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Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Coach Kel is having a baby!

Dear Friends, Family EFC Partners and EFC Sponsors

We have some very exciting news to share with you…

After 4 years of “trying” to get pregnant, a scary 2008 with medical complications and even a miss-diagnosis of MS (which we later attributed to food allergies/sensitivities) and then another setback on Oct 25th with a life flight helicopter ride to the ER when an athlete rode into me during Longhorn 70.3 Triathlon in Austin, TX resulting in (3) pelvic fractures discovered in an MRI administered on November 13, 2009. Noted in the MRI result was “an incidental” finding that something was wrong with my uterus which would explain our infertility. After this last discovery, Rob and I pretty much gave up and believed we were not meant to have children. We discussed the possibility of seeing a fertility specialist with our primary care doctor after the MRI report, but soon decided we’d help children in other ways such as starting Energy Fit Kids and continuing to be very involved with our nieces and nephew here in Ohio and our nieces and nephew in Colorado…

Well, less than a month after the MRI findings and our shift of focus… Conception!!! Yup it’s true- we are having a baby!!! Oh Boy! Or girl!

Here is a bit of our story

Just after New Years, we were speaking with Rob’s sister, Laura, who was telling us her exciting but unexpected news. Laura, mother of twins and an Irish twin, just found out she was pregnant and was sharing her symptoms. We both paused and said, hmm- I’m feeling like that. After further discussion, Laura insisted we head out and get a pregnancy test. Well, at first, Rob and I resisted. We had pretty much bought EPTs in bulk at Sam’s club for the past 4 years and we were starting to grow tired of the negative test results, but with Laura pushing us on, we gave in and purchased a new test. Well, Tuesday morning, Jan 4th- the test had 2 double lines and Rob spilled tears of joy while I starred stunned!!

I must admit, at first, I was like “oh my…now what??? I have a huge triathlon season planned, 2 Ironman races, several 70.3 ½ Ironman races, a need to set bike course records and support my sponsors, and the fuel to get back to Kona after my inability to race the World Championships in 08. Plus the DVD shoot we put off due to the pelvic fractures…” My mind raced, but Rob’s thrill of pure excitement, gratefulness and love was over powering and I knew all that “stuff” could wait. So, I began to shift my focus on God’s plan.

Well, as you know, we are always on the go, so after our “discovery” we began our quest for an OB. Our original plan was to leave for Colorado on Wednesday, but with the snow storm and finding out we were pregnant, we decided to post pone our departure and find an OB. With the complications we expected on my uterus and still healing from 3 pelvic fractures, we felt it was very important to see the OB before heading off to ski in Rockies and be in Colorado for 2 weeks.

Luckily our good friend and neighbor is an All-Star OB and she got us in right away. Friday, Jan 8th we saw the doctor and our baby! It was amazing. It seems there is nothing wrong with my uterus and our “little sac” was looking good at 5 weeks and 4 days along!

Well, last Thursday, February 25th we went in for our “big” appointment and things are looking great! We are now 13 weeks along and our baby’s heart beat is excellent, the spinal structure looks good and he/she is just chillin’ like he/she owns the place. It was absolutely amazing to see the pictures of the little webbed hands, the little legs sprawled out and even my ski-tip nose on the baby.

Over the last month, I have grown so excited and so attached to our little baby. I have totally let go of “my triathlon season” and have committed myself 100% to this baby, our EFC athletes, supporting our sponsors and partners and Rob getting to Kona this year! We are very excited to help our athletes achieve their goals this season and support our athletes and all our Partners and Sponsors services and offerings to our athletes at clinics, camps and races! While we are not 100% sure of our travel and race plans now, I do hope to be “running” around and taking pictures as often as possible and cheering Rob and our athletes on! I will be writing to Ironman to see if I can roll my Ironman CDA, Ironman WI and Eagleman 70.3 spots to next year and we are going to focus solely on Rob qualifying for the World Championships at Eagleman 70.3 this June.

Our due date is September 6th! We are having fun with the journey so far and really excited for Little Wissolik’s arrival!

Well, thanks for hearing our joy! Have a great week and a wonderful weekend!

Oh, and we are very excited about our 2nd busy weekend with several EFC Athletes and Tri Friends in Chicagoland this weekend. We are hosting bike fits, one on one sessions, Strength Assessments and more! So to all our Chicago friends…

Pizza Party Get-together will be this Friday, March 5th – downtown Chicago!

If you are able to catch up- please write back so I can firm up a head count for reservations!

Lou Malnati’s on Wells Street- Downtown Chicago around 7pm – Friday March 5th!