Chapter 10: Pregnancy Test!
March 9: Blood pregnancy test day!! Joe and I were driving to the West Palm Beach Airport, and our flight got delayed, and we were going to miss our connection and get stuck in D.C. We re-routed to Fort Lauderdale and flew directly to Columbus. Our car was in Cincinnati at the airport, but oh well, at least we were getting home! We chanced the rental drop-off, and they charged us, of course, so the day was off to an annoying start! BUT, then I got an email that said my lab corp results were in. My heart SUNK. I got hot, and my heart started beating. I guess those feelings were fear. I don’t feel scared, but I also know it will be a really long journey if I miscarry again. I really do trust God, though. His timing is perfect. I will never question that. I will question my protocol, or decisions I made, or my stress levels, or if I traveled too much, or if I should change doctors…but God? Never.
The doctor called, and she told us WE’RE PREGNANT!!!! My number was 157. Last time it was over 500. So I texted her for why. Doc said: "Last time, the 500 result was 11days after transfer. This time it’s 9 days after transfer. IT'S PERFECT!!!!" PHEW!! We were excited and relieved. But also cautious. We have made it this far before. Praying we STAY pregnant.
(Side note I also got to interview Alexis Ohanian (Serena Williams husband and former Reddit co-founder) and Julie Palarea, co-founder of the first professional women’s sports team in LA, Angel City. They were amazing and are truly changing the world and defying the odds and stereotypes. It was a moving conversation and one I will remember forever!
March 10: Today, I went on a mission. I swear I can feel it in the air when life is just going to flip our world upside down. I went to the grocery store, Costco, Walmart, Fed Ex, filled up on gas, dropped clothes off at the dry cleaner, ran the dog, started laundry, and we drove two hours round trip to get Joe’s truck which was stuck at the Cincinnati airport. Then, as predicted, baseball agreed to terms, and it was announced spring training starts…SUNDAY! Haha. Like in THREE DAYS. This means we move to Florida or Arizona in TWO DAYS.
Since Joe is a free agent, we don’t know which one yet. His agent called around dinner time and said the Red Sox, the White Sox, and the Reds have “checked in.” Boston is iconic. Chicago is best in its division. Cincinnati sucks, but we could live at home! Joe has never played well in empty stadiums or in games that don’t matter, though. And playing in Boston would be the most iconic end to a 16-year career. Or maybe it rejuvenates him, and he plays for 20 years! Who knows! Either way, let the fun begin!! Oh, and March Madness starts next week. I leave Tuesday for that. I can’t make it up.
March 11: Let the free agency continue! I woke up at 7:00 AM (which I NEVER do), ready to have a full breakfast!! Growing a human will do that to you, haha. Plus, Joe couldn’t sleep with free agency in full swing, so we were up early. Joe’s agent called and said options now were Boston, Chicago (White Sox), Cincinnati, Philly, Minnesota, and San Diego. So the list of people calling to “check-in” is growing, but no official hard offers yet. We came up with a number and a deal that would convince us to stay in Cincinnati, which would have to be significantly more significant than a Boston or Chicago deal to stay home and play for a losing team. Otherwise, Boston is our front runner. Joe’s agent called them and said that we will sign tonight if you offer XX right now. They said they weren’t sure if they could get there, but we tried.
I went to Columbus during the day to meet with Zach and Clayton, who run a huge Columbus Derby Day event. Arian drove down from Cleveland to take the meeting with me. They agreed to partner with HelpCureHD and donate their proceeds from the event, which is huge. We are excited! They seem like good people. Layne, Arian’s friend from growing up who did my custom NBA All-Star outfit and owns Threadwell Clothiers, set us up with Zach and Clayton! Clayton is a commercial real estate agent, and Zach is an attorney who also doesn’t investment work for tech companies and is the one who started their 501c3.
March 13: Selection Sunday!!!
March 14: Moving. Shoot me. How many times have I moved since I met Joe?
Lakewood
Avon
Laguna Beach
Ohio
Tempe
Newport Beach
Ohio
Tempe
Newport Beach
Chicago
Ohio
Duneden, FL
Toronto
Cleveland
Dayton
Palm Beach Gardens
Houston
Ohio
Palm Beach Gardens
Houston
Ohio
Palm Beach Gardens
Houston
Seattle
Ohio
Ok, 24 times. That is sick. Hahaha. I can officially do ANYTHING.
