Speaker 1: Calm Down with Aaron and Carissa is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1: Happy Holidays everyone. Wow, what a year twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: has been. We've had so many great moments. It was
Speaker 1: hard to choose what some of our best moments were,
Speaker 1: but we think you're gonna love what we came up with.
Speaker 1: We have to start with the best part of the year,
Speaker 1: Aaron becoming a mother. Here's a portion of that episode.
Speaker 1: A few days of baby mc roney was born. It
Speaker 1: seems like it was seventeen years ago. I want to
Speaker 1: start with the moment that you saw him, because I
Speaker 1: don't think you and I haven't talked about this.
Speaker 2: We've talked about a lot of it.
Speaker 1: So the moment we saw him, I think I was like, Hi, Hi.
Speaker 1: It was funny because as soon as the nurses took
Speaker 1: him out, they were like, he's got hair and he's
Speaker 1: really cute, and we had had you know, it was
Speaker 1: kind of crazy in the delivery room up until they
Speaker 1: got him out. We can get into that. So I
Speaker 1: wasn't even thinking, oh my gosh, does he have hair?
Speaker 1: Is he cute? I was just like, is this guy okay,
Speaker 1: what's happening? Hey? Another headline jets on hard knocks. I
Speaker 1: know a quarterback that's gonna love that. By the way,
Speaker 1: welcome to Aaron Andrews in Motherhood. We're talking about the
Speaker 1: baby in the birth canalis like breaking news. Back to you,
Speaker 1: Kevin and Greg Jesus, I love you, Okay, go back
Speaker 1: to your baby. Okay. So yeah, just I was I
Speaker 1: was like, hi, Like, it was just kind of like
Speaker 1: they just like throw him in your arms and it's
Speaker 1: all happening at once, and it's wild and it's crazy,
Speaker 1: and like I remember even when we were getting ready
Speaker 1: to take him outside back into our room, we put
Speaker 1: him in this rollie thing and we're like, are we
Speaker 1: allowed to take him like out like and they're like, yeah,
Speaker 1: put him in this little rollie thing, which those are great.
Speaker 1: By the way, we haven't even talked about that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a newborn in a stroller. I got a lot to
Speaker 1: teach you. Before it's your turn, Love, we're going to
Speaker 1: talk about. Oh, I love that you just said to me.
Speaker 1: I got a lot to teach you, okay. So you
Speaker 1: I mean the actual like things that you see in
Speaker 1: the movies where they put the babies in the little
Speaker 1: like plastic dead thing and then which by the way,
Speaker 1: like our nursery is still a thing like oursen go
Speaker 1: and one he didn't go into the nursery, he stayed
Speaker 1: in our room overnight. All right, let's start in order
Speaker 1: where are we'll start? I just wanted that moment that
Speaker 1: you like see him because this has been a nine
Speaker 1: year journey, which I know that we sit here and
Speaker 1: rightfully so and can like make like funny little like
Speaker 1: corps and jokes and you can smile because you finally
Speaker 1: got the baby boy that you've always wanted in granted,
Speaker 1: boy girl, whatever it was that I just can't imagine
Speaker 1: how grateful and everything that you feel. But on the
Speaker 1: other side of that, you know how difficult this has been.
Speaker 1: So yeah, to start wherever you want to start, Let's go,
Speaker 1: and let's go through because I know that there's a
Speaker 1: lot of people that listen to this podcast that are
Speaker 1: going through similar things or have one through similar things.
Speaker 1: And a lot of our listeners have been so awesome
Speaker 1: in terms of reaching out DM wise books for me
Speaker 1: to read, you know, when I hadn't divulged that we
Speaker 1: were actually pregnant and so forth. So you know, we
Speaker 1: have been pretty candid on this podcast, which I have
Speaker 1: appreciated just about my journey and the struggle. I did
Speaker 1: nine years of IVF, Like you know, was trying really
Speaker 1: really hard. You and I have talked about it about
Speaker 1: trying to get eggs. I just couldn't produce eggs. Yes,
Speaker 1: did my age have a lot to do with it, sure,
Speaker 1: But also I was dealing with, you know, cervical cancer
Speaker 1: and sometimes you know, your body just doesn't really do
Speaker 1: a great job with producing these eggs. And that was me. So,
Speaker 1: you know, we would get so long in the process,
Speaker 1: and you would just get one egg. Sometimes sometimes you
Speaker 1: would get eleven. Sometimes you would get too well, then
Speaker 1: you want to mix in your husband's sperm and make embryos,
Speaker 1: and you're waiting, you're weight and you're waiting, and then
Speaker 1: you don't have any and you just feel I And
Speaker 1: so I ended up having to do IVF. I did
Speaker 1: nine or I did eight rounds of IVF. And don't
Speaker 1: you always feel like CHRISA Like every vacation I was on,
Speaker 1: every event I had to go to, I was shooting up,
Speaker 1: like I feel like I. So many of our vacations
Speaker 1: were affected by my freaking IVF. This was like my
Speaker 1: first summer I didn't have to. We were in Montana,
Speaker 1: I you know, Kelly and Matthew wanted to stay longer,
Speaker 1: and I was like, I have to go home because
Speaker 1: I have to go get you know, I an ultrasound.
Speaker 1: Like everything I was doing for the last nine years
Speaker 1: was affected by IVF and it sucked because there's no
Speaker 1: like rhyme or reason, there's no right timing. You just
Speaker 1: it's like you don't even know when your right time
Speaker 1: is going to be. It to crapshoot. And by that,
Speaker 1: it's also the phone calls and the different things that
Speaker 1: you're doing while you're trying to do your job, or
Speaker 1: even the medical stuffing you have to go through and
Speaker 1: wearing you know, unfortunately, like certain things in your clothing
Speaker 1: because you had to have an operation, and reporting on
Speaker 1: packers cowboys coming up in America's Game of the Week,
Speaker 1: Like there's so much that little game. Yeah, exactly. But
Speaker 1: that's to me, which is why when when you know
Speaker 1: when you which we'll get to in a second, like
Speaker 1: told me that this embryo took, and it's just like
Speaker 1: it's so incredible. Okay, So starting at the very beginning,
Speaker 1: you had how many embryos left, like how many like
Speaker 1: did you know that you could like try to get
Speaker 1: pregnant with, So we didn't have many at all. As
Speaker 1: my my doctor would say, less than a starting lineup.
Speaker 1: That's one thing I loved about my fertility doctor so
Speaker 1: much is that he knew for me, my way to
Speaker 1: kind of cope with things is sports. And so I
Speaker 1: would be like, all right, what are we looking at
Speaker 1: follicle wise? And you've got you have enough for a
Speaker 1: starting lineup. You know, this one could be your point guard,
Speaker 1: this one could be your starting quarterback, like things like that,
Speaker 1: to tell me the strength of the embryos and all
Speaker 1: that stuff. So less than a handful, less than a
Speaker 1: starting lineup, which isn't great. And then we started realizing,
Speaker 1: you know, I, when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer,
Speaker 1: I should have gotten a second opinion. I didn't. I
Speaker 1: went to the first doctor that told me that she
Speaker 1: could get this out, and she didn't, and she packed
Speaker 1: me open and I lost more of my cervix than
Speaker 1: was necessary. But unfortunately the cancer went past the margin,
Speaker 1: so I had to have another surgery, and at that point,
Speaker 1: holding a baby was just not going to happen. Literally,
Speaker 1: we went to when we were like, okay, am I
Speaker 1: going to try to get pregnant now after cervical cancer.
Speaker 1: We went to a lot of doctors that gave me
Speaker 1: advice about if I did go into labor while I
Speaker 1: work in a Green Bay game, or if I did
Speaker 1: go into labor while I'm working a Patriots game, I
Speaker 1: have to stay in New England. I have to stay
Speaker 1: in Green Bay for the rest of my pregnancy, like
Speaker 1: I cannot move. They even talked about like potentially stitching
Speaker 1: me up so my cervix could hold it. But unfortunately
Speaker 1: we made the decision there just wasn't enough there to
Speaker 1: actually carry a baby, and which was really hard. It
Speaker 1: was really hard to hear that. But COVID Easter, we
Speaker 1: were in our house and we're normally at our friend's
Speaker 1: house who has kids, Jackie Quick or usually, and we're
Speaker 1: usually with everybody who has kids, and we're just here
Speaker 1: by ourselves, and we're like this sucks, Like this just sucks.
