For the first time since Dale Jr. and Amy Earnhardt announced last Wednesday on social media that they’re expecting their second child, the retired NASCAR driver spoke about his family’s big news. They already have a daughter, Isla, who will be two years old on April 30.
On Instagram, Amy shared the video she took of the moment she told Dale Jr. she’s pregnant, and he was in total disbelief, describing himself as “every dad right there.”
“I’m looking for forward to going through that role process again and to have another human in our house,” Earnhardt said on this week’s episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, which was recorded via Skype. “The first two years with Isla have been incredible, and I can’t wait for that experience all over again and to see them two together, interact with each other, will just be so much fun.”
But with everything that’s happening in the world related to the global coronavirus pandemic — which also led to NASCAR postponing seven races through May 3 — Dale Jr. said he has to remind himself that he and Amy are having another baby.
He explained on the Dale Jr. Download:
“With all that going on, it’s almost been impossible to really even think about the fact that Amy’s — I’m sure Amy’s not having a problem thinking about it — but for me and everybody else around here, honestly, like we haven’t been able to think about expecting and having another child. So it’s been weird. Almost have to remind myself that we’re months away from being able to be parents again because there’s so much going on that you forget everything that’s going on.
“I don’t want that to sound cold or like I’m not plugged in. I’m just trying got make sure we’ve got all the [expletive] we need here and make sure that when we get up in there morning that everything’s where it needs to be and trying to stay on top of what’s going on in the world and what to believe and not to believe and just making sure we’re prepared for what might be coming our way, good and bad.”
Because of social distancing recommendations and some limitations on where people can and cannot go if they leave the house, Earnhardt — who finished second in NASCAR’s pro iRacing event Sunday at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway — said he and Amy aren’t able to go to the doctor for basic checkups.
So like just about everyone else, the Earnhardts are taking precautions in their lives and adjusting their expectations. But understandably, it’s made them “a little bit nervous” during this pregnancy.
More from Earnhardt on his podcast:
“Due to the restrictions on all nonessential visits, we can’t really go and do the check-ups like we typically would. It’s making us a little bit nervous. But other than that, I just tell Amy, ‘Well, it’s kind of like the old days. This is just going to be a different process, and we can just hope that everything’s going the way it needs to be going.’
“At this point, we’d be finding out the sex of the baby and all the other things that you learn throughout the process, but we’re going to have to be patient and wait on that. So it’s been a little bit different than the first experience when Isla was still inside Amy’s belly.
“And I don’t know that it’s sunk in either because we’re going through this thing with the virus and the whole world, and we’re sort of caught up in that and trying to entertain Isla and make this as normal as we possibly can for her.”
Earnhardt also explained that while he and Amy had decided when they were going to try to get pregnant again, they hadn’t quite reached that point yet.
“So this was a surprise. It wasn’t something we had meant to happen just yet, but we were not very far away from starting that process. It was very close. So it was really neat ’cause I just didn’t know we would get pregnant unless we really put in the work. And so that was interesting, I was just surprised because of how it went the first time. And I’m 45. We’re not young pups.”
[jwplayer MI8BOaKj-q2aasYxh]
[vertical-gallery id=900842]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393221]