2nd Trimester: Boats, Planes, and Trains

The second trimester is often called the “honeymoon” phase of pregnancy, and I can say from my experience that is pretty accurate. After not truly realizing how exhausted I was for 14ish weeks, I literally woke up one morning feeling….well-rested? I didn’t hate our febreeze pods anymore?? I could eat salmon again??!

Luckily I reached this phase just as we were preparing to put up the fall show for the high school I work at. It is a small private school with a cafetorium setup, and fairly limited theatrical resources. We also only rehearse two days throughout the semester, with the exception of tech week. I’m so happy that my placenta took over mid-fall, because on the day of the show I was at the school, surrounded by teenagers from 11am-11pm. The performances were a success, and I was really proud of the work we all did, especially considering I was dead on my feet for 70% of the rehearsal process. 

I really needed this boost of confidence at this time in the school year. I spent most of graduate school learning how to trust my instincts and skills as a director, and I definitely felt the lessons I had been learning for three years come to play as I was putting The Odyssey together.

Poseidon exerts his wrath in The Odyssey: A Comedy (Until It's Not)

I also started to feel and see the impending next phase. My body changed just enough so that I had to wear exclusively maternity pants (which for some reason only come in skinny jeans?) and I was starting to feel little baby kicks. Suddenly, I needed to make decisions about how I was going to spend the next 6 months. 

The Theatre School at Trinity University in Dublin

My husband and I took a big trip to Ireland following the closing of The Odyssey, and I accepted the offer to assistant direct Murder on the Orient Express at the ZACH in January of 2026, knowing it might be the last show I do at the theatre in a while, due to their intensive rehearsal schedule. I also announced my pregnancy to the high school and made adjustments to the spring rehearsal schedule to try and ensure that most of the work would be complete before tech week, as my baby was due four days before the spring show was set to open. 

Murder on the Orient Express

From December 2025-February 2026 I assistant directed Murder on the Orient Express by Ken Ludwig for Jenny Lavery at the ZACH Theatre. This was Jenny and I’s second collaboration after I assisted her on Roe by Lisa Loomer in 2023. It was also my 6th show at the ZACH - I acted in a children’s show in college and I assisted Dave Steakley, the Executive Artistic Director, on three other productions. However, this was my first show as a paid creative team member (assisting Dave was more of a temp admin role) and I was really excited to get started. 

The production itself was rented from Asolo Repertory Theatre in Florida, so there were some predetermined transitions, blocking, and video projections that had to fit into Jenny’s overall vision. There were literally a ton of moving pieces to keep track of (read: spinning train cars) which was a fun challenge. 

This was such a lovely group of people to work with. It was one of those casts where everyone is genuinely nice and friendly and fun to be around. Jenny was supportive of my extra needs from the beginning, and I felt totally comfortable talking about my situation with folks in the rehearsal room and the ZACH at large. I told Dave that I had learned about the baby on the last day of our Wizard of Oz rehearsals, and he was immediately worried that I had felt sick the entire time and not said anything - which wasn’t the case, but I was touched by his concern. 

The biggest challenges came during tech week. Despite my better energy, I ended each night so so so exhausted. Jenny usually let me skip the post-rehearsal meetings (which can run into the early hours of the morning) but there were some days where I felt like she truly needed my support. As we got closer to opening night, I was also working multiple jobs in the daytime and running to rehearsals in the afternoon/evenings. I tend to overcommit myself and this was no exception. I got through it simply because I knew this was probably my last chance to work on a show at this level for a while, as the 2pm-11pm rehearsals are not conducive to raising a baby. 

Something I didn’t expect was that my baby seemed to be having fun? He was always very active during rehearsals, especially when I had to stand in for crew members and when the opening music played in the theatre. 

A funny conversation occurred towards the end of the process. Jenny turned to me on a break and said “you know, when we met in December you just did not look pregnant at all, but now I can definitely tell” to which Devon, our stage manager, responded “yeah Jenny, that’s how it works!” 

I ended the process at the start of my third trimester with a cute little bump and a very active baby who I was now convinced would be a tap dancer. Or maybe a train conductor. 

One of my favorite things to do as an AD is take photos of the director during tech. Jenny Lavery (red sweater) is running fight call while Devon Muko watches at the bottom of the stage.

Lessons I learned: 

• Pregnancy is still exhausting in the 2nd trimester

• Say what you need! Don’t be a hero!

• Elastic waistbands are lifesavers

• Take breaks!

• Drink water