Just some Pregnancies...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Reviews & [Commentaries] for "unscripted" shows this week include: Pregnant in Heels and 16 and Pregnant.
Monday:

Cake Boss  (S04Exx):  Episode 13 coming up.

Kate Plus Eight (S02Exx):  Episode 6 coming up.

Tuesday:

Pregnant in Heels "Daddy Boot Camp" (S01E08):   Rosie tells Hannah and LT that she's pregnant. LT is surprised that he didn't pick up on it. Rosie is already finding out the sex of her baby. [clearly she didn't just find out she was pregnant like the last few episodes make it seem.] It's sealed in an envelope that she and her husband open on the count of three... it's a boy. At the end of the episode, we find out that he was born after only four hours of labor, and they named him Wellington Reade. [so strange that it's sped up like that! I mean, I know it's the season finale, but come on!!]
Mummy IQ test questions today: Take a Snap-n-Go car seat out of a stroller and fold stroller. Diaper baby. Rosie adds in crying sounds to put on the pressure.  

Client 1: Lucy & Matt. Pregnant with #1, worried about juggling her decision to go back to work. Due in 4 weeks; it'll be a girl. They have a home in East Hampton and they live in NYC. [that's some serious moola!!] She's a lawyer. He's never really been around newborns. He's an actor so he kinda sets his own schedule. They want Rosie to help prepare Matt. Rosie visits their East Hampton home. No baby-proofing has been done yet. Rosie asks Matt the "Daddy IQ" questions. Then, Rosie and LT show up with a baby (borrowed from another client) to help teach Matt. LT takes Lucy to the spa. Matt has to change the baby, calm her down, put her in a baby-wearing device, cook dinner, put the baby in a car seat, grocery shop [which we don't see], but they end up getting take-out because he couldn't manage to deal with everything for a dinner party. Matt admits that he learned a lot in one day, and is surprisingly attached to the random baby... Lucy gets a bikini wax at an outdoor cabana on the beach. [interesting concept. I wonder how common it is to get a wax before you give birth...] Malibu Taylor is their daughter's name, born via c-section because she was overdue.      
Client 2: Michelle, pregnant with #1, wants help finding a nanny. She's a TV anchor, pregnant with a boy, due in a few weeks. She wants to stay cute and have the nanny deal with the child. She's never diapered or fed a child. [mothers-to-be in this situation just astound me!] Her husband is Dominican so they want a nanny who speaks Spanish. [good call.] They'd ideally want someone who cooks as well (not common). Someone with some age, modest, and not sexier than Michelle. The first round of nanny interviews is done speed-dating style. [cool to watch.] They narrow it down to Hilda, Deborah, and Merle-Jo. [I liked Hilda and Debra, then Kayla.] The next round is at Michelle's apartment, and the potential nannies are each bringing an entree to prove their cooking skills. Hilda is first, doesn't speak Spanish back, makes lentil salad with chicken teriyaki. Next is Deb, who talks about being anti-timeout and pro-talking to the child. Deb didn't bring food. [which I thought would pretty much immediately disqualify her in the eyes of Michelle.] Merle-Jo is last, and more than twenty minutes late. She was shopping! [couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse??] She feeds children by color (yellow first, then orange, then green). She prepared chicken with onion and garlic. For the final round, they cut Merle-Jo, because although Deb didn't bring food, Merle-Jo was late. They have the Nanny-Olympics next [which isn't at all like the name of the game suggests], to see how the women interact with children. Rosie brought two toddlers to the park. The nannies are judged on how they handle meltdowns, what they give as snacks, etc. Deb put sunblock on the baby she watched, but did offer a cookie as a snack. Surprisingly, she gets hired in the end, even though she never did demonstrate her cooking. [I would have at least brought a snack for Michelle and Rosie at this point!] They name their son Malcolm. Rosie gets her a whistle... to keep her nanny on her toes. [that's really an awkward gift, in my opinion!]
[season finale]

