Michael Phelps and Wife Nicole Johnson Welcome Second Child

It wouldn’t be the Olympics without Michael Phelps making headlines. This time, however, it’s the Winter Olympics and Phelps is adding another little swimmer to his brood. The Olympic swimmer announced on social media that he and wife Nicole Johnson have welcomed their second baby together, a boy named Beckett Richard Phelps.

“Magical moments yesterday…Nicole and I would like to introduce Beckett Richard Phelps to the world! We had a healthy baby boy and a healthy mama. I truly do feel like the happiest man in the world. Being able to build our family to now 4 (6 with doggies) is so incredible!” he wrote, adding the hashtag #familyof4now.

The proud parents also shared the news on son Boomer Phelps’ Instagram page.

“I am officially a big bro!!! All I wanna do is hold him! I can’t wait til I get to teach him so many cool things about the world!!” the caption reads.

Baby Beckett joins big brother Boomer, whom the couple welcomed in 2016, a few months before Phelps competed in his final Olympic Games in Rio. Phelps and Johnson, former Miss California USA, announced they were expecting baby number two in late August 2017.

“Number 2 on the way!!!! So excited!! Wonder if it’s a boy or a girl??” Phelps asked at the time.

“Lil mans going to be a Big Brother!!!” Nicole added on her social media.

The two lovebirds tied the knot in a secret ceremony in June 2016 — even though the news of their nuptials didn’t break until the following October, when they had an even larger event in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

While the most decorated Olympian of all time is living on cloud nine these days, Phelps said it wasn’t always like that. In January, he shared that he had contemplated suicide following the 2012 London Games.

“Really, after every Olympics I think I fell into a major state of depression,” Phelps said during the fourth annual conference of the Kennedy Forum, a behavioral health advocacy group. Following the 2012 Games, during which he earned four gold and two silver medals, he said he spent several days in his room, barely eating or sleeping.

“I didn’t want to be in the sport anymore,” the 32-year-old said. “I didn’t want to be alive.” Phelps said in his darkest moments, particularly following the 2012 Games, he contemplated taking his own life.

Other disheartening moments included Phelps’ two DUI charges, in 2004 and 2014. He was also photographed weeks after the 2008 Beijing Olympics taking hits from a bong, which he later called “regrettable” behavior.

“Drugs were a way of running from ‘whatever it was I wanted to run from,’” he said. “It would be just me self-medicating myself, basically daily, to try to fix whatever it was that I was trying to run from.”

The swimming champion said his depression and harmful thoughts improved when he began to talk about his feelings in a treatment center. He said “life became easy” once he opened up about his battles and emotions.

To share his journey to healing with others, his Michael Phelps Foundation has begun to offer stress management programs. Phelps said his ability to help others struggling with mental health issues has been “way more powerful” than any of his record-breaking athletic feats.

“Those moments and those feelings and those emotions for me are light years better than winning the Olympic gold medal,” Phelps said. “I am extremely thankful that I didn’t take my life.”