Speaker 1: This is I mean, my husband's great, we love each other,
Speaker 1: but we're like what are we doing. So it wasn't
Speaker 1: really until that Easter because we were kind of like, well,
Speaker 1: maybe I will get pregnant, maybe I won't go into
Speaker 1: labor and maybe it was just like this isn't working.
Speaker 1: I'm not getting pregnant. They don't want to use the
Speaker 1: embryos on me because I don't have very many and
Speaker 1: the potent I'm older, The stats are up against me,
Speaker 1: the numbers are up against me. I probably will lose
Speaker 1: the embryos. So, you know, finally we were like, let's
Speaker 1: just try. Let's look into saragacy, let's see what we
Speaker 1: can find out, and let's see if it's even for us.
Speaker 1: So probably twenty twenty one, we really looked into it
Speaker 1: and we finally found someone. And this is a really
Speaker 1: difficult process. It's it's mentally exhausting. You literally are. You
Speaker 1: go to an agency, they look for candidates. Then they
Speaker 1: send you profiles or resumes of different surrogates and maybe
Speaker 1: surrogate of her and her husband, and you kind of
Speaker 1: read it. You read all about their life and you
Speaker 1: feel like you really think that they're a good match.
Speaker 1: You could say, I'd like to meet them. Then they
Speaker 1: read my story and they read Jarrett's story of why
Speaker 1: we need sarrogacy and why we're looking to go this avenue.
Speaker 1: Then you get on a zoom because nobody does anything
Speaker 1: in person anymore because of COVID, and you meet them
Speaker 1: and you talk to them and you end up crying
Speaker 1: and you end up saying, you know, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: This would mean the world to me for you to
Speaker 1: you know, be able to have my baby. And this
Speaker 1: is what we've gone through as a family. It's a lot.
Speaker 1: It's exhausting. Then from there you have to get legal
Speaker 1: involved and they check them out and then you end up,
Speaker 1: you know, having them looked at. So we went through
Speaker 1: that with many, many different women. And my doctor was
Speaker 1: so so particular and sensitive about who he chose as
Speaker 1: a surrogate because I didn't have many, so we'd get
Speaker 1: so close and if they had one little thing wrong
Speaker 1: with them, he was like, oh my god, I can't
Speaker 1: I can't do this. In twenty twenty one, we found
Speaker 1: a lovely, lovely woman. We loved her so much. We
Speaker 1: adored her family, huge hockey fans. They were just perfect.
Speaker 1: They were absolutely adorable, they were right up the road.
Speaker 1: It was perfect. We went into this very we just
Speaker 1: we didn't really know the risk of it all, and
Speaker 1: we thought it was going to be so so easy
Speaker 1: to do, and we ended up putting two embryos in
Speaker 1: and we lost them both and that was so hard.
Speaker 1: And that was actually a podcast we did and we
Speaker 1: didn't say what it was, and I was just sobbing.
Speaker 1: I think you were in Lake Tahoe and I called
Speaker 1: you no Lake, Arrolhead sorry.
Speaker 2: Lake, and.
Speaker 1: The text because because we knew like you had, you know,
Speaker 1: these embryo like the transfer had happened, and just waiting
Speaker 1: and waiting and waiting and waiting for the news. And
Speaker 1: then I'll like never forget that tech that I got
Speaker 1: from you where you're like neither of them were and
Speaker 1: I just my heart like I'll like cry thinking about it,
Speaker 1: because you know, these are it's their goal, like these
Speaker 1: are like when you only have a few. And then yeah,
Speaker 1: just like my heart like broke for you in that moment.
Speaker 1: And we, like I said, we went into it so blind.
Speaker 1: We kind of just thought, wow, like, well, well let's
Speaker 1: get it over with, let's have twins, like it'll be
Speaker 1: like really quick and then we'll be done, or if
Speaker 1: one doesn't take, we'll have the other. And we kind
Speaker 1: of just thought that's how it went. And so that
Speaker 1: was a really hard go for me. Jarrett was so
Speaker 1: good because he kind of like mourned and grieved right away.
Speaker 1: I remember he went upstairs and just laid in our
Speaker 1: bed with our dog and just ballwed his brains out.
Speaker 1: And I just kept thinking, Okay, we have to get
Speaker 1: past this. We have to get because that's just how
Speaker 1: I am. That's how I am with like everything. Let's
Speaker 1: just hey, let's talk about the jets on hard knocks.
Speaker 1: What's going on? You know, I just don't want to
Speaker 1: get deeper. And I got really fucked up. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you remember. I was just not right. I
Speaker 1: just couldn't communicate my feelings about it. I think I
Speaker 1: was sed to move forward. What does this mean if
Speaker 1: I we just lost these two, we don't have much left?
Speaker 1: What if we don't have success, We're now going to
Speaker 1: have to find a different person. This is all like
Speaker 1: crazy and I end up having to get some help
Speaker 1: because it was actually, I know I've told you this,
Speaker 1: having a hard time like forming sentences. I just was
Speaker 1: like missing words more so than usual. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: good for that, but it was just it made me
Speaker 1: kind of deal with a lot. It was hard. It
Speaker 1: was really hard. But I think the biggest thing it
Speaker 1: made me do was start talking to you. Guys about
Speaker 1: it all more because you're you're a tough cookie like
Speaker 1: you let us and us as the proverbial you know,
Speaker 1: your friend group, your family, like we we know when
Speaker 1: and when you don't want to open up about stuff,
Speaker 1: and it's like it's hard because you don't want to
Speaker 1: press someone. But when you love someone so much and
Speaker 1: you care about them and you know, you know, you
Speaker 1: just want to do anything that you can for them.
Speaker 1: So that's even more of a reason why with your
Speaker 1: baby boy being have you said his name, Matt, I'm here,
Speaker 1: MegaR me the big man, tell everyone, tell me his
Speaker 1: full name. It's Mac Roger for my grandpa who loves
Speaker 1: sports so much stole. So now all the more reason
Speaker 1: why Mac being here and again, and we'll get into
Speaker 1: that other stuff of like the Megan the Megan Mitchell
Speaker 1: story of like they choose you and like everything happens
Speaker 1: for a reason, and we've got a lot of years
Speaker 1: about that dinner at Ponchos at another night.
Speaker 2: Yes, they've run for.
Speaker 1: Episode two of this story because it's so it's just
Speaker 1: so special. So as on the side of heartbreak is
Speaker 1: the side of joy. So now being able to sit
Speaker 1: here and go back on this journey with you and really,
Speaker 1: like think about how long it's been for you.
Speaker 2: It's a testament to who you are.
Speaker 1: And I know I've said this to you, whether it's
Speaker 1: you know, at our pseudo baby shower, which I made
Speaker 1: you have because you reluctantly didn't want to have that
Speaker 1: and I respect that, but because you don't want the
Speaker 1: attention to ever be on you. But you have worked
Speaker 1: so hard and this baby boy is here because you
Speaker 1: and Jerry didn't give up. And that would be the message,
Speaker 1: I think, and I would hope that people like you
Speaker 1: know there's always another option, even if it wasn't your
Speaker 1: first choice. So right right after all of that happens,
Speaker 1: then for you sort of what that next step was
Speaker 1: and how you kept going even if it was so
Speaker 1: hard dealing with myself talking about it with you guys
Speaker 1: was a big one for me, you know, Like you said,
Speaker 1: this led us to something and even greater. We then
Speaker 1: found our kind of angel, one of our angels. Her
Speaker 1: name is Stephanie Levitt. She actually runs Family Match Consulting
Speaker 1: and her story is incredible and she's just an awesome person.
Speaker 1: I love her so much, and she led us to
Speaker 1: our surrogate. That wasn't easy though either. We had actually
Speaker 1: a couple other people that we had interviewed. We got
Speaker 1: really close with another girl that we thought we were
Speaker 1: actually going to do it with the transfer with, and
Speaker 1: that didn't work out, obviously for all reasons that you know.
Speaker 1: We're fabulous on the other end, but very hard at
Speaker 1: the time. And Steph made this whole process as just
Speaker 1: a wonderful experience how it should be, and she led
Speaker 1: us to our girl and our family. And I'm trying
Speaker 1: to think. I think it was last summer maybe that
Speaker 1: we met her. I think it was. I think it
Speaker 1: was maybe like gosh, like May or June that we
Speaker 1: met her. And yeah, we met her, and we did
Speaker 1: a zoom with them, and we thought that they were lovely.
