The ESPN personality shared a detailed account of his wife’s preeclampsia diagnosis, a premature birth, and the emotional days that followed.
ESPN personality Pat McAfee announced Monday that he and wife Samantha are now a family of four, after a high-risk pregnancy and severe preeclampsia forced an emergency C-section on the night of May 22.
Their son, Midas Robert McAfee, arrived at 10:42 PM weighing 6 lb 6 oz at 36 weeks gestation, and spent roughly 36 hours in the NICU before being cleared to join his parents in their room.
A Difficult Delivery And A Fighter From The Start
McAfee, 39, broke the news on X on Monday, May 25, three days after the birth. Writing to his followers, the Pat McAfee Show host shared the full picture of what the family had been through. As he wrote via X, “Please help @MrsMcAfeeShow, Mackenzie, and I welcome Midas Robert McAfee to our family.
Due to Samantha having a high risk pregnancy and severe preeclampsia, the decision was made to have an emergency C-Section on Friday night. Baby boy officially entered the world on May 22nd at 10:42PM as a 6lb 6oz screaming young legend… 10 Toes, 10 Fingers, full head of hair.”
Despite arriving four weeks before full term, Midas made his presence known immediately. McAfee wrote on X, “Literally in his first moments of life, Midas was working… He was able to get his O2 Levels high enough to be able to come hang with us in our room and because of that we got to do all of the immediate magical newborn moments.. Skin to skin, 10,000 kisses, tons of love, all of that.. inevitably, since he came into the world at 36 Weeks (40 is full term), he had to develop his lungs a little bit more, get some fluid out of him, and adjust a bit to life outside of Sam’s stomach.. So, he was sent to the NICU to help the transition from the womb to the world.”
NICU Days And A Full Celebration
While Samantha recovered from surgery in her room, Midas was receiving specialized care down the hall. McAfee described the setup in detail, writing on X, “As mom was recovering like a badass from the mind boggling C-Section surgery, little dude was DAHN the hall. They put a CPAP on our guy, a feeding tube, and put him in a heated pod with a heating lamp to help him develop a bit more. There wasn’t much I could do other than bring positive vibes as I bounced back and forth between the 2.”
The NICU stay lasted approximately 36 hours before Midas was released back to his parents. McAfee described what came next in his lengthy post announcing the birth, writing on X that “a FULL CELEBRATION occured” and that the family has since been “sleeping and burping and feeding and changing diapers ever since.”
Praising Samantha’s Strength
McAfee made clear throughout his announcement that his wife’s courage through the ordeal left a lasting impression on him. He wrote on X, “Watching Samantha battle thru her recovery has been nothing short of inspiring, WE APPRECIATE YOU @MrsMcAfeeShow, I will be sure that our kids will know how much you went thru for them.”
The couple’s daughter Mackenzie, born May 4, 2023, has been staying with grandparents during the hospital stay.
McAfee noted on X that the family was hoping to return home to her within a day or two of the announcement, adding that “Her grandparents have been doing a PHENOMENAL job of keeping her informed and also distracted while we’ve been living in this hospital.” McAfee and Samantha married on August 1, 2020, in Carmel, Indiana, after getting engaged in February 2019, and announced they were expecting a second child in November 2025.
Here’s the full tweet of the birth story with pictures of their newborn baby boy, Midas Robert McAfee.
Why This Story Matters For Parents
Preeclampsia and premature birth touch far more families than many people realize, and McAfee’s willingness to share every difficult detail, from the NICU equipment to the emotional weight of bouncing between two hospital rooms, gives other parents a rare, honest window into what that experience actually looks like.
His account is a reminder that complicated deliveries are not failures, and that NICU stays, while frightening, are a path many healthy babies travel on their way home.
The McAfee family’s story is ultimately one about resilience, and sharing it publicly helps normalize conversations that too many parents feel they have to navigate alone.
