Mary Lou Retton Is a Grandma! Daughter Skyla Welcomes Her First Baby: 'I'll Spoil Them' (Exclusive)

The former Olympic gymnast's daughter Skyla announced she was expecting in May 2024, and recently welcomed a baby girl, PEOPLE confirms

Mary Lou Retton poses at "Dancing with the Stars" Season 27 at CBS Televison City on October 2, 2018 in Los Angeles, California
Mary Lou Retton. Photo:

David Livingston/Getty

Mary Lou Retton is a grandma!

The former Olympic gymnast's daughter Skyla, 24, has welcomed her first baby, a girl, PEOPLE has confirmed.

Earlier this month, Retton, 56, opened up about how excited she is for this next chapter to begin — and what she wants her grandkids to call her.

"I'm going to be a LouLou," she told PEOPLE, choosing her adorable moniker. "I don't want to be a Mimi, a Gigi, or a Nana. A LouLou!"

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Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton.

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Retton added that she's going to be a hands-on grandmother, and can't wait to dote on her new granddaughter — and any other grandkids that come along in the future.

"I'm just going to be spoiling the heck out of them," she said. "Which I did not do to my kids! So I'll spoil them, and when they come over I'll just play with them, hide and seek, all of it. It's going to be LouLou's time!"

Skyla's pregnancy was revealed when her sister Shayla, 29, shared a photo on Instagram on Saturday, May 11. Skyla can be seen posing next to Retton, 56, with her baby bump on display in a fitted blue dress.

According to Shayla's caption, the family had been celebrating sister Emma's graduation.

"The best weekend celebrating my baby sister’s graduation! @emmajeankelley we are SO proud of you and can’t wait to see you crush it in adulthood !" Shayla wrote.

She later posted an Instagram with Skyla during her baby shower, announcing, "Penny, you are so loved!" seemingly revealing the new baby's name.

In addition to Skyla, Shayla, and Emma, 21, Retton is also mom to daughter McKenna, 27, who is set to get married this fall.

Mary Lou Retton daughters
Mary Lou Retton's daughters from top right: McKenna, Shayla, Skyla and Emma.

Mary Lou Retton/Instagram

In 2023, the Olympic gymnast made headlines after she spent several weeks "fighting for her life" in the ICU at a Texas hospital in October. Her daughter McKenna was the first to break the news that her mother was in a Houston-area hospital earlier that month. 

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Former Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton arrives for the Fanatics Super Bowl Party
mary lou retton.

Robin Marchant/Getty Images 

“My amazing mom, Mary Lou, has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life," she wrote in a message on a Spotfund fundraising page for Retton.

At the time, Retton’s eldest daughter, Shayla voiced that her family’s No. 1 concern was “the well-being of our mom” in a statement to PEOPLE.

When Retton was released from the hospital in late October, Shayla shared her gratitude in a statement on social media.

“Mom is HOME & in recovery mode,” Kelley wrote on Instagram. “We still have a long road of recovery ahead of us, but baby steps.”

“We are overwhelmed with the love and support from everyone," she continued. "Grateful doesn’t scrape the surface of the posture of our hearts."

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