Speaker 1: But it's kind of like this is like your sixth
Speaker 1: or seventh interview with a surrogate. You know, you're like,
Speaker 1: all right, let me cry and tell you my story again. Hello,
Speaker 1: how are you? But you know, they were great. We
Speaker 1: met him a few times for lunch and everything, and
Speaker 1: then when she checked out medically and everything was good.
Speaker 1: I was telling this story the other day. Obviously I'm
Speaker 1: a person that can block my feelings, my emotions hide
Speaker 1: behind sports, not the healthiest thing to do. But I
Speaker 1: was working a forty nine ers game in I think
Speaker 1: it was probably like October, maybe the end of September,
Speaker 1: right before the transfer, and I just blocked it all out,
Speaker 1: blocked it all out, and then got on the plane
Speaker 1: to go take off back to LA and I knew,
Speaker 1: oh no, no, that wasn't even the transfer. The transfer
Speaker 1: that was to find out if she was pregnant. So
Speaker 1: on this Sunday, I'm flying home and I just was
Speaker 1: looking out the window and I just started bawling because
Speaker 1: I'm like, shit, this is happening tomorrow.
Speaker 2: We were texting.
Speaker 1: I think I was like, I'm having a panic attack.
Speaker 2: And I was like yeah.
Speaker 1: And then I was also grateful that you were only
Speaker 1: on a forty five minute flight because I was like,
Speaker 1: I need you on the ground.
Speaker 2: I need you because I don't need.
Speaker 1: You cross country and then you checking out on me,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, I'm like, I can't get
Speaker 1: to you, so let's make this for I get home
Speaker 1: and get in your bed. Attendant was like, would you
Speaker 1: like anything to drink before we take off? Yes, I'll
Speaker 1: have three drinks. Thank you. I'll have run white and blue. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it's really happening. And so that's where like emotionally
Speaker 1: you were at there and then and then the next day,
Speaker 1: it was a crazy day. Well first of all leading
Speaker 1: up to that. After the transfer, it takes about ten
Speaker 1: to twelve days to figure out if they're pregnant. So
Speaker 1: my girlfriend Carissa Thompson and Kelly Stafford girlfriends drop off
Speaker 1: this huge care package to my house and was basically
Speaker 1: the twelve days of waiting to see if you're pregnant,
Speaker 1: and each day had a note and a different gift.
Speaker 1: There were Disney magazines, there were cuddly socks. There were
Speaker 1: jammis that I wear all the time now my Kate's
Speaker 1: fade jammys. There were bathrobes, there were lip glosses, there
Speaker 1: were like Charlotte Tillbury like it was just so sweet
Speaker 1: and so of course I had it back here like
Speaker 1: during the podcast and we were filming, and I was like,
Speaker 1: oh God, people are going to see this. Every day.
Speaker 1: Jerett would come down and be like, so what is
Speaker 1: day three? Like what's he four? Like what do you gutsy?
Speaker 1: So but no, we just wanted we you know, because
Speaker 1: I remember Kelly and texting me and she was like,
Speaker 1: we have to distract her. And Kelly's been very very
Speaker 1: open about her struggle, about her IVF journey journey exactly,
Speaker 1: and that is I think the thing and hopefully to
Speaker 1: anyone that's listening, like the support system and whether that's
Speaker 1: your immediate girlfriends or whether that's strangers that you don't
Speaker 1: even know, is that unfortunately and fortunately this community is
Speaker 1: really really big and if you lean on them, those
Speaker 1: waiting rooms are packed. If you let your friends or
Speaker 1: even strangers like support you, then you don't feel like
Speaker 1: you're so isolated. And I don't know, I mean I
Speaker 1: have never I haven't went on this journey that you have.
Speaker 1: You can only hope to like support somebody in that
Speaker 1: be like, Okay, we're here for you. So it was
Speaker 1: the twelve Days of Distraction and the twelve Days of Christmas.
Speaker 2: Thank You Baby Jesus.
Speaker 1: Culminated in mac Roger Stole because oh my gosh. So
Speaker 1: then we get through that week because we're all in
Speaker 1: this together. You guys are all in it. The Stafford's,
Speaker 1: the Thompson Candaries, like the Stole Andrews. Yeah, like we're
Speaker 1: in it. My girlfriend Jackie, the Heather, Megan, my other Megan. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like everybody's in it. They know we're supposed to find
Speaker 1: out if she's pregnant or if she's not, and that Monday,
Speaker 1: and so usually when you find out, like last time
Speaker 1: we found out it didn't work, it was about like
Speaker 1: four o'clock in the afternoon. So I had said to
Speaker 1: you guys, like, you guys were being so sweet, and
Speaker 1: a lot of times friends don't know how to react,
Speaker 1: like they don't know what to do. They don't want
Speaker 1: to get in your way, but you guys wanted to
Speaker 1: be helpful if it didn't work, and I get that.
Speaker 1: So Kelly tell the story. Kelly had the idea, We're
Speaker 1: just going to plan a dinner regardless. We're going to
Speaker 1: plan a dinner because I this is what happened when
Speaker 1: Matthew won the Super Bowl. Yeah, yeah, we're planning a dinner.
Speaker 1: We're meeting at such and such a restaurant, Dantannas. What
Speaker 1: wood care they saying at Dantanna's, let's say whatever time
Speaker 1: it was, we were going to be at seven o'clock.
Speaker 2: And yeah, so then you're supposed.
Speaker 1: To find out I think like around four, right, was
Speaker 1: that I thought, yeah, and then and then tell everybody
Speaker 1: what happened. Well, what are you and Kelly doing that?
Speaker 1: Whole time, you guys are just texting, right have you heard?
Speaker 2: Have you heard?
Speaker 1: Like of course you're updated. Do I have a wife again?
Speaker 1: Whif is a signal strong? I remember seeing that. I
Speaker 1: We're waiting at South Beverly Grill and they're like, oh, drinks,
Speaker 1: and I was like, I'm going to need another drink.
Speaker 1: They're like, you're already at your max psychopath, Like you
Speaker 1: got to go to another restaurant because I was like,
Speaker 1: we're waiting, and we're waiting, and then like as time
Speaker 1: keeps going by, and I was like, oh no, because
Speaker 1: now you're like, oh fuck, like this might not be
Speaker 1: good enough. Times like keeps going by. So I know
Speaker 1: we were just waiting for you to tell us great news.
Speaker 1: But then we got the text that's yeah. So I
Speaker 1: was laying on the couch and it's like finally five
Speaker 1: o'clock and I'm just like, I'm literally my heart is
Speaker 1: just coming out of my check. I'm like, this is crazy.
Speaker 1: This is like torture to put people through Jared's stomachs,
Speaker 1: killing him. He's running up and down and so the stairs.
Speaker 1: It was so finally I just I called the fertility
Speaker 1: clinic and I was just like, I don't want to
Speaker 1: press three for help. I don't want to press four
Speaker 1: for English, Like, just get me an operator, I don't
Speaker 1: want to hear this music. Just let me know what's
Speaker 1: going on. So my sweet sweet nurse who I love
Speaker 1: so much, was like, I am so so sorry. The
Speaker 1: test results are not going to be in today. You're
Speaker 1: not gonna find out until tomorrow. And I'm like, they
Speaker 1: can't do this to me. They cannot do this to me.
Speaker 1: And instantly I went into, let's call Neil Latrosh with
Speaker 1: the rams, Let's call somebody from the chargers, like who
Speaker 1: do we know to break into the lab? Like I
Speaker 1: literally thought, who from the I'm gonna call Sean McVay
Speaker 1: right now. I'm gonna call Sean McVay and ask for help,
Speaker 1: like I need help to get into this lab. And
Speaker 1: she just said, I'm so sorry, there's nothing we can do.
Speaker 1: And I texted you guys and you were just like
Speaker 1: and then our reaction was, how can we break it?
Speaker 1: We're gonna get arrested this lab. We don't care. Let's
Speaker 1: go yep yep, and Jen was like, we get your
Speaker 1: clothes on, let's go. Let's go meet them. Like, let's
Speaker 1: go meet them, and let's just go have a time
Speaker 1: because sitting here we're gonna drive each other nuts. I'm gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, cause some sort of pain or whatever, like
Speaker 1: to my heart. So I was like, all right, fine,
Speaker 1: So we got a newberg. We went to Hollywood, and
Speaker 1: we had a night.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, we had a time.
