Remember what that first pregnancy was like? The excitement, the anticipation, the fear?
Though her oldest daughter is 9, the memories are still vivid for cartoonist Terri Libenson, who has funneled some of her experiences - coupled with creative license of course - into a five-week series flashback for her comic strip "The Pajama Diaries."
The series, which launches today in the comic strip (you can find the strip in The Bee's Fun & Games section), chronicles protagonist Jill Kaplan's first pregnancy, from the sonogram to the delivery room.
I recently interviewed Libenson, who has two daughters, about the series from her home in Cleveland, Ohio. Here is some of our conversation.
Q: Why did you decide to do a flashback now?
A: It wasn't something that I consciously decided. It was sparked by a strip that I did for Mother's Day, (which) involved a flashback in the delivery room. Because the strip is in a diary format, it allows going forward and back ... Why not just spice things up a little?
Q: What kind of trials will Jill be remembering?
A: It's really an overview of when she first realizes she gets pregnant with her first child to the first delivery - nothing too specific or traumatic, but there is the idea of her kind of having reservations about her job situation and how that's going to change and just about being a good mom. It something that a lot of women face nowadays.
Q: Is some of this inspired by your life?
A: To an extent, but some of it is creative license. When I was pregnant, it was a little different situation. But I was playing with the idea of working part-time. I worked full-time for American Greetings back then. Right now, I work for them one day a week.
Q: How do you balance children and work?
A: It's gotten easier. It was pretty difficult when I first started the comic strip because I was balancing that job, which was so new to me at the time, with the American Greetings job. The kids were much smaller. My youngest was 2 or 3 years old. I didn't get much sleep ... I'm working long hours but it's not as bad as when the strip first launched.
Q: Any advice for working moms?
A: Personally, I think just taking things one step at a time is a good idea. It's hard for me to say that because I tend to want to do 20 things at once.
Q: Can you give us a peek at what we might see Jill go through during the series?
A: Jill finds out that two of her best friends get pregnant at the exact same time. One strip that kind of stands out in my mind that I think is kinda funny is when Jill and her friends are out shopping for breast pumps.
What was your first pregnancy like? Post a comment here.
Do you remember how you told friends and family you were pregnant? Read my blog post on sharing the big news with loved ones.
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