Sussex County mom gives birth ... Film at 11
Sussex County - Until recently, most people who sat down to watch television escaped into a world of fantasy or drama very different from their own. Now, with the onslaught of reality television, viewers seem more and more interested in watching shows about the everyday lives of ordinary people. So it's not surprising that TLC (The Learning Channel) should come up with a show called A Baby Story, in which cameras and commentators follow a pregnant woman and her family through the daily life before the birth, the actual birth itself, and the first couple of weeks of the baby's life. Amy Brennan of Vernon and her three-year-old daughter, Victoria, used to watch A Baby Story together during Amy's recent pregnancy. "We would watch the show every week, and my daughter used to say that we should go on the show because we were going to have a new baby soon," said Brennan. "This was my fourth pregnancy, and as it would be our last.In December, I decided to go on line, and I answered ten questions and submitted them to TLC. "It wasn't until the week of Easter that I heard that we had been chosen for the show." Amy's husband, Tom, wasn't at all surprised when his wife announced to him that they were going to be the subject of a cable television show. "This is pretty much in keeping with her personality, so I wasn't really surprised when she told me," he said. "Actually, it was fairly exciting and fun for the other kids." Over 50 hours of footage were taped before and after the birth and a further 12 hours of the actual birth. Tom was also given a "Daddy Cam" to tape the period before they left for the hospital on the day of the birth. The baby, Gabriella Rose, was born on June 7 at St. Anthony's Hospital in Warwick and weighed seven pounds, four ounces. "Having the crew at the birth really wasn't bad at all because we had met them so many times before, and they were very unobtrusive and professional about the whole thing," said Amy. The half hour show is due to air sometime in the fall, though the Brennan family have not yet been given a definite date by TLC.