Speaker 1: In this particular case, Steve, my boyfriend, had been carrying
Speaker 1: around this little dish with an egg, like.
Speaker 2: A raw egg for how long at that point, like.
Speaker 1: A month's a transfer. Yeah, So since the transfer, he
Speaker 1: had been carrying around this egg and continued to carry
Speaker 1: it around until we found out that it worked, and
Speaker 1: then kept it in our refrigerator until we met Mac
Speaker 1: because he's like just because we wanted to make sure
Speaker 1: through the entire pregnancy, like it was like his.
Speaker 2: I have so many pictures of Steve.
Speaker 1: And random faces of the flat family things of like
Speaker 1: you take the picture of like the random cut out,
Speaker 1: like and we're in Asia, We're in this hiffel tower.
Speaker 1: There was seven hundred photos in my phone with Steve
Speaker 1: with the egg, just randomly around. But yeah, so he
Speaker 1: brought the egg that night and it was excellent. We
Speaker 1: were wild, wild, and at one point I got way
Speaker 1: to whatever with my hands and broke the egg and
Speaker 1: you guys realized they broke out. It was just a
Speaker 1: minor crack. There was a minor crack. But I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: that's okay, that's okay. This doesn't mean anything. We're still good. Uh.
Speaker 1: But yeah, we tried to get you through that night,
Speaker 1: and then I had to leave on an early flight
Speaker 1: the next day to go wherever I was going. So
Speaker 1: then I was like, oh shit, like when we find
Speaker 1: out this news, if I want to, like, I better
Speaker 1: have Wi Fi on this plane, like okay.
Speaker 2: So then the next day happened.
Speaker 1: And I am I have to connect through somewhere, and
Speaker 1: I remember being like, oh my god, I don't want
Speaker 1: it because I don't also want to annoy you, like
Speaker 1: I need what's happening, what's happening. But then I finally,
Speaker 1: like my phone starts ringing and it's face time with
Speaker 1: you and Kelly, and my plane's about to take off,
Speaker 1: and you tell me on the plane that if it
Speaker 1: weren't I crying, likerying and this. I have this coat
Speaker 1: over my head and it's like because I'm trying to
Speaker 1: we're about to take off because they close the door
Speaker 1: on the plane. Yeah, close the door. And so then
Speaker 1: you tell me it worked, and I spilled my coffee
Speaker 1: all over it goes down. I'm like down the woman
Speaker 1: next to me, and they at this point the thing,
Speaker 1: I'm just hammered. I'm about to get escorted off the
Speaker 1: plane because they think I've had way too many, which
Speaker 1: has happened at the bar, but in this case, I
Speaker 1: was like hysterically crying, like tears of joy, and it
Speaker 1: was just we have like stupid pictures of the FaceTime
Speaker 1: screen shots from that day, but.
Speaker 2: Like, oh my god, like that feeling for.
Speaker 1: You and remember hold on. Remember the flight attendant going, ma'am,
Speaker 1: you need to turn off your phone and you put
Speaker 1: a blanket over you. You're like Kristen Wiggan Bridesmaids. You're like,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, my friend is pregnant. I'm so sorry, I'm
Speaker 1: so sorry, and you're crying like you are so lucky
Speaker 1: they didn't kick you off that plane. But once sound crazy.
Speaker 2: Yeah no I didn't.
Speaker 1: I look like a stone, but I didn't. I was
Speaker 1: like actually kick me off this plane. I dare you too,
Speaker 1: because I'd love to finish this conversation. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: it was so exciting. So then for you, so this
Speaker 1: journey and it clinate's in like the news that you've
Speaker 1: been waiting, you know, the nine years your whole life
Speaker 1: here and like you and Jared having that moment, And
Speaker 1: then for you, like, how did the pregnancy for your
Speaker 1: startin it? Did it feel like it went by fast?
Speaker 1: Or like, because how is that process for you? And
Speaker 1: how did it feel sort of being like, you know,
Speaker 1: just letting this and of course she's a member of
Speaker 1: your family now, but like you know, somebody carry your
Speaker 1: baby and that's sort of all the psychological stuff that
Speaker 1: goes with that and thinking about it daily, I feel
Speaker 1: like now looking back at it, it does seem like
Speaker 1: it went by fast. I mean we were in the
Speaker 1: middle of a football season. The first time we went
Speaker 1: to go hear his heartbeat. I had conference calls and
Speaker 1: zooms with the Packers and the Cowboys because they were
Speaker 1: playing that Sunday in America's Game of the Week. So
Speaker 1: I remember we went to go listen to his heartbeat
Speaker 1: and see it, and then I had to race out
Speaker 1: of there, and Jared's like, let's go celebrate, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I have to get in the car. Zach Martinez calling me,
Speaker 1: I've got to do an interview with Zach Martin as
Speaker 1: my husband's at the bar, you know, having two Savean blancs,
Speaker 1: celebrating hearing our kids heartbeat, and then I'm like, hey,
Speaker 1: we got to make this quick because we have Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers at three o'clock. He's like, can we toast our kid?
Speaker 1: Like really? So, you know, it's like I was like
Speaker 1: trying to cram in a football season and then deal
Speaker 1: with you know this, you know, pregnancy. But it did
Speaker 1: seem fast, I think looking back at it now, she
Speaker 1: was everything is everything that we and anyone could ever want.
Speaker 1: A sarrogate, super calm, super chill, the opposite of real mama,
Speaker 1: so positive, maybe the opposite of real mom. No, I'm kidding.
Speaker 1: She's a mom already. She has two kids of her own,
Speaker 1: she has four kids total, but she also has her husband.
Speaker 1: She is a great wife, she's a great friend. So
Speaker 1: she's like everything we wanted in a sarrogate. And then
Speaker 1: that even like culminated in the delivery, like we'll get
Speaker 1: to that. But she was such a freakin' baller that
Speaker 1: so she's amazing. She's everything I'm not in terms of
Speaker 1: being calm, so chill. She knew she had done Sarahenacy before.
Speaker 1: She's a mom. She just kind of really led us
Speaker 1: through it, held our hand, which was incredible. Also a
Speaker 1: sports fan, here's a fun one. When I had my
Speaker 1: playoff games, she would turn the TV up so he
Speaker 1: could hear my voice. No, they did the same thing
Speaker 1: for Jarrett when Jarrett was on TV so he could
Speaker 1: hear Jarrett. So yeah, they just got it and they
Speaker 1: really just guided us through this whole thing. It was awesome.
Speaker 1: That is so special because we talked about this. There
Speaker 1: are not enough words to describe the self angels. Yes,
Speaker 1: I don't even and I would love I mean I
Speaker 1: know that of course, the anonymity and rightfully so whatever,
Speaker 1: but like I just want to do like a whole
Speaker 1: like conversation with like how and why and all the things,
Speaker 1: and obviously, you know, let's talk Darius on the podcast
Speaker 1: one time. Let's bring her in. Yeah we should, we
Speaker 1: definitely should, but like, wow, what an incredible person to
Speaker 1: do that. I mean, that is like the ultimate act
Speaker 1: so that's so and so thoughtful, like, oh, you know
Speaker 1: because again we hear all the time like babies, and
Speaker 1: the woman can like hear music, and so for her.
Speaker 2: To turn up your voice, that's so sweet.
Speaker 1: I know, sweet, she's the best. She was the best.
Speaker 1: And like you know, just to fast forward to delivery
Speaker 1: and all that stuff, that's where, you know, we had
Speaker 1: a great relationship with them. We'd go meet them, we'd
Speaker 1: text them, we were on a family text chain with them,
Speaker 1: everything like that. But it wasn't until the delivery that
Speaker 1: it was like wow, I mean, she just I mean
Speaker 1: it just the relationship just moved to a whole different place.
Speaker 1: And we had a little bit of like kind of
Speaker 1: an emergency in the delivery room. Nothing major. She just
Speaker 1: dilated really really fast.
Speaker 3: He dropped.
Speaker 1: They wanted to you know, kind of get his heartbeat
Speaker 1: like back chill, like they didn't lose his heartbeat, but
Speaker 1: they wanted to get him ready for delivery. And that's
Speaker 1: stressful for the baby when they're going through the birth. Now,
Speaker 1: all the things we talked about it countless number of times,
Speaker 1: am I going to be in there? Am I going
Speaker 1: to watch?