16 and Pregnant "Kayla" (S03E06): Mankato, MN high school senior. Does gymnastics, track. Has been dating Mike for a couple years. He's a year older and lives an hour away. [how do so many girls on this show end up dating people who live an hour away??] Parents are divorced, doesn't hear from dad, not close to her mom anymore.
July, 26 weeks: she misses gymnastics. She found out she was pregnant when her mom had her take a test when she was throwing up a lot. We find out that she was hospitalized for anorexia at 13. Mike moves in. She didn't take birth control. [figures.] They watched Juno after having sex. [hahaha, irony!] Her mom was a teenage mother as well. [statistics don't lie on this show...] Her mom was afraid she wouldn't keep it, and Kayla considered abortion, but she couldn't so it. [nice to see this addressed a tad.] Mom spends a lot of time with her boyfriend now.
July, 28 weeks: Mike works part-time at the mall instead of going to college. She still has a lot of sleepovers with her friends. [weird. By the time I was 16 and 17, unless it was a birthday party, there weren't more than like two of us at a sleepover...]
July, 29 weeks: Kayla and her friends go to the beach, and she doesn't want to take off her shirt. [those girls they panned to by the tree could all stand to lose a few pounds.] The baby's a boy. They talk about names and choose Preston over Ashton, Trenton, and Colby. [no traditional names for this kid!] Kayla and Mike aren't positive on what they need, but they go to a second-hand shop to look at things and get prices. Her mom suggests she get into a group for young moms. [not a bad idea, but doesn't seem to ever happen.] Kayla asks her mom if she'll be around more, and she says she will. [which end up being famous last words in a way...]
August, 30 weeks: another sleepover. they play games. They talk about how Kayla can't miss six weeks of school but the baby can't go to daycare until he's six weeks old.
August, 31 weeks: They put together the crib. Her mom will take some time off work when the baby is born. Kayla has gained 12 pounds so far and is starting to freak. She wants to try to lose some weight. She only wants to take off one week from school, and her mom suggests she may want more time off than that. [um, yeah. one week is kind of insane.] She's supposed to spend some time with her mom, but her mom gets baseball tickets at the last minute and goes with her boyfriend instead. [so, yeah, her mom just sucks.] So, Kayla goes out with a friend. Kayla calls her mom to confront her. [didn't really get anywhere...]
September, 33 weeks:  seven-month checkup. Kayla asks the doctor about her weight gain (now up to 16-17 pounds). The doctor said she was doing fine, and Kayla panics. She barely eats for a day. Her friends want to do a belly cast now, before she gets really big. She feels bad that she has stretch marks. [which not even her mother has seen.] She feels weird and has some water. Her friends try to get her to eat. She has one of her friends call her doctor, and he says to take her to the hospital. She's light-headed and dizzy, and they think she's dehydrated. They discharge her and tell her she needs to eat and drink more. She's worried that her teachers will hate her on the first day of school. She didn't fit in her desk.
September, 34 weeks: She gets some nutrition counseling. She's scared of frequent eating. She's told to think of food as medicine and to eat more meals with people, like her mom. Her mom looks kinda skeptical of this advice, and suggests that eating with Kayla makes Kayla self-conscious, though the nutritionist says eating alone is more likely to fuel an eating disorder. [I'm thinking her mom just didn't want to get tied down with having to eat with her regularly. sad.]
October, 36 weeks: Mike's trying to help her eat. She texts her mom to eat at like 10:30pm. [weird time for dinner...] She hasn't gained any more weight, and the check-up suggests she needs to eat more food. 
October, 38 weeks: She's now planning to do homeschool for five weeks after the baby comes.
October, 39 weeks: Baby shower. [wow. that's REALLY close to the end!] and she gets the first [ahhh! you're kidding me!!] set of diapers, plus they start working on the nursery. [their procrastination is KILLING me!.]
November, 40 weeks: She goes into labor - water breaks and contractions. Her mom tells her to lay down for a bit. [what?? leaking fluid is water breaking. done deal.] Mike and Kayla head to the hospital. [thank goodness!] She's not dilated at all, but it was her water breaking. Kayla's mom shows up when Kayla hits 2cm, about 11 hours into labor. at 16 hours, she's only at 4cm. They begin to consider a c-section. Her mom pushes for the c-section since she'd be "tuckered out" after a vaginal delivery. At 21 hours, she's only 5cm. [poor thing. such a long labor not to be progressing much.] at 23 hours, they have to go for a c-section. This is the first baby Mike has ever held. [weird. when this is the case, why don't they seek out babies to get some experience?] Preston Michael is born 8lbs, 2.6oz on November 4th.
1 Day Old: she has to stay in the hospital for 3 days, and her mom goes back to work, though she says she'll take off a week when they get home. The nurses teach breastfeeding and diaper-changing.
3 Days Old: They come home from the hospital. [her mom is always wearing South Dakota hoodies. She also looks much older than 35 or so, which she should be if she was a teen mom herself.] Her mom cooks a big dinner, for apparently the first time in ten years. [let's hope that's an exaggeration...] Her mom now says that she's going to be working, not taking time off to help. [sucks.]
2 Days Old: [really, MTV? this is a glaring mistake.] Mike is helping with the baby care. She's not pumping enough milk since she's not eating enough. So, they have to start supplementing with formula. [and no mention of her trying to increase her milk production through eating...] She takes the baby out to lunch with her. Her friend asks her if she's worked out or anything, and she says she doesn't have the time. So, she starts skipping meals. [um, even if the baby is 2 weeks old (instead of 2 days), she had a c-section. NO WAY she'd be cleared to begin going to the gym!] Kayla meets with her homeschool instructor to figure out her homework. They eat out a lot, and realize that they don't have money. Kayla's mom wants Mike to start paying rent. $300 a month, plus food. Her mom had originally said that she wouldn't help with Preston's costs, so Mike wouldn't have to pay rent, he just needed to focus on the baby's needs. Now, she wants money... Kayla brings up the fact that Mike only works part-time, and her mom asks him to work full-time, even though that would mean Kayla couldn't go back to school. [what??. it's not like she's ever there anyway!]
3 Weeks Old: Mike is working full-time, pays the "rent," and they only have $60 left. They only have enough for diapers, wipes, and formula. At her next homeschool meeting, Kayla's teachers feel that she's really far behind, and she hasn't done any work. She's thinking of dropping out and getting a GED, but she's told that it won't show what she's capable of. Kayla and her friends realize that they're all going in different directions. They have another sleepover [really? that's so much more work when a baby is involved!] Her mom suggests that the two of them diet together in about 4-5 weeks. Kayla brings up the fact that her mom is never there. Her mom says that she'd come home for dinner and then leave again. [what's the point?] Kayla says that they're too dysfunctional.
2 months old: the heat isn't working, so Kayla and Mike take the baby to a hotel for $100. Kayla confronts her mom, and her mom says that if they think they can make it on their own, they should move out. Kayla brings up past promises, and her mom just says that she tried. [2 months old is a flaw, since Kayla mentions it's Thanksgiving... when Preston would only be 3 weeks old.] And he's at least a month behind in school. [so they're just splicing together stuff at this point.]

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Off season/Coming Up:

19 Kids and Counting  (Season 6, Episode 13 in June) 
Wipeout  (Season 5 to begin June 16th or June 21st, I have conflicting information)
Teen Mom  (season 3 starts July 5th)
Teen Mom 2  (no idea when season 2 starts)
The Unpoppables  (we saw six episodes of the first season, now the show is MIA)
Outrageous Kid Parties  (we saw four episodes of the first season, now the show is MIA)