With a long list of accomplishments and big ‘firsts,’ this pro-wrestler, Chief Brand Officer of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and star of Rhodes To The Top is pregnant with a girl.

From figure skating and modeling to an unexpected turn into wrestling, this soon-to-be mama gave us the low-down on *finally* deciding to get pregnant, nine months of nausea, non-craving cravings, and why no dream is ever too big. 

Lucky for me I’ve been nauseous the entire time and while I have medicine, which helps, it’s never completely gone. Plus, I have acid reflux, as well as sciatic and nerve pain, so, you know, all that good stuff.

We are having a little girl, but truthfully I didn’t have a preference about what we were having, but I did want to find out so I could start planning the nursery and creating a registry tailored to the sex of our baby as opposed to just being uni.

I’m the Chief Brand Officer of AEW, plus I’m a wrestler too–which is a twenty-four-seven job with no offseason. Before Covid, I was always on the go traveling to a different city every week. Over the years, we had thought about having a baby, but it never seemed like the “right” time because of everything we have going on. However, when the pandemic hit and forced us (along with the world) to slow down, it gave us pause and the time to consider starting a family. Once we wrapped our head around trying to get pregnant, it happened much quicker than we would have thought. I’m 37 and have friends my age who’ve had it take a long time and others who’ve had it happen as soon as they focused in; the latter was true for us. Once we got serious, it happened quickly.

About ten years ago, after a 17-year career in figure skating, I was scouted for wrestling while living in Miami and working as a model. Back then, it was pretty standard for the professional wrestling industry to scout girls through their modeling agencies as it’s part of the television entertainment industry. I had a tryout, started training, and was hooked. It’s one of those things you either love or don’t; there’s little in between. Now, here we are, ten years later, in a completely different place and stage in my wrestling career and exactly where I was meant to be.

For the most part I’ve kept up with my normal fitness routine a side from a few alterations. Obviously, I’m not wrestling (that would be very frowned upon) but otherwise, I still do cardio, lift weights, squats, and all of that good stuff. I pay close attention and every once in a while, if something doesn’t feel right, we alter.

That’s been the most disappointing part! I imagined I would have all these crazy cravings, eat whatever I wanted, and enjoy foods that maybe I don’t always get a chance to, but I just haven’t had that reaction nor any major cravings. Usually, I’m a super sweet tooth person and thought I would want dessert and ice cream all the time; but, I don’t. So yes, nothing binge-worthy to report.

I’m not an overthinker, but I am working with a doula and planning a hospital birth. I’m hoping to have a natural delivery, but if I can’t, hey, I can’t, and we’ll be ready to do whatever is necessary. My goal is simply to have a healthy, happy baby at the end.

When I started reading pregnancy and baby books, I noticed they don’t say a lot and tend to leave everything up to you, so I haven’t been super big on reading and instead rely on communicating with my doctor and doula.

Wild as it sounds, everyone I know right now is pregnant. It’s the most ridiculous and fantastic thing! My best friend is pregnant with twins. Plus, one of my good friends that lives near me is having her first right now. And a colleague from the wrestling industry is pregnant too, a month ahead of me. It’s been wonderful to have this great support system to talk to *and complain to.* We all bounce ideas off of each other, which makes it feel like I’m not doing this for the first time alone.

To raise a child in the current situation of the pandemic, which is so different from what I grew up in, is a little scary. Therefore, I’m happy and thankful to see we’re starting to move forward with vaccines and events. I hope this will just become some bizarre time in our past that I can look back on and tell her about rather than experiencing it herself, and she can say, “Oh, wow, that’s weird.”

I have had it said to me: you can have it all, just not all at once. Well, that’s bullshit. I can have it all whenever I want it. It’s such a misconception that woman can’t be a mom and a badass in the boardroom. There are ways to make it work. And the people that say otherwise are only saying it because they didn’t have the guts to do it themselves. So, you absolutely can do whatever you want. You can have it all and, all at once. You just need to plan, and you can make it work.