We live in an apartment above a 5 car garage because we haven’t had the time to build our house yet. So some of my clothes are in the garage, some are in my bedroom, and some are in the guest bedroom shoved under the beds and in the dressers. Meanwhile, we have a lot of toys. So every time we come up, everything doesn’t work. The truck doesn’t start, the tractor has an electronic issue, the four-wheelers have no gas or oil, etc..….so when we get to leave for 7 months, I get anxiety thinking about how messed up everything will be when we get back, haha. A car’s tire will go flat, and it will ruin the rim, or the power will go out, and all the meat in the freezer will spoil. Plus, I am leaving for March Madness this time, but I don’t know after the tournament what city I will be meeting Joe in because we haven’t signed with a team. So I had to pack cold and warm clothes in case. But that means more suitcases. Joy. Anyway, we are blessed to have health, jobs, and be pregnant. Amen.
March 15:
Hcg 3,183
Estrodial 1,170
Progesterone 30
March 15: Refreshed
OK…I slept from midnight to 10:30!!! Yesterday crushed me!! Woke up to good news, though. My bloodwork came back, and the baby is still growing. My hCG was 3,183!! My Progesterone was 30, and my Estradiol came up to 1,170!! This blew my mind. Three days prior, my Estrodial was only 60. It was too low. The doctor told me to stop taking the pills orally and go back to the vaginal inserts three times daily, and my number went up from 60 to over 1,000. Mind-blowing. It makes me want to stick ALL of my pills up there. Haha! I packed up the rest of my stuff. Packed the meds, the heat pad, the needles, and theragun. My bag was 50 lbs on the dot! I got to Fort Worth. 8 practices tomorrow. 4 games Thursday. Here we go, March Madness! Still no team for Joe. Poor guy. He is golfing today, though, so that should keep his mind occupied!
March 16:
Up all night, heat pad and theragun made glutes sore
I woke up at 4 am with nausea and dizziness
8 practices!!!
March 17: 4 games!! Joe got calls from all of his final choices, and we had to decide between one of my games. I was on the phone with him and his agent Kris. We decided to go with the Minnesota Twins! He drives to Florida TOMORROW to start the shortened spring training. He will drive with the dog. We need to find a place to live in Florida first. We will stay at the Drury Inn Fort Myers Airport team hotel until we do. Then we need a 7 month furnished rental in Minnesota that allows dogs. Lord, help me, haha. Year 16. Move 26 and 27 since I have met Joe. Hard to believe. What a ride!
March 21: What a day!!!! I slept in, went for a walk, took mamma to breakfast, packed up my hotel room, took the dog for a walk, and waited for Joe to get back. He got back from the field, and we loaded his car to drive to move into the rental. My mom got stuck at the airport car rental place, so we went to help her. Joe and I moved into our new home. Then my mom picked my dad up from the airport and they came to the house and we all cooked and relaxed. It was a long day, but it was awesome to be together. We opened Joe’s birthday gifts one day early since I am leaving tomorrow! I got him phone chargers, socks, hairspray, hair paste, and other random stuff to make him laugh!
March 22: It is Joe Joe’s birthday!! I had to fly out after he went to the field, and I miss him already. I made it safe after a full day of travel to get to San Antonio. Sweet 16, here we come!
March 23: 4 practices today! We just grinded then I met my friend Brian Boesch from Ohio University for dinner at the hotel. He called women’s basketball games with me and also summer travel baseball. He taught me so much and became like family to me. It is nice on the road to be with people who you can be effortless around. He is one of those! It was a great day and night.
March 24: Two games today! I can’t wait! They are late though. 7 and 10 PM. I had AMAZING energy today, thank goodness.
I did shots at the arena before the game. The progesterone in the glute muscle and the blood thinner in the stomach. They went in really well. I have been struggling to do them on my own because I am always very sore after. When Joe does my shots, I am never sore. But I did well today. The games flew by and were both thrillers. On days like these, I feel so blessed to have this career and husband and the opportunity to have a baby.
