Saturday, October 4, 2014

Behind the scenes at The Doctors

It was an absolute blast and an amazing opportunity!  We were able to share our story about our third child's conception after a "successful" vasectomy on The Doctors, which aired Oct.3rd!  {Click HERE to watch the clip.}

I was first contacted by an associate producer after she saw our story on the HuffPost Live back in early August.  After many conversations, they decided to fly us to California and record a segment in their Hollywood studio!  They provided the airfare, hotel, and a per diem for hotel food!  My husband Jay and I flew out on Tuesday, Sept. 9th and came home Sept. 12th.  It was the very first time EVER that we both left the kids and together went on a trip!  {I am actually going to share all about the amazing time we had in California in a different post another time!}
on the plane!
The first day there, we recorded all the scenes they used for the introduction clip.  We first arrived at a place they called "The Loft" where they had different living rooms, dining rooms and even a kitchen set up!  Stephanie asked us a bunch of questions on camera.




She had us pose and do different scenes and Jay and I were giggling and laughing, totally out of our comfort zone.  I was so worried about not getting it all right, but if you saw the intro piece, you know how amazingly talented she was because it was amazing!  The edits were to the point and the add ins funny!  Did you see the pic of the butcher block and chopped meat?  LOL!!!!

The day of the show was fun.  They recorded three shows this day and we were on the second.  As we got ready we could hear the audience cheer from our waiting room!

Look they had our name on the door!

We were told to bring a couple different outfits in bold bright colors and then a wardrobe person came in and helped pick our look.  She took our clothes and had them steamed.  I felt very pampered!  While waiting I poked my head out the door and loved seeing the wardrobe racks for the show!

The lady who did my hair was so nice.  She was so friendly and we chatted while she worked!  And the make-up artist miracle worker was AHmazing!  She mixed the color for my foundation in front of me and everything smelled so nice going on!  She said it was the stuff she used to clean her brushes!  I never wear eyeliner so looked so different and I really liked the look!

When Jay and I met back in our waiting room after getting our make up, I laughed at him!  He had lip gloss on and I could not stop laughing!  He was so pretty!

Mackenzie, the associate producer is the one who we talked to on the phone leading up to our trip, and she came in to go over the show and the script.  I started getting nervous at this point because even though the show was recorded, they did a live taping and she said they limit the editing on it!!!  Eeek!  I was concerned I might mess up after many issues recording the introduction piece!
Click HERE to watch the clip.
We went into a different waiting room to get our microphones on before going upstairs.  I had to take my necklace off because it rested right on the microphone.  I also had bracelets on but they were too noisy so I had to take them off too!  It was here that we first met Dr. Spitz, the urologist on the show.  I recognized him from previous episodes so introduced myself and Jay.  We spent 10 minutes talking with him but we purposely didn't talk as much about the vasectomy to keep the conversation fresh for the show.  We learned about his three kids and one has an interest in aviation.. my husband is a pilot... small world!  He's a really friendly down to earth guy!

When it was time to go backstage, I got so thirsty - nice symptom of nervousness for a talk show!  UGH!  They had bottles of water and kindly gave me one - with a straw so I wouldn't ruin my lipstick!
Time to go on stage!  They brought us to our seats.  Dr. Rachael came over first and I told her I enjoyed her segment on Dancing with the Stars with Candace Cameron Bure.... that was one of the first times I heard of The Doctors!  Dr. Travis shook our hands and said something funny to set us at ease and before I knew it he was talking and the show had started!

Click HERE to watch the clip.
This was the first time I saw our intro clip and it was amazing!  It choked me up because it was so well done and I saw the sweet faces of my kids who I missed a lot!  I tried to hold my tears back because I had awesome make up on but Dr. Rachael called me out on it!  Uh... not in the script!  I answered quickly without thought.

The doctors talked.

They teased Jay.  We laughed and BOOM!  It was over!
Click HERE to watch the clip.
I said something about it being quick and Dr. Travis said that was TV!   Geesh... all that for about 5 minutes on stage!  Relief spread over me but in hindsight... oh I wish I had more time with them!!

We waited around for a bit to get a picture with the doctors.  They are very tall.

People ask me about Dr. Travis... yes ladies he's handsome and taller than I expected!  I didn't get to talk to him much because he seemed really busy between shows.  And can I say that there is something about Dr. Ordon.  That man is so charismatic and I ended up liking him all the more after meeting him!  He has a little sparkle in his eye that was quite charming!  And Dr. Rachael told me to tweet with her the day before the show.  Of course I did.  Her reply was awesome!

On our way out the crew took our pics outside of the studio!

The crew was absolutely amazing!
Everyone was BEYOND friendly and easy to talk to.  I had so much fun chit chatting with everyone!! From the drivers to the producers... the people helping us get ready... oh wow it was great!

On my way out I noticed a really cool painting on the side of the building!  There is one in a town near where we live so it was neat to see that with The Doctors sign next to it!!


Close up:

And that was it!  I can't believe we were on the show!  I watched it at my friend Lynn's house yesterday because she was so excited {my biggest fan!} and said I shouldn't watch it alone!  She cooked me breakfast and everything!  What a friend!!!  Her idea to get in the pic with the TV!  LOL!
"I'm on TV!!!!"
Seriously though... I just hope our story gets out there and people realize that vasectomies really are not as certain as people think they are!  Even when you do all the right things and wait the right amount of time and go back to rechecked, pregnancies CAN happen!

To read our full story, please go HERE to the original blog post that I wrote almost three years ago!

Stay tuned for more stories in the next week about my get-away trip with my man.  And what I wish we could have talked more about on the show!

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Your blog is awesome Mary. So proud of you. oxox

wys13 said...

Yahoo! Great job!