Speaker 3: What?
Speaker 1: Am I going to do? I don't know, we have
Speaker 1: a good friend that just went through saragacy. He and
Speaker 1: his wife were so lovely to me to tell me
Speaker 1: what they did, and that really helped a lot. But
Speaker 1: once again, my sarrogate. She guided us through this with
Speaker 1: her husband as well, and we kind of walked in
Speaker 1: and they were working on getting the baby calmed down
Speaker 1: before delivery. They also wanted to get her doctor in
Speaker 1: there in time because the doctor had left. Nobody thought
Speaker 1: she was going to give birth that quickly, and she
Speaker 1: you know, everybody's kind of yelling, and I'm up against
Speaker 1: the wall and I'm like, oh God, what's happening? And
Speaker 1: I said to Jarreed, should we be here? Should we
Speaker 1: be here? Should we be here? And He's like, we're fine,
Speaker 1: We're fine. But I had my head facing the wall
Speaker 1: because I didn't want to be in the way of
Speaker 1: the doctors and the nurses and a lot was happening.
Speaker 1: They were trying to stabilize a lot of things, and
Speaker 1: Jarrett was seeing a lot of stuff. So then all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, a nurse grabbed me and said, she
Speaker 1: wants to hold your hand. She wants to hold your hand,
Speaker 1: Like I don't want to get in the way and
Speaker 1: she's like, go be with her, so they grab me.
Speaker 1: I walk around and I just clap her hair. It's
Speaker 1: the most unbelievable thing. And then I'm like, Jared Jarreed,
Speaker 1: come be with me. She grabs my hand Chrissa and
Speaker 1: this woman like like she's giving birth. I look at her,
Speaker 1: she's her main tier just coming down her eye one tier.
Speaker 1: She's like just an angel a machine, just crushing. And
Speaker 1: at that moment, Jarrett and I turned into like the
Speaker 1: biggest sports fan and we're like, come on, you can
Speaker 1: do it, like you got this girl. And I think
Speaker 1: I've showed you this picture. I think Jarrett hasn't. And
Speaker 1: this is where I'm so proud of my husband and
Speaker 1: I'm just like really following his lead in this is
Speaker 1: that he we have this picture and he can't wait
Speaker 1: to show everybody. It's the perfect picture of what Sarah
Speaker 1: Gacy should be. I'm kissing my girl on the head
Speaker 1: and Jarrett is just holding the nurse as she's like
Speaker 1: cleaning up Mac and he's like, you know, he looks
Speaker 1: like he wont another cup, and it's like that is
Speaker 1: the perfect picture of sarrogacy, and he just like, you know,
Speaker 1: they gave us Mac, and we was like, oh my gosh, okay,
Speaker 1: and it was just so crazy. But then Jarrett could
Speaker 1: not wait to give him to our girl, to just
Speaker 1: be like, look what you did. It was amazing.
Speaker 2: That says everything about me.
Speaker 1: If you have a fantastic experience, that's what you feel like,
Speaker 1: that's what you feel like because you're just like you
Speaker 1: knew that, yeah, this person's giving a birth, but this
Speaker 1: person is giving birth to your kid and they are
Speaker 1: like rock stars doing it. Jarrett couldn't wait, and he
Speaker 1: has this picture, like he shows it to everyone. I
Speaker 1: know he probably showed it to you and Steve, but
Speaker 1: like he's like, look at this picture. This is the
Speaker 1: first time she saw him. Like it's so sweet. And
Speaker 1: then we we had a moment when we said goodbye
Speaker 1: to her in the hospital the next day and she
Speaker 1: came in to say goodbye and all her family was
Speaker 1: with her and that was really emotional and like she
Speaker 1: said bye to Mac and Jarret closed the door and
Speaker 1: he walked back into the hospital room and he was
Speaker 1: just crying and I was like, what's happening and he goes,
Speaker 1: that's it, Like it's just she did so much and
Speaker 1: that's it, Like that's not She's a part of our
Speaker 1: family forever, Like, that's not it. But yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 1: That whole thing is like another level. I remember you
Speaker 1: just said that, you know, you know who you're talking
Speaker 1: about who helped you sort of from that outside perspective
Speaker 1: of what to expect. So if you could give anybody advice,
Speaker 1: I know it's so brush because baby bears like brand new,
Speaker 1: what advice do you have or mothers that are on
Speaker 1: the other side of you know, waiting for their surrogate,
Speaker 1: or just sort of like what kind of wisdom can
Speaker 1: you now bestow upon someone that might be listening that's
Speaker 1: like hasn't had their baby yet or is thinking about
Speaker 1: this sort of your big takeaways on the chapters of
Speaker 1: surrogacy and sort of what you've learned throughout this like
Speaker 1: incredible process. It's a lot, It's so much to take
Speaker 1: in mentally, and I would recommend being with a great
Speaker 1: group that like our Family match Consulting are our woman
Speaker 1: Stephanie who matched this with the sarrogates. No text was
Speaker 1: too late or too early in the morning, No text
Speaker 1: was stupid, no question was ever you know dumb or
Speaker 1: you know, I know that's redundant, but she just she
Speaker 1: literally held our hand through it. She also got to
Speaker 1: know us, so she knew who to place us with,
Speaker 1: who to match us with, and that was really helpful,
Speaker 1: especially when you know you even get like what you're
Speaker 1: packing when you're going to the hospital, like I don't
Speaker 1: know what I'm bringing, you know, like all those things.
Speaker 1: So I would say that was the number one thing
Speaker 1: for us family match consulting. This is not an ad.
Speaker 1: I can't hype her up enough. You need someone that
Speaker 1: you really trust because it is a whole new territory
Speaker 1: we had never been a part of before. You have
Speaker 1: a ton of questions. You have people in your life
Speaker 1: asking you questions, so you want to get those answered.
Speaker 1: And that was big. And another thing you know, Stephanie
Speaker 1: really guided us on is the fin The financial burden
Speaker 1: of this whole thing is incredible. It costs a lot
Speaker 1: of money to do this, and it really got me
Speaker 1: of thinking, and I know I talked to you a
Speaker 1: lot about it is that it is for me. I
Speaker 1: did this because I was not able to carry a baby.
Speaker 1: That was just not our option. It wasn't a luxury thing.
Speaker 1: It's not because I didn't want to be pregnant on
Speaker 1: the sidelines. I would have loved to have been pregnant
Speaker 1: on the sidelines. I think the guys would have gotten
Speaker 1: a kick out of it.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you one of those guys, and I'm gonna
Speaker 2: remind you because he I'll tell you. I'll tell you
Speaker 2: after it.
Speaker 1: But okay, who So I told Travis Kelsey when I
Speaker 1: saw him at the charity event that you know these
Speaker 1: and I hope you don't care, but he's sending me
Speaker 1: a little care, I know.
Speaker 2: But like I told him because he said.
Speaker 1: About be a badass like baby Louis Vauton like thing.
Speaker 1: But he was so excited. It was the same reaction
Speaker 1: that Terry Bradshaw gave when you showed Terry the ultrasound
Speaker 1: the picture when we were in Las Vegas and the
Speaker 1: guy's face, and I like, that's why, Like I just
Speaker 1: I'm so excited, like for so many reasons. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so Travis.
Speaker 2: Like, oh my god, that's fun.
Speaker 1: Like just so excited for you because you have you
Speaker 1: are the sister to so many of these guys, you know,
Speaker 1: and like they're the big brothers and now like Mac
Speaker 1: has so many big brothers, so it's really really special.
Speaker 1: I think that's the part that's tearing me up because
Speaker 1: I like, I've talked about all this stuff, but like
Speaker 1: I haven't talked to the boys. Yeah, you know. And
Speaker 1: like Brian Davill texted me the other day and he
Speaker 1: read it and he's like, I'm so happy, and it
Speaker 1: was just like those boys know you like right that, Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're the I mean the journey and the hours, and
Speaker 1: you have spent so much of your life not being
Speaker 1: able to start your own family or or starting it
Speaker 1: later in your life because your life has been your
Speaker 1: professional career. Yeah, but that has been your family, right,
Speaker 1: And I feel the same way. I sit here and
Speaker 1: yeah I don't have kids, and like so many those
Speaker 1: are that's our family. That's our family exactly. So it's
Speaker 1: just like becomes this extended group that just is so
Speaker 1: excited for you. And I know that what you want
Speaker 1: is other people to be able to have the same
Speaker 1: opportunity that you know you have had. And you just
Speaker 1: mentioned that there is a huge financial burden, So I
Speaker 1: think it's really special you spoke about it on the
Speaker 1: Today's Show and the platform there, and I know that
Speaker 1: it's really important for you to be vocal about this process.
