Kayleigh McEnany, former White House press secretary and current Fox News presenter, has opened up for the first time about her difficult journey to conceive her second child.
McEnany, 35, and her husband, Sean Gilmartin, a former New York Mets player, made the decision in the summer of 2021 to expand their family after welcoming their daughter, Blake, who is now three years old.
Their son, Nash, was born in December last year, bringing immense joy to the family. However, the road to his arrival was anything but easy for McEnany, who faced significant challenges on her path to pregnancy.
Kayleigh McEnany reflected on the stark contrast between her two pregnancies in an excerpt from her new book, Serenity in the Storm: Living Through Chaos by Leaning on Christ, which she shared with the DailyMail.com.
“My first pregnancy happened rather quickly, and we felt blessed that God had given us a beautiful daughter with relative ease. The second time around was different,” she wrote.
As the months passed with multiple negative pregnancy tests, McEnany admitted that by the spring of 2022, she began to feel concerned. “Why wasn’t I getting pregnant?” she questioned. Determined to overcome her growing anxiety, she turned to faith for strength.
A friend gifted her Draw The Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge by Mark Batterson, inspiring her to shift her mindset and “pray with expectation.” However, this practice didn’t come naturally.
“We have a tendency to expect immediate results. That is a natural human inclination, one that I certainly fall into myself,” she explained.
Despite her efforts, McEnany acknowledged the internal battle she faced. “As I tried to pray with expectation, Satan did his best to infiltrate with worry, doubt, and frustration,” she revealed.
Kayleigh McEnany’s frustration over her struggle to conceive shifted during a Christian conference, where gospel singer Mandisa’s music and the prayers around her helped her refocus on God.
Two weeks later, while speaking at an event in Collinsville, Illinois, she shared her desire for a second child with a woman named Kathy. Without hesitation, Kathy prayed over her at the dinner table, asking God to bless her with a child.
After the prayer, Kathy mentioned, “The last time I said a prayer like this, God blessed the young woman with twins!” McEnany couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
Three days later, despite several negative tests that month, she felt an unexpected urge to take another. “I suppose you could say I took the test that morning with expectation,” she wrote.
A few minutes after taking the test, Kayleigh McEnany saw a faint pink double line—signaling pregnancy.
“Is this real?!” she wondered. To be sure, she took a second test, and this time, the result was undeniable—two solid pink lines.
For McEnany and her husband, Sean Gilmartin, the struggle to conceive lasted only a few months, and they were already blessed with their first child.
However, she acknowledged that for millions of women, the journey can be much longer, and for some, pregnancy remains impossible despite praying with faith and hopeful expectation, just as she and Sean had done.