March 25: Only two practices today!! Compared to last week, it felt like a cakewalk when we started the week with 8!
I had a nice walk and then practiced 2-4. Went to dinner in my FAVORITE area in San Antonio, the Pearl District. Sam, my producer, and I went to Supper. We pigged out. Then we got ice cream and “Lick,” which had really weird flavors like thyme, goat cheese, and blackberry. It was good, though! I then woke up at 5 am hungry again. God, I love pregnancy, haha.
March 26: Last game today of the NCAA Tournament for me! The Elite Eight!! Villanova is playing Houston. Both are going for their program's 7th final four appearances. I got up and went for an awesome walk. Reagan Bregman and her dad drove down from Houston, so I met them for lunch at La Panaderia. I went to the arena early to interview both coaches. The game was extremely close and flew by! I did my progesterone and blood thinner shots in the arena bathroom at halftime. Thank God they went in smoothly. Villanova won but lost a key starter to a major injury. They only play 6 deep, so that will be a major problem for them. After the game, I had dinner with Reagan and her dad and my producer Sam, announcer Brian, PJ Carlesimo, and two members of the NCAA Committee. It was a nice night. I am wiped and ready to go home, though!!
March 27: Flying HOME!! (Well, by home, I mean the Florida rental that I have been to for one day, haha). I can not wait to see Joe and fall asleep together. Tomorrow is heartbeat day. I am SO nervous. I am trusting God all the way, and I know I am blessed no matter what happens. It will be hard if there is no heartbeat. Just a really long emotional rollercoaster. But I will always count my blessings, rise up, and keep trying.
March 28: HEARTBEAT DAY!!! Oh, man. I am so nervous. But also at peace. Does that even make sense? I guess I always say I trust God. So this is a test of that. Either you trust Him, or you don’t. I do. But the natural human in me is anxious and nervous, and excited. Joe and I pulled up to the Lee County Medical Center. That has to be a good sign.
We were greeted by an ultrasound technician that was…well…not very friendly. She was pretty business-like and abrasive. I went to pull down my pants, and she said, “nope, it's stomach.” I said, "oh, ok, sorry." She did the ultrasound on my belly and said, “there is your baby.” I asked well is it moving?? She zoomed in and said, “see it beating?”
It was beating!! You could see it clearly!! We were so excited. Joe tried to videotape, but she quickly said, “no videos allowed!” Haha, of course, she did. Tears rolled down my cheek. I think they were tears of relief more than anything. Joe is smiling. He said he knew it would work this time all along. This is a great first step. A long way to go, but what a blessing.
Later that night, we had 12 family members meet for a celebratory dinner at The Boathouse, one of Nana’s favorites by The Cove Inn. It was Joe and me, Joe’s dad Mike and his girlfriend Kim, my mom and dad, Joe’s uncle Jeff and his friend, my Uncle Tom and his wife Pam, and AuBree and Thomas! It was an awesome night of family!! AuBree didn’t stop kissing my belly for one second! She was talking to it like a human, haha. And my dad kept calling it “his baby.”
March 29: Joe threw in a backfield game, which means he just threw against his own teammates on a different field than the main game to get his reps in. Our friends from Ohio, Dan and Miranda, and their four boys came and watched, along with Joe’s dad and Kim and my Uncle Tom. We got to go on the field, and the kids got to hit in the batting cages! Kim and I spent a few hours at the pool before meeting the guys back at the house later that night. They went golfing, and we had a late dinner ordered into the house and just relaxed. It was an awesome night.
April 3: I braved my fear of starting to workout and went to Orange Theory today!! I just stuck to walking between a flat road and incline and did some light lifting and rowing. It was challenging, and my heart rate spiked like crazy, but I didn’t overdo it. I have to get back into it eventually, and I am hoping it helps with my sleep. I have been dealing with restless leg syndrome. Say whhaaaaat?? I get sensations in my legs down to the arch of my feet for about one hour per night. It won't allow me to sleep, so I just roll around restless. I have tried calcium, but it's not a cramp, so I don’t think that has to do with it. I am hoping the workouts allow me to have a deeper sleep!