Speaker 1: So what do you want people to know that maybe
Speaker 1: didn't get a chance to hear what you said earlier. No,
Speaker 1: we're going to wrap up this never ending podcast after this.
Speaker 1: I do want to talk about this one point quickly,
Speaker 1: and I have two funny athlete stories about this whole thing.
Speaker 1: I do want to talk about the financial burden. That's
Speaker 1: one thing I learned a lot through this whole thing
Speaker 1: is that you know a lot of people do this,
Speaker 1: yes for a luxury purpose, but a lot of them
Speaker 1: do it because it's their only way that they're going
Speaker 1: to have a baby. And I just every time we
Speaker 1: would talk to Stephanie or write a check, I just thought,
Speaker 1: oh my god, think of people in the LBGTQ community
Speaker 1: think that this is their way to have a baby
Speaker 1: for you know men, a lot of obviously. And then
Speaker 1: think about people who went through cancer like I did,
Speaker 1: spend all their money on these medical bills, and now
Speaker 1: if they want to have a kid and this is
Speaker 1: the only way to do it, they've got to pay
Speaker 1: for IVF and surrogacy. It's just a lot of it.
Speaker 1: I think we need to rethink the way we talk
Speaker 1: about it. We need to make it comfortable in conversations,
Speaker 1: and then I feel like it's going to be easier
Speaker 1: for people to realize people need financial help for this.
Speaker 1: So Stephanie, who I've talked about a lot, I noticed
Speaker 1: that she would align herself with this group called Baby
Speaker 1: Quest Foundation, and she actually helped a woman go through
Speaker 1: sarrogacy and she helped get it financed. And Baby Quest Foundation,
Speaker 1: I want to say it right, they actually are on
Speaker 1: a mission to make parenthood happen for those who cannot
Speaker 1: afford the high cost of IVF, sarrogacy, egg and sperm donation,
Speaker 1: egg freezing, embryo donation. They're focused on helping couples or
Speaker 1: singles in this journey, especially those who are cancer survivors,
Speaker 1: military personnel, regardless of genitor and sexuality. They've given out
Speaker 1: twenty grants to help people get their babies. And this
Speaker 1: is just something that I'm really, really really excited I
Speaker 1: did about aligning myself with I just I feel like
Speaker 1: we have a purpose. I feel like we have a
Speaker 1: voice for all this, and I'm really really looking forward
Speaker 1: to it so more to come on all of that.
Speaker 1: I think that's so special because it is it's not
Speaker 1: something that you should be you know you should feel like, oh,
Speaker 1: I can't do it because of financial reasons. So knowing
Speaker 1: that there's options, I think that's really special to pay
Speaker 1: it forward because that is the ultimate thing, is that
Speaker 1: you have the ultimate gift now and you've had a
Speaker 1: lot of people that have helped you along the way,
Speaker 1: but that all want to help others. I know you're
Speaker 1: quick to deflect, yeah, attention, but it also starts with
Speaker 1: you and Jared, and that you know that that athlete
Speaker 1: mindset that you guys both have, like you don't give up,
Speaker 1: and you didn't give up, and now you have a
Speaker 1: baby boy. So I have to ask the question of like,
Speaker 1: what has been the best part about being a mother,
Speaker 1: albeit your short tenure, what has been like the greatest thing,
Speaker 1: Like what has.
Speaker 2: Surprised you the most good and bad?
Speaker 1: Like changing diapers or like like give me the good,
Speaker 1: the best, the biggest surprise, good and bad. Just kind
Speaker 1: of studying his face, watching my husband with him, Jared
Speaker 1: is always like I'm your dad to Jared, really hot,
Speaker 1: I'm your dad. I'm your dad. And then because we're
Speaker 1: both super competitive, not so much with each other, but
Speaker 1: just in life, it's like all change the diaper, I
Speaker 1: want to try this because we both want to nail it, Yeah,
Speaker 1: to be better than each other. I'm setting a tested this.
Speaker 1: I'm sitting on your couch because I was like, I
Speaker 1: need to see him immediately, like the second like I
Speaker 1: got over there, he needed deciper change, and you guys
Speaker 1: were like, So it's really sweet to watch you guys
Speaker 1: as a team where it's like, oh no, you can
Speaker 1: hope if you do it. Like, it's just really special
Speaker 1: to see your relationship now with Jared in a completely
Speaker 1: different way and seeing you hold a baby like is
Speaker 1: my like magic, I'm so happy for you. Let's switch
Speaker 1: gears here a little bit and feature one of our
Speaker 1: favorite guests. This may or may not have been one
Speaker 1: of my favorite podcasts we've done so far with Greg Olsen.
Speaker 1: This interview was so much fun. My face hurts so
Speaker 1: much from laughing the whole time. He tells us he
Speaker 1: refuses to accept anything from flight to tendis no matter
Speaker 1: how long the flight is, which is crazy. See no water,
Speaker 1: no snacks, no nothing, what's that about? He also knows
Speaker 1: this guy. He also explained to us what a whisper
Speaker 1: fight is and has a great impersonation of Ea. He's
Speaker 1: an absolute time. Here's part of our interview with three
Speaker 1: time pro bowler NFL on Fox analysts Greg Olsen. So
Speaker 1: there was an article out last week, Greg, we go
Speaker 1: for the hard hitting news about wearing socks to bed.
Speaker 1: I think I talked to you a little bit about this.
Speaker 1: Just are you a person that wears you socks to bed?
Speaker 1: Because apparently it's as bad as sleeping in a toilet.
Speaker 1: There's like cockroach feces on it, There's like all the
Speaker 1: disgusting dirt, and then people are actually putting that in
Speaker 1: your bed. Thoughts on wearing socks to bed? Yes or no?
Speaker 3: One hundreds percent?
Speaker 1: No? Did you do it? Well, you're a very sweaty person,
Speaker 1: so you probably can't.
Speaker 3: Like I'm showering, I'm yeah, my daily activity. Whatever I
Speaker 3: wear throughout the course of any part of my day,
Speaker 3: there is going to be a buffer, which is a
Speaker 3: shower prior to me getting underneath the covers. There is
Speaker 3: no like go in raw dog with what I'm wearing
Speaker 3: all day and getting into bed like that's not happening.
Speaker 3: There's a shower, there's a fresh pair of pants, a
Speaker 3: fresh pair of shorts, whatever it is before I get
Speaker 3: pull those sheets down and get under the covers. There's
Speaker 3: nothing on my body that was worn for one minute
Speaker 3: during the day when I get in bed.
Speaker 1: Except for when you came on the road with that
Speaker 1: outfit that you wore for twos drinking.
Speaker 3: No, I'll wear it during the day. I just won't
Speaker 3: get in bed with it. So full disclosure on that
Speaker 3: on that story, because I know that made the Calm
Speaker 3: Downd podcast weeks ago. I have a So here's what
Speaker 3: I pack, and my and my wonderful wife, she's the
Speaker 3: one who actually passes for me. So I'm like that
Speaker 3: guy who doesn't pack his own ship. Like when I
Speaker 3: when I open my suit the morning of the game,
Speaker 3: I have no idea what it's look I have no
Speaker 3: idea what it looks like. I don't have a clue
Speaker 3: with anything in my dad mats. I wear.
Speaker 1: Matt Lauren look. And don't blame Lauren, sho's busy dealing
Speaker 1: with the twelve kids. Come on, Matt, be better. Okay,
Speaker 1: next anyway, we'll save that.
Speaker 3: We'll save that for episode sixty six. So I show
Speaker 3: up in like a casual. I show up in like
Speaker 3: a casual. Offit when I fly in and then I
Speaker 3: bring an outfit for dinner, and then I typically fly home.
