Ex-ESPN host Sara Walsh shares inspirational Mother’s Day post

Former ESPN host Sara Walsh recently lost her job as part of the wide-sweeping layoffs at the network, but she still has plenty to be thankful for. She made that clear in a lengthy post on social media on Sunday.

In acknowledgement of Mother’s Day, Walsh opened up about the struggles she and her husband Matt Buschmann — a relief pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization — had conceiving a child. The couple recently welcomed twins into the world, which Walsh says was the result of IVF. She also revealed that she had multiple miscarriages and had to endure some terrible experiences while on the air.

My mother bought them these onesies because she thought they were funny. For us, they're especially poignant. Finding a good egg didn't come easy for me, and I suspect there are many people out there facing the same struggle. The road down a dark path began while hosting Sportscenter on the road from Alabama. I arrived in Tuscaloosa almost three months pregnant. I wouldn't return the same way. The juxtaposition of college kids going nuts behind our set, while I was losing a baby on it, was surreal. I was scared, nobody knew I was pregnant, so I did the show while having a miscarriage. On television. My husband had to watch this unfold from more than a thousand miles away, texting me hospital options during commercial breaks. It would get worse. Two more failed pregnancies. More than once, I'd have surgery one day and be on SportsCenter the next so as not to draw attention to my situation. We then went down the IVF road of endless shots and procedures. After several rounds, we could only salvage two eggs. I refused to even use them for a long time, because I couldn't bear the idea of all hope being gone. I blew off pregnancy tests, scared to know if it worked. It had. Times two. It was exciting news, but we knew better than to celebrate. So I spent a third straight football season pregnant, strategically picking out clothes and standing at certain angles, using scripts to hide my stomach. There would be no baby announcement, no shower, we didn't buy a single thing in preparation for the babies, because I wasn't sure they'd show up. We told very few people we were pregnant, and almost no one there were two. For those that thought I was weirdly quiet about my pregnancy, now you know why. For as long as I can remember I hosted Sportscenter on Mother's Day, and the last couple years doing that have been personally brutal. An hours-long reminder of everything that had gone wrong. I wasn't on tv today, and I'm not sure when I will be again, but instead I got to hang with these two good eggs. My ONLY good eggs. And I know how lucky I really am.

A post shared by Sara Walsh (@sarawalsh10) on May 14, 2017 at 5:57pm PDT

“For those that thought I was weirdly quiet about my pregnancy, now you know why,” Walsh wrote. “For as long as I can remember I hosted Sportscenter on Mother’s Day, and the last couple years doing that have been personally brutal. An hours-long reminder of everything that had gone wrong. I wasn’t on tv today, and I’m not sure when I will be again, but instead I got to hang with these two good eggs. My ONLY good eggs. And I know how lucky I really am.”

Each of the dozens of ESPN employees who were let go have their own individual stories. No one wants to lose his or her job, but at least Walsh gets to enjoy more time with her children. That’s worth more than any salary.