Paralympian Tracy Otto on the Challenges and Joys of Having a New Baby: 'I Remind Myself What a Miracle She Is'

Mar. 15, 2025

Tracy Otto and Rylee.Photo:courtesy Tracy Otto

courtesy Tracy Otto

It’s been a momentous year forTracy Ottoand her fiancé Ricky Riessle! AfterRiessle proposed in Paris ahead of Otto’s appearance in the Paralympics, where she competed in archery, the two announced they were also expecting a child — and welcomed their “bundle of joy” Rylee on Jan. 4.

The couple gave PEOPLE an exclusive look inside their new life as parents after recently welcoming their first child Rylee, their Paris engagement this summer and Otto’s future archer ventures as she prepares for Worlds in South Korea.

Tracy Otto and Ricky Riessle Get Engaged

Tracy Otto’s proposal in Paris.Paralympics/Tracy Otto/Instagram

Paralympics/Tracy Otto/Instagram

Otto told PEOPLE that the moment of the proposal was a complete surprise; she thought Riessle had forgotten the ring they’d picked out together (a ruse he concocted to add to the surprise element), and she said the day he proposed, the two had been bickering.

“We were just not having a good afternoon, and obviously I had no idea about what was about to happen,” Otto told PEOPLE. “It’s actually kind of funny.”

To top it all off, “I was so sick with being pregnant with Riley,” Otto said — but because she promised his family she’d be there to see the Eiffel Tower with them, she was determined to get there.

Moments before Riessle got in position to pop the question, she and some friends took a photo together right as the Eiffel Tower began to sparkle.

“And then [Riessle] goes on my blind side, where I can’t see, and he gets down on one knee, and I undo my brakes and get ready to move out of the way so that more people could take pictures,” Otto said, describing the moment. “And then I see him on the ground, and he’s on his one knee.”

Otto said Riessle asked her how long she’d been waiting for the proposal, and she replied, “I waited my whole life for you.”

“It was just such a magical moment,” Otto said of the proposal, and having family and friends there to witness it.

Competing While Pregnant

Tracy Otto in Paris.Alex Slitz/Getty

Alex Slitz/Getty

“It’s more than just the paralysis and the wheelchair that you see on the outside, there’s a lot going on the inside that doesn’t function anymore,” she told theBBCin an interview. “My diaphragm is paralyzed as well … I can’t thermally regulate, and that means I can’t sweat anymore.”

She and Riessle had just started dating at the time of the attack (in which he was also injured), and have been together ever since. They learned they were pregnant May 15 — nearly the exact time that Otto found out she qualified for the Paralympic Team and would be headed to Paris.

They scheduled an ultrasound a few weeks after and the couple found out Otto was already seven weeks in.

“I just remember seeing [Riessle’s] face when she came up on the screen as this little bundle of cells, bundle of joy that we were about to have, and just seeing him melt was nothing short of heartwarming,” Otto said about the first ultrasound.

At five months pregnant, Otto admits the pregnancy was difficult on top of preparing for and competing in the Paris Paralympics.

“It was really hard. I couldn’t breathe,” Otto said of her pregnancy. “I had kidney stones because of her, and there was not a day where I didn’t throw up for nine months.”

However, Otto said what got her through was staying in tune with and listening to what her body needed.

“We did almost bow out from the Paralympics because I was so sick. We just weren’t sure if my body was going to handle it,” Otto told PEOPLE. “We just kind of went with the flow.”

Tracy and Ricky with Rylee.courtesy Tracy Otto

And as much as she would have liked to prepare for Rylee’s arrival, there were some things she’d just have to learn on the job, because the extent of her injuries means her functionality is less than many other moms who have had babies while paralyzed.

Now with a three-week-old at home, the family is settling into their new roles and adjusting to parenthood as a team, said Otto: “We’re still navigating and figuring out our life and our routine and stuff, but it’s been great."

She added that she’s enjoying seeing a new side of her fiancé: “Getting to know him as a father and watching him step into this new role has been amazing to watch and to experience.”

For Riessle, the adjustment — which has been “100% worth it” — has come with a new set of challenges. “I still have all my duties and everything that I have to do to care for Tracy, because I am her full-time caregiver,” he said. “So now adding a tiny human, somebody else that’s fully dependent on me — It’s been a lot.”

Tracy Otto/Instagram

“I knew that being a mom as a quadriplegic was going to be a difficult task, but I didn’t realize how just devastating it was going to be for me,” Otto told PEOPLE.

For example, she said, the family was coming from a doctor’s appointment recently when Rylee began to cry because she was getting hungry. The ride in the car usually soothes her, but on the way home they had to stop for gas.

“She just started crying, and I was in the front seat, and obviously she was in the back, so I couldn’t get to her,” Otto said, recalling “that feeling of just absolute helplessness.”

Breastfeeding is another area that’s been a challenge for Otto, but it’s an area she hasn’t given up on.

“I don’t have sensation from, like, my collarbone, so my chest down, so I can’t feel if she’s latched correctly or not,” Otto said, but added that the two are figuring it out together. “It’s been a challenge, for sure, but very rewarding, because that’s, you know, something that I can do for her, yeah, you know, nurture her and bond with her that way.”

“We’re so blessed and so lucky to be able to experience this and do what we do every day,” Otto told PEOPLE.

“Just two big parents that have no idea what they’re done,” Riessle chimed in. “We are over the moon about her. We find ourselves sitting there staring … like, we put her to sleep [and say] let’s go get something done. And 20 minutes later, we’re both sitting there just staring.”

“There’s been much going on that we haven’t have we done any wedding planning! Weddings are so expensive, and obviously Rylee is a priority. Once we’ve saved some money, then we’ll start planning,” Otto said. “It’s been so many life-changing things condensed into a short amount of time!”

source: people.com