Speaker 3: If I have a chance to change after the game,
Speaker 3: I'll just put on what I flew home. And so
Speaker 3: I only bring the outfit I wear, and then I
Speaker 3: have to pack an outfit for dinner and a suit
Speaker 3: and then like all my toiletrue shit, It's like that's
Speaker 3: all I bring. I'm a minimalist. I don't bring any
Speaker 3: extra shoes. I wear one pair of shoes. I wear
Speaker 3: them the whole weekend. I'm a minimalist. That night we
Speaker 3: went to dinner and it was in the hotel and
Speaker 3: everyone was kind of casual, so I was like, I
Speaker 3: don't need to put on like jeans or like long
Speaker 3: pants and a collar shirt. And I was like, I'm
Speaker 3: just gonna wear what I have on the problem is
Speaker 3: that was only intended to fly in. Then I was
Speaker 3: supposed to see everybody for dinner in a different outfit
Speaker 3: and then fly home in that outfit from the day
Speaker 3: before and not see anyone. So my issue was it
Speaker 3: was a night it was a night game, so we
Speaker 3: had like a morning production meeting. So I showed up,
Speaker 3: said hide, everyone came to dinner, same outfit. That's my
Speaker 3: next day casual outfit. I'm just not supposed to wear
Speaker 3: it to dinner. So I literally saw them at four
Speaker 3: pm and until like noon the next day, every time
Speaker 3: anyone saw me, I was exact outfit. Amazing. I had
Speaker 3: toothprast and I had toothpaste on my pants. That's that.
Speaker 3: It was great.
Speaker 1: Sure you did so, it was.
Speaker 3: It was. It wasn't It wasn't great. So that's so
Speaker 3: that's that story. That's why I had on the same clothes.
Speaker 3: But long story short, No, I'm not getting in bed
Speaker 3: with anything that I wear throughout the course of the day,
Speaker 3: starting fresh, shower, clean clothes, bed start the next morning.
Speaker 1: Okay, So to give you a little context again on
Speaker 1: all these these are just questions that like Aaron and
Speaker 1: I go through. But we love a guy's perspective, so
Speaker 1: I won't even ask you the under we're inside out
Speaker 1: because that's we don't even need that for this one. Okay,
Speaker 1: judging strangers and knowing their backstory without talking to them.
Speaker 1: So Aaron and I have this thing. You know Erin
Speaker 1: very well now is having spent the last year and
Speaker 1: a half with her on the road. I will sit
Speaker 1: down at a restaurant, I will see a couple or
Speaker 1: friends or a group of people I have diagnosed. Like,
Speaker 1: the diagnostics is crazy. I'm like, I've given them jobs,
Speaker 1: I've given them. I know what the drama. Yeah, like
Speaker 1: I know what they're fighting about. I know that there's
Speaker 1: like drama in their marriage. Are you good? I feel
Speaker 1: like you would they I already know the answer to this.
Speaker 1: Are you good about assessing the city? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Okay, absolutely, right, absolutely? I know if it's their first day,
Speaker 3: their last date, if they've been going together for a
Speaker 3: long time. Shit's good at home? Shit's not good at home?
Speaker 3: Is this a makeup date because the husband forgot her birthday? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I gotta, I gotta. And again, if you asked me,
Speaker 3: I've got nailed. Obviously, I can never confirm any of
Speaker 3: my preconceived notions.
Speaker 1: We should actually do that. We should all go out.
Speaker 1: We should diagnose someone in the restaurant and then go
Speaker 1: up to them and see if what we think is
Speaker 1: actually happening. It's only fun if we're all together though.
Speaker 3: We think they're on their first date, they've been married
Speaker 3: for thirty five years.
Speaker 1: Let's find out. Let's see how good we are at
Speaker 1: this game. I'm into do it?
Speaker 3: Yeah, fair enough. That's a good exercise for sure.
Speaker 1: Okay, our next one, Chris I had a mishap where
Speaker 1: she lets Steve, her boyfriend, handle the details of a
Speaker 1: friend's wedding that they went to this past summer. She
Speaker 1: didn't get all the details. She ended up thinking that
Speaker 1: she looked like one of the band members that was
Speaker 1: performing at the wedding. Is it your responsibility to properly
Speaker 1: inform your wife of the dress code or her responsib
Speaker 1: ability to find.
Speaker 3: Out that's her responsibility. Yeah, there's there's not a lot
Speaker 3: of And listen, I'm just speaking from my own perspective
Speaker 3: in my own marriage, there's zero logistics being done by me. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I know that I'm not and Aaron knows this. I
Speaker 3: don't know what hotel we're at. I don't know what
Speaker 3: time we're leaving for the game. I don't know. I
Speaker 3: don't know who's playing Adam, Yeah, exactly. I find out
Speaker 3: who the teams are the next the morn, the night before.
Speaker 3: I'm not a real heavy detail guy. So in my again,
Speaker 3: in my family, in my relationship, my marriage, my wife
Speaker 3: is what time we're leaving, what's the expectation of the
Speaker 3: dress code, Who's going to be there, What is the
Speaker 3: event for? Who are we going to see? What time
Speaker 3: we're leaving, how are we getting there? Who has the tickets?
Speaker 1: I'm doing nothing, Okay, I'm exactly the same way. Erin
Speaker 1: will text me and be like what hotel you out
Speaker 1: this week or what? I don't know. I'm on my way.
Speaker 1: I'm literally in the car from the airport. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I whatever takes me where the drivers front that hotel
Speaker 3: sounds great.
Speaker 1: And the best is gonna make me give you the address.
Speaker 1: You're like, all right, we're going to one two three
Speaker 1: Orange Avenue. My great, Yeah, and that's where you're taking me.
Speaker 1: That sounds great.
Speaker 3: The driver could be taking me to an abandoned warehouse
Speaker 3: Detroit to murder me. And I'm like, that sounds great.
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to it. How far are we?
Speaker 1: I always say that how far away? And I brought
Speaker 1: one pair of shoes and one sweatshirt.
Speaker 3: And I have one outfit, so you better not change
Speaker 3: the venue on me.
Speaker 1: Well, the backstory, though, is it was Steve's friend like
Speaker 1: that was getting married, Like these were new friends to me.
Speaker 1: It's his side of the aisle that was getting married.
Speaker 1: And so I'm like, hey, what are we wearing? He's like, oh,
Speaker 1: something casuals. It's a western theme wedding. I walked downstairs
Speaker 1: looking like fucking Montgomery Gentry's backup singer.
Speaker 3: You didn't and you look you look like from Yellowstone
Speaker 3: I did.
Speaker 1: I thought, is this Halloween trick or treat? And everyone
Speaker 1: else is in full length like like gowns, like it
Speaker 1: was a formal wedding. I was like, I literally had Greg.
Speaker 1: I had a hat on like you have on right now.
Speaker 1: And I looked at Kelly Steffy and I goes, do
Speaker 1: you think it will help if I take the hat off?
Speaker 1: She goes, yeah, take the hat off, and I'm like, well,
Speaker 1: I can't because the extensions haven't been washed in four days.
Speaker 1: I said, fuck it, I'm just leaving this outfit on.
Speaker 1: At one point I thought they were going to look
Speaker 1: at me for the entertainment. Halfway through the wedding to
Speaker 1: Saint whose bed had these fuck that looks like indible asshole. Okay, wait, Greg,
Speaker 1: did you have a story? I thought you had something.
Speaker 3: It doesn't involve me, but every time I think about
Speaker 3: showing up to a wedding, ill prepared. I have a
Speaker 3: buddy through my brother through my older brother that had
Speaker 3: a buddy that went to a wedding in India. He's
Speaker 3: like a white guy. Like, he's a white guy, you know,
Speaker 3: and he showed up to a wedding in India. So
Speaker 3: he's like, I want to be respectful of their traditions. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so he goes out and he buys traditional Indian formal apparel.
Speaker 3: Oh no, he shows up to a wedding in India
Speaker 3: the only fucking person dressed in traditional Indian garb. Every
Speaker 3: other male there is in like a suit. He goes.
Speaker 3: I walk in and I'm this, I'm the only white
Speaker 3: guy in the whole fucking place. I'm dressed like I'm
Speaker 3: in a fucking movie, and all these people are looking
Speaker 3: at me like this stupid American is like mocking our culture.
Speaker 3: And he's like, little did I know, I'm trying to
Speaker 3: be respectful. So every time I think about people ill
Speaker 3: prepared for weddings, I think of that story and it
Speaker 3: makes me die. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So there was not, Uh, there wasn't an issue of
Speaker 1: disrespecting culture. It was disrespecting theme. In this particular case,
Speaker 1: we went formal and I went western.
Speaker 3: It was the theme of the wedding.
