the biggest challenge."

And although they will support their child in whatever path he chooses, they do hope sport will feature on some level for the health aspect, alongside the friendships, lessons and life experience along the way.

"It's about making sure that we give them the guidance for them to find their own way," Reardon said.

"If that ends up being in sports, then fantastic, if that ends up being music or film, awesome. We will support him in whatever he chooses."

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