Tripp Party of Five: Giuliana and Bill and why I like them!

This past Saturday, the Chattanooga Times Free Press held their annual She Expo: an event for woman. I have never been before, but when I saw the billboard that Giuliana and Bill Rancic would be there as speakers, I was beyond excited!!

Some may ask, who are they? (probably mostly guys or those that don't watch TV).
Giuliana has been an entertainment news anchor on E! For quite a few years, works the red carpet, and host of Fashion Police. I love entertainment, so I have known of her for a while. Bill was on the original season of the Apprentice, and won. I watched that season, and was a fan of his. After he won his season, Giuliana asked to interview him (she thought he was cute!). Long story short.... They fell in love, got married, and lived happily ever after!

Some may ask, why do you like them?
After they got married they of course had a celebreality show. This show was a little different. Instead of being about drama, it was just about a young happy couple in love. I love watching it, just a feel good show. Season 1 is on Netflix, you should check it out!!

A few seasons into their series, they tried to have a baby with no success. After exhausting many other options, they turned to in vitro fertilization.
At this point in my life, Lyla had been born. I had also gotten pregnant via IVF so I instantly felt a connection to the show and could really connect with the emotions. Tim and I had started to want to grow our happy little family and began the process of another round of IVF. We transferred embryos that had already been conceived and were on ice. Our little popsicles :) I conceived but quickly miscarried and lost both babies in February 2010. I watched Giuliana also suffer loss after IVF. She became the unspoken spokesperson for IVF. I was very grateful. It was strangely comforting watching her go through the same thing as me and knowing I wasn't the only one. I didn't know anyone else that knew what it was like, and though my friends and family were supportive, they didn't really know what to say. In May 2010, I jumped right in again for another round. Two more embryos. We got pregnant again, lost them, again. I was heartbroken, but the way I dealt with it is ....try again. I just dive right back in. No time to mourn, just time to work hard and move on. So I did. This time, I chilled out a little. Instead of forcing myself to start a cycle, I would let it happen naturally. Sometimes I can get a little too gung ho with stuff instead of letting Gods plan play out. I am so glad I did. I had such a stress free waiting period, and just took the time to pray and really listen to God. A very short while later, in August of 2010 we did our third and final round of IVF for the year. And God sure did bless us, I conceived twins. I always dreamed of having twins. I was over the moon about it!!!

Right after I conceived, Giuliana was in her second attempt and once again miscarried. I was devastated for her. Not only is she dealing with the struggle of trying to conceive, but now the stress of IVF and the heartache of loss, and all in the public eye! I felt for her. Wish I could've provided support to her, I never had that.

The very strange thing was I felt so much more emotional and thoughts of "that poor girl" for her than I did for myself. I think I detached myself from my own experience so I could move on to the next attempt.

She went on to her third attempt, and after the retrieval (where they take your eggs then fertilize them) she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Once again she dealt with this publicly and shared her story and became an inspiration to so many woman. A few days after her double mastectomy, her surrogate was implanted with her embryos. Basically, she made the bread, it's being baked in the neighbors oven, but then she gets to eat it. Well, that's kinda weird, but you get the picture. On New Years Eve 2011/12 they got the phone call she was pregnant. The public didn't know until they announced it on the Today show this past spring. I saw they were coming on for an announcement, called in late to work, and just prayed that she was announcing they were pregnant. And they did! I am not a crier, but I cried and was soooo excited!! Their baby boy is due at the end of summer 2012.

So, you see. I was very excited they were coming to town. I even splurged and got passes to the meet n greet. A few friends gave me the great idea of making her something from my Yarn Therapy business. So I made their little boy a Chicago Bears beanie since that is where they live. It turned out cute, I was proud.

available in my Etsy shop!

My friend Laurie and I headed to the expo, and where beyond excited. So glad that I got to go with someone that also adored this couple. We were fortunate enough to wait in line for the meet n greet with another friend of mine, Natalie. We had lots of fun beung silly and awaiting a glimpse of our favorite celebrities. The meet n greet went very fast due to their plane being delayed and they were late getting on stage. We got to line up and take a picture with them. I was close to front of line so my time came and went quickly.

they make me look even shorter than i thought, and i am wearing heels!

I went and shook their hand and asked Giuliana if I could give her a baby gift. She so graciously said yes, and I gave her the hat. She loved it and was so incredibly sweet, but I think Bill loved it more. He loved that is was Chicago Bears colors! I told Giuliana thank you for being public with her fertility journey. Not sure what else I said. I am a bumbling idiot when I meet celebs. We received our autographed book and head to the stage where we had seats up front. A short while later, they came out on stage and gave a great talk. They talked about their life and shared some of their story. Bill had some great motivational moments he added in. That is after all what he does for a living now! Just a great inspiring couple to watch. You can tell they are really madly in love. My favorite part was that she talked about Gods plan and giving him all the praise. Her miscarriages essentially saved her life. She wouldn't have known she had breast cancer otherwise. God knew exactly what he was doing.

Though I am not a reader, I am going to start their book "I do, now what" tonight.