Michelle Wie West’s girl tribe planned to throw her a baby shower in San Francisco on Monday. But with the LPGA Mediheal Championship canceled due to the coronavirus, friends Jeehae Lee, Kira Dixon and Nickole Raymond Tara are putting on a Zoom baby …
Michelle Wie West’s girl tribe planned to throw her a baby shower in San Francisco on Monday. But with the LPGA Mediheal Championship canceled due to the coronavirus, friends Jeehae Lee, Kira Dixon and Nickole Raymond Tara are putting on a Zoom baby shower instead. Wie joked that she’s grateful this lockdown isn’t happening during the old Nokia phone phase.
“I definitely didn’t see myself being pregnant during a pandemic,” said Wie West, “but here we are.”
Wie West and husband Jonnie, an executive with the Golden State Warriors, are expecting their first child, a girl, later this summer. Given San Francisco’s strict shelter-in-place orders, the 30-year-old’s doctor appointments have been taking place virtually as she’s not in a high-risk category.
Now that she’s in her third trimester, however, Wie West said she’ll be physically going for checkups every two weeks. Being pregnant during a global pandemic brings an unexpected layer of stress.
“At first there was no news on pregnant women getting (COVID-19) or pregnant women transferring the virus through the placenta to the kid,” she said. “But now that there are reports that it causes pre-term labor, newborns can get it, babies in the womb can get it — it’s extremely nerve-wracking for sure. We’ve been extremely careful.”
Even the couple’s birthing classes have moved online.
There was a time when the LPGA star thought she might be able to compete while pregnant. Even without the coronavirus halting play, however, that likely wouldn’t have happened. The five-time LPGA winner said she can only hit three-quarter shots these days, and stringing together four rounds while walking proved an impossible task.
“I would’ve loved the chance,” she said. “Maybe for a future baby we can rethink it. But I think with this being my first one, I was extremely anxious to not do anything to put myself in extreme stress – glad that I can stay at home and put my feet up.”
Wie West can’t wait to see what her baby looks like. She daydreams about watching her grow. Fear creeps in, too. She has a recurring nightmare in which she forgets to feed the baby, waking up in a cold sweat.
“I think being responsible for another life is scary,” she said. “I can’t believe they’re going to let us leave the hospital with her.”
While nesting at home, watermelon and fruit have been the mainstays of her pregnancy diet. She’s trying to keep up with her workouts. When restaurants are back open and she’s no longer carrying a baby, she’ll be the first in line for sushi.
“And wine,” she said. “Maybe a dash of tequila. And coffee.”
In addition to her work with Golf Channel while on maternity leave, Wie West has taped several programs around her second great passion – food.
Last month the Food Network aired a show that pitted Buddy Valastro against Duff Goldman in a mini-golf competition featuring elaborate cakes as course obstacles. Wie West hosted the cake party when she was 12 weeks pregnant.
“I don’t think the screen really portrayed how amazing the cakes were in person,” she said. “It was insane when they unveiled it.”
She was asked to slice a cake for the production staff when it was over, and in her rush to get back home, took only one slice.
“That cake has haunted me ever since,” she said. “It was the best cake I’ve ever had.”
Last week, Valastro sent an entire cake to her home to stop the craving.
Wie West has reveled in her screen time as TV analyst and host, whether talking about golf or food, and has big plans for the future.
On Easter Sunday, she hosted an Instagram Live Q&A with fellow Nike athletes Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey and Jason Day.
What’s it like being on the other side of the Q&A?
“Oh, it was way easier asking the questions,” she said. It helped, of course, that they’re friends.
But she’s not done with golf. Swing coach David Leadbetter has seen the occasional video of Wie practicing while pregnant and said that as her lower body has slowed down, the rhythm of her swing has noticeably improved.
With the LPGA’s revised schedule being pushed back to nearly Christmas, it’s possible that Wie West could still come back in 2020, particularly with the U.S. Women’s Open being held in mid-December.
If the world wasn’t dealing with an unknown deadly virus, the 2014 Women’s Open champ said she’d be taking a serious look at the back end of the schedule. But right now, much of what lies ahead is beyond her control.
“For me, I feel like there would have to be a vaccine or something of some sort,” she said, “because at that point I would be traveling with a really young baby.”
The extended break of maternity leave certainly helps the lingering wrist issues that caused her to take a break from the game for most of 2019. Leadbetter doesn’t doubt for a second that Wie West will return to competition and thinks a new perspective on life could lead to a resurgence in her game.
“So much of her happiness was based on the way that she played,” he said. “That’s definitely not going to be the case now.”
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