When You Least Expect It

Iris Lynn Garfield

Being pregnant during a global pandemic was both a blessing and a curse. We were able to keep the pregnancy out of the media which is what we wanted until we were ready to tell but it also meant my family missed out on being there when I gave birth and being able to see our baby which has been the hardest part for me. Andrew has returned to doing some in person press for Tick Tick Boom and other things are still via zoom. I haven't gone back to work since giving birth and I'm enjoying this baby bubble we've been in. We've taken some time now that we've been able to travel more to go see my family and we've spent the last two months in New Orleans and now we're travelling to New York for a few days for work and to see Briar and Max. Andrew is going on Stephen Colbert and Benjamin and his dad are also here with us so we decided to introduce our little one to the world.

I stay backstage watching from the green room "Your wife Sage is here too she's backstage and you have something you want to share with everyone so she's gonna come out here and join us" Stephen says and I make my way out to everyone with our baby girl in my arms and there's gasps and clapping and Stephen and I share a side hug and I sit down beside Andrew who takes her from me "So I see what you guys spent quarantine doing" Stephen says and we laugh "I mean what else was their to do" Andrew says and the audience laughs "This must mean alot to you both because you suffered a miscarriage" he says "It does. I really struggled with that and their was alot of fear and anxiety even more so because we were in a pandemic and I was so sick the first four months so I was at risk everytime I went to a scan or appointment because my system was so weak" I say "When was she born?" he asks "This is a funny story actually. She very much proved she's the child of two actors. I was due the second week of September Andrew was in Calgary at the time and the plan was he'd come home a few days before I was due so he'd be there for the birth but she decided to make us wait a little longer so I was four days past my due date scheduled for induction on day six we were trying everything we could nothing happened. She was born on the anniversary of us getting together September is now a busy month for us our wedding anniversary and now this one's birthday" I say and the audience is awwing at Andrew interacting with her "We spoke about your mom's passing and how Tick Tick Boom has become a tribute to her for you was it bittersweet becoming a father for the first time without her" he says "It was difficult I think back to 2019 when she passed and we were pregnant the first time and the fact that she would of gotten to meet that baby but she has we both know their together in the afterlife and we've honored her in our own way with the name" Andrew says "We have world meet Iris Lynn Garfield our little rainbow" I say "Beautiful. Congratulations both of you and thank you for sharing this with us and introducing her she can't even talk yet and she's made her talk show debut" he says and we thank him and finish the show.

We arrive back home and I decide to do a Instagram q&a whilst Andrew is out and Iris is sleeping "Hi I'm not used to this so bear with me. I know you all know by now that Andrew and I had a baby girl back in September so I figured I'd answer any questions you might have and just chat I guess" I say look for a question "How did we choose her name. Lynn was always a no brainer for us we considered it as a first name but it didn't feel right so we chose it as her middle name. We didn't pick Iris until probably a week before I was due we wanted something we hadn't heard before and as someone who is named after a herb and has a brother named after a bird and a sister named after a shrub we like something unusual and Iris translates from Greek to rainbow and she is our rainbow baby so it felt like the perfect fit" I say and find another question "How has parenthood changed you both?. I wouldn't say its changed us exactly I mean I've definitely seen a different side to Andrew and I know they say you fall more in love with your partner when they become a father and I would say its true. I feel complete if that makes sense" I say and the baby monitor goes off "One minute you guys" I say and I go to grab her "Someone wanted to say hi. How was my ED during pregnancy. I was sick the first four months everyday I ended up having to get IV I lost alot of weight which was triggering for me but I think the fact I was so sick and I wasn't eating and giving her the nutrients she needed distracted me I was more focused on getting better for her so she would be healthy" I say and Andrew arrives home and walks in kisses us both not realising I'm live on Instagram "I'm doing a Instagram live right now my love care to join and take over whilst I feed off camera because I will get banned if I breastfeed on camera" I say "Why not" he says and I leave him to go feed Iris.

I come back and Andrew is still going "Someone just asked if we are in the new Spiderman" he says "No we are not but if we were that would be amazing and I'd hope they'd write my pregnancy into the script and there's a mini MJ/Peter hybrid running around with Peter's webshooters and mask on. We love Tom he's amazing but no we are not in Spiderman No Way Home. How did you hide the pregnancy. Getting pregnant during a global pandemic and being told not to leave your house unless it's absolutely necessary helped" I say "Did you find out the gender. No never once crossed our minds to but we had a feeling. What was your top pick for a boy" he says "Not saying in case the next one is a boy. Was it difficult not being able to see my family. Extremely telling them over Facetime was horrible and not having my mom there when she was born hurt alot the borders have only recently opened back up for us to travel to the US for something other than work related reasons so we've just recently gotten back from some time over there. We were hoping to spend Christmas together but we may cancel that and spend it here with Andrew's family we haven't fully decided yet" I say "Advice for aspiring actors. Choose roles that make you happy and give you a sense of purpose and achievement. I've played alot of real life people and getting to tell their stories is so special" he says "Step out of your comfort zone don't be afraid to play the badass zombie slayer or the spy because those are the roles which help you grow. When will you go back to acting. Probably next year sometime ideally but we'll see. I think we should call it a day little rainbow here needs a diaper change but thanks for joining in and we will talk again soon" I say and end the live.