Mommyhood.

So for the first time since I was 16, at the age of 29, I wasn't doing anything. Well, I was doing something pretty significant - growing a human being - but I didn't have to leave the house to do it. :)

Of course, being me, I couldn't sit idle too long. I started doing calligraphy. I did wedding invitations for random people in New York and advertised on craigslist. It was going pretty swimmingly too - I was getting referrals - lots of business - and I could sit on my couch and watch tv while I wrote out envelopes. I kinda liked it.

I also auditioned for a bunch of stuff, with my big baby belly. Kind of hilarious. They saw me for "Clara" in Light in the Piazza again, they saw me for "Mary Poppins" in Mary Poppins and asked me when I was due.. haha... I was HUGE then. They saw me for a few other things I can't remember. And I did one of the very first tryout readings for "Sister Act" as Sister Mary Roberts with an 8 month pregnant belly. Pretty awesome to be a pregnant nun. I played a pregnant thug in that too. But most importantly, I got to meet one of my idols, Alan Menken. I did "Tale of Two Cities" again in workshop with a big ol' belly, another workshop or two, and Kylie was basically being built in music.

I was kinda starting to like staying at home, doing readings, working on calligraphy and having my evenings free like normal people. I cooked a lot, I got used to heartburn (okay, I never got used to heartburn), and eventually my ankles started to swell. It was completely comfortable. Except for the big belly.

In a way, I had almost "fallen in" to the business as a teenager, and while I loved what I did, I always longed for home and I've always been a homebody. I was never one for the Opening Night parties, the schmoozing or the attention. I just liked to get home and relax on my couch in my pjs. In fact, I was sort of known for being the last one at the theatre for half hour call and the first one out when the show was done. In Les Mis, I had my routine so down-pat, I could beat the orchestra out of there. :) Don't get me wrong, I love performing, I love dancing, acting & singing - but I've never had any desire to be famous. Unfortunately, that's part of show business! I'm totally with Greta Garbo! That being said, I am a very social gal when I want to be, and even though I usually cocoon myself with a good book or a guitar or my piano, I can chat it up sometimes. Plus, my family is incredibly close. It was weird to be pregnant away from them. Vancouver is the whole other coast and another country away from New York.

My baby was due June 4th, 2006. When I told my dad this, he said "I hope she doesn't come on the 6th!" I didn't even think about it until that moment. Oh, right: 06/06/06. Interesting.

I had some weird things happen when I was pregnant. The strangest of all was that I got a sort of tinnitis in my right ear - where the sound I was hearing in that ear was suddenly lower (and almost underwater sounding) than the rest of the sound in my left ear. I can't really explain it. I couldn't even explain it to my doctor. But my head would ring and I would hear things almost in two vastly different tones, styles and speeds on either side of my head. I tried googling this a lot. If anyone knows what this is - please let me know! It came and went and stopped after I gave birth. Other than that, it was pretty routine.

My husband was not a professional actor. We had met in Ft. Worth, Texas on my 23rd birthday, (remember, St. Patrick's Day! It's always a party somewhere on my birthday!), with the cast of Les Miserables to support us. We were together from that moment on - and had been for 7 years. He joined me on the Les Miz tour and worked concessions and as the chaperone for the child actors. When we moved to New York, he got a regular 9-5 job and I worked from basically 6-12am, so we saw each other for dinner mostly. It was fun to experience a "normal" life while I was home gestating - get on a more typical schedule and have more time together. But that time together led to the discovery of all kinds of things.

I had a 72 hour labour. I was determined to not have a C-Section. I went into labour on June 3rd and said, "Yahoo! She won't be born on the 6th!" But it was not to be - I went to the ER quite a few times in the next few days and never dilated enough to be admitted. Well, they said they could admit me, but that it would definitely be a C-Section birth and if I wanted to go and try walking around Central Park, I might have a natural birth. So every time I went home. At one point, they gave me an ambien because I hadn't slept with the regular contractions in over 2 days and needed the strength to push. The last time I went in, around 1am on June 6th - yup - I had the most excited gypsy cab driver ever. He drove the wrong way down one-way streets and was determined to get me to the hospital! It was kind of adorable. They admitted me this time, saying that we were both getting too tired and no matter what, the baby was coming out. I agreed. Kylie's head was just slightly off-centre on my cervix, which is why I wasn't dilating. Uh oh.

I was exhausted. The nurse said I had two options: I could take an oral sedative and when I woke up, I would be groggy and the baby would be groggy when it was time to push; or I could get an epidural and wake up fine. Pretty obvious choice. The minute I got the epidural it was total relief, and I passed out and didn't wake up again until the late morning. Kylie was born on June 6th at 4:22pm, naturally, thanks to my amazing nurse! She rotated me and had me lay in different positions and told me she would get the baby in the right place so I wouldn't have to have a C-section. To the doctor's amazement, she did! And we're still in touch to this day. What an angel.

The minute I saw my daughter's face, the love I felt just overflowed. I had been so curious to meet her. I just wanted to know who this person was that I felt kicking and hiccuping. And here she was. It was truly a miracle. Motherhood was amazing.

Kylie and I were in the hospital for two days and then released. Everyone was there - mom & dad and my mother-in-law, so we had a nice full house and lots of hands to help. My dad stayed up all night holding Kylie - you couldn't get her out of his arms. It was adorable. She was a great baby, and very, very attached right from day one. She still is. I guess we both are. Of course, all babies are attached to their mothers. I'm just being a typical mom.

Anyway, here's where the story starts to get crazy...