My mom and I drove up to Fort Myers to watch Joe throw in a game. We walked in right on time for him to enter the game, and he did well. He ended the inning fielding his own ground ball. Neil, Joe’s dad’s good friend, was at the game, and it was awesome to see him! We drove Joe home with us after and ordered sushi with my mom and dad, and just giggled all night at the dinner table. They told stories from when they were dating. Joe and my dad hate the couch in this rental, so they laid in bed together while my mom and I watched the Grammys on the couch. It was adorable!
April 4: Today was a total rollercoaster of energy levels!! I woke up sooo tired. I tried to go back to sleep, but with Joe getting up at 7 am each day, my parents at my house, and our big move to Minnesota coming tomorrow, I couldn’t rest my mind well enough. I dropped the dog off at the groomer since she is flying with us on the team plane tomorrow!! I went to fed ex and ran a few other errands, and then I went to my second Orange Theory workout class!! The other day when I went, it gave me really good mental clarity and energy for the day, plus I slept like a baby AND had no restless leg syndrome. The same went for today. The workout was hard because my cardio is so down, but I walked on an incline instead of running and just lifted arms and did some abs. It was great to be around a group of people and feed off of their energy.
I then met my parents at the pool until I had to pick the dog up and got some good sun and a little nap. But when I got home from picking the dog up, I felt like I got hit by a semi-truck!!!!! I closed my eyes at 4, woke up at 5:30, and did NOT want to get up. I ordered enough Italian food for a village because it was the only food that didn’t make me nauseous thinking about. I only woke up to eat and watch the national championship game. Slept like a baby through the night. I know those workouts help with that, and you gotta get back into it sometime.
April 5: I slept like a rock!! Joe left for the field with our suitcases, and I had peanut butter oatmeal with granola delivered on uber eats and made my half-calf coffee and just let my body wake up slowly. My shots from the last two days hardened at the point of entry, and they are tender, so I tried to rub them out. My friend, who is also an IVF warrior, reminded me that she was exceptionally tired around this time. Your body is just starting to produce its OWN progesterone naturally, PLUS you are giving yourself the shots. It is the transition period. I stop shots on April 20th (15 days!!!), and that day can not come soon enough!! In the meantime, double duty and expect to be tired! I am trying to embrace naps.
We flew with the team to Minnesota after Joe’s game. I did my shots in the plane bathroom. But we got Chick-fil-a, so all was forgiven. Haha. Brantley was a huge hit, and there were lots of doggies on the plane! When we landed, it was 40 degrees and raining, but our car was at the airport, so that was nice!. This team seems very welcoming and kind. I am excited about this next journey. I can’t believe his 16th year in spring training has already come and gone. It went so fast. Pregnancy, however, is going very slow, haha.
April 6: Move-in day!! NOOOOO. Haha, I counted, and it is our 27th move together as a couple. 27 in 10 years. Wowza. What a wild ride and fun adventure. Moving never gets easier and always sucks!! We slept in the hotel until about 9 am. Then we ordered room service. I refused to get out of bed, even though Joe was fully dressed and ready to get moving for the day. I just didn’t want to face moving! We drove Joe’s car with 6 suitcases and the dog, our pillows, his fishing pole, and my purse and book bag into our new apartment building. The patio door didn’t seal properly, there was a very loud wind tunnel noise, and the unit was freezing, so we had them fix it while we went to the field to grab my car and the rest of the suitcases. Joe gave me a tour of the field, which was cool. It is one of the coolest stadiums I have ever seen. Joe stayed at the field, and I ran to get some groceries. Our apartment is unfurnished, so we don't even have a trash can or toilet paper!! I grabbed the essentials, repacked my suitcase, and headed to the airport for San Francisco. I have Lakers/Warriors tomorrow on TNT!
Meanwhile, our landlord in Florida tried to tell me that there was a leather couch missing from the house. I'm like how in the hell do you think I stole your couch in the middle of flying every two days with 7 suitcases and a dog?? hahah. She figured it out. She also was very nice and shipped me a few things I left behind. I will have to do my shots on the plane tonight again, which isn’t my favorite because I think the air pressure makes my glutes and stomach more sore after the shots. If it leads to a baby though, it's worth it!!