Speaker 1: It was in. It was in and so it was like, hey, Western,
Speaker 1: but that apparently was the night before and the actual
Speaker 1: wedding was black tie. So standing next to Troy Aikman
Speaker 1: in a fucking talk So I'm like, hey, want my autograph?
Speaker 1: I'm a Shanaia toy an impersonator.
Speaker 3: Not so.
Speaker 1: And this is what makes it worse Steve doubles down
Speaker 1: is he's in a tux and he goes which should
Speaker 1: have been my first clue when as he's putting the
Speaker 1: tucks on, I'm like, hey, where's your bolo tie? Like
Speaker 1: I thought this was a thin well that.
Speaker 3: That was gonna be my question, like, at what point
Speaker 3: did you it? Was? It just the women were going
Speaker 3: to go western and like the men were going to
Speaker 3: traditional faster.
Speaker 1: She's you, she's not good with those details. You know what, Greg,
Speaker 1: we show up and we're the entertainment.
Speaker 3: Apparently, listen what my role in the entire event is
Speaker 3: once I get there?
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly? Okay. On a flight, do you chat with
Speaker 1: your seat neighbor or sit in silence and keep to yourself?
Speaker 1: What is your etiquette on flight?
Speaker 3: I'm overly nice when I sit down, Like because I'm
Speaker 3: a window guy.
Speaker 1: I feel like you have a lot happening when you
Speaker 1: sit down to like there's a lot happening. I know
Speaker 1: there's a lot happening. Fuck, you're sweating, you got ship everywhere.
Speaker 1: You're calling Karen. The kids say, I feel like there's
Speaker 1: a lot the window.
Speaker 3: I love sitting the window because I don't want to
Speaker 3: have to sit in the aisle because A my leg
Speaker 3: gets bumped, and B I don't want to get up
Speaker 3: at the person in the other seat has to go
Speaker 3: to the bathroom. So I but I'm always late getting
Speaker 3: on the plane. So I'm always the second person in
Speaker 3: my little two seat, you know, a little pairing to
Speaker 3: get in their seat, so the person has to get
Speaker 3: up and let me in and whatnot. I always say hello,
Speaker 3: I always you know, I hope you having a good day.
Speaker 3: Blah blah blah blah blah blah. I get that all
Speaker 3: out of the way, and then it's like headphones on
Speaker 3: and against the window. I'm done, and I'm if I'm
Speaker 3: not falling asleep, I'm pretending I'm asleep. I don't drink,
Speaker 3: I don't eat, I don't accept anything from the flight attendants.
Speaker 3: I'm I'm in the corner. I hold my pee for
Speaker 3: twelve hours. I'm not getting up to go to the bathroom.
Speaker 3: I'm not getting a drink, I'm not getting food. I'm
Speaker 3: sitting in my corner and when the wheels hit the ground,
Speaker 3: I reappear to the rest of the world.
Speaker 1: Why don't you have water?
Speaker 3: I get my own, like bottled water. Like I'll get
Speaker 3: a snack at like the noose place, you know, and
Speaker 3: I'll get like, you know, I'll get a snack and
Speaker 3: an M and M and a bottled water. But I
Speaker 3: like never accept anything from the flight attendant. I don't
Speaker 3: know why. It could be a twelve hour flight or
Speaker 3: a forty five minute flight. Once I sit down, I'm
Speaker 3: on my own. I'm on my own deal.
Speaker 1: I don't are you Are you afraid of poisoning? What's
Speaker 1: going on? What do you mean? You don't accept? But like,
Speaker 1: what what's happening?
Speaker 3: It's a good I don't know. I don't really even
Speaker 3: have a real reason behind it. It's just the way
Speaker 3: I am. It's I just shake off. No, no, I'm good, No, no,
Speaker 3: I'm good. I just it's like he gives me a
Speaker 3: curve ball and I want to throw a fastball.
Speaker 1: Wor's Greg maddox, I like to go slower. All right,
Speaker 1: dogs at restaurants, okay or not?
Speaker 3: This is a tough one. Why I'm married to a
Speaker 3: dog lover. I have two dogs. I have two German
Speaker 3: Shepherds that are awesome. They're very well trained. They listen
Speaker 3: for the most part. My older dog really is good.
Speaker 3: So I have a skewed reality of like what an
Speaker 3: obedient dog is. So if you're gonna bring your obedient
Speaker 3: dog and it's gonna lay under the table and not
Speaker 3: interfere with anyone, great, and we're sitting I'm all for it.
Speaker 3: The problem is nobody trains their dogs. Nobody. Everyone thinks
Speaker 3: their dogs are like their kids, and like they're obligated
Speaker 3: and entitled to just like free roam of the restaurant,
Speaker 3: and that everyone wants to see their dog, Like I
Speaker 3: don't want to step over your dog to go to
Speaker 3: the bathroom. So if you're gonna bring your dog, fine,
Speaker 3: but that thing should be lay underneath your feet. It
Speaker 3: should not be in any of the territory of the aisles.
Speaker 3: The waiters should not be stepping over it. The waitresses
Speaker 3: should not be like kicking your dog as they serve
Speaker 3: me my food and If you can do that, then
Speaker 3: bring your dog. More power to you. But if your
Speaker 3: dog's gonna be like a social butterfly and just have
Speaker 3: its way around the restaurant, then I'm not interested.
Speaker 1: Can you please tell your dog in the Luke Keickley story,
Speaker 1: Please tell curse of that story? Or do you don't
Speaker 1: want to?
Speaker 3: No? I would love to.
Speaker 1: Oh my God, tell it.
Speaker 3: So it's COVID. So it's twenty twelve, it's COVID spring.
Speaker 3: I'm training to get ready to go to Seattle, and
Speaker 3: Luke has since retired and he's training with me because
Speaker 3: the world has come to a stop. So I had
Speaker 3: like a small gym above my garage and we would
Speaker 3: work out in the morning. So it's early in the morning.
Speaker 3: I don't know, it's eight am, nine am, whatever it is.
Speaker 3: And only my youngest son is awake. So at the time,
Speaker 3: he's seven eight, he's young, and he's sitting at the
Speaker 3: kitchen table and he's like having cereal, and I'm upstairs
Speaker 3: in the gym, and Luke lets himself in the side
Speaker 3: door and he sees TJ through the windows sitting by
Speaker 3: himself at the little kitchen island having breakfast. But he
Speaker 3: doesn't see my ginormous eighty pound German shepherd sitting next
Speaker 3: to him on the ground. So Luke lets himself in quietly.
Speaker 3: I'm upstairs, and he's like, I'm gonna scare TJ. So
Speaker 3: he comes around the corner real quiet, and he's like
Speaker 3: and he like makes a big, like startling noise to
Speaker 3: try to scare TJ. Well, my dog whose name is Tucker,
Speaker 3: my older male. He jumps into action and he stands up.
Speaker 3: You know, he's big. Now he's like and he so
Speaker 3: I hear Tucker go crazy. So I I come running
Speaker 3: down the stairs from upstairs in the gym, and he
Speaker 3: has Luke pinned up against the wall.
Speaker 1: He goes you and I don't know who Luke keg
Speaker 1: is not small, no.
Speaker 3: Not small, all pro Hall of Fame linebacker, and he
Speaker 3: has Luke pinned up against my kitchen wall and he
Speaker 3: is just woo woo woo woo woo woo woo. And
Speaker 3: what he's doing is dying. He's up against the wall
Speaker 3: like pinned, like frozen. And I come down and I
Speaker 3: give him like the friend command that tells him to
Speaker 3: just like let his guard down and go back to
Speaker 3: his little bed and to this day, when Luke comes
Speaker 3: over our house, he's like, where's Tuckerer, And like Tucker
Speaker 3: has to come over, and like he'll give him a
Speaker 3: little pet, but like he has been startled. It's like
Speaker 3: a running joke. Every time I see Luke, I'm like, hey,
Speaker 3: don't worry, Tucker's not here. He's not going to pin
Speaker 3: you against the wall.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. That takes a lot to share that guy.
Speaker 2: That's great.
Speaker 3: It's a great it's a great story.
Speaker 1: We had so much good stuff this year that we
Speaker 1: decided to break this up into two parts for you guys.
Speaker 1: All right, here we go. Part two. We will pick
Speaker 1: back up with Greg Olsen and round out the new
Speaker 1: year with wisdom from one of our favorites, Dan Patrick.
Speaker 1: Calm Down with Erin and Carissa is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.