Jim And Pam's Son On The Office Has Jenna Fischer's Real-Life Pregnancy To Thank For His Existence
According to an episode of the "Office Ladies" podcast, the name of Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam's (Jenna Fischer) first child on the American "Office" came from Fischer's actual niece. "So, the same week that we were shooting this episode, my sister Emily gave birth to her first child, a daughter," Fischer explained. "It was so crazy. Literally the day we shot Pam going to the hospital was the day my sister came home from the hospital. ... So my sister had told me ahead of time what they were planning to name their daughter. So I went to the writers and I asked if we could name Pam and Jim's baby after my niece, and they said yes" (via Mashable).
The Halpert's second baby, Phillip, was handled with a little less ceremony. While the first pregnancy was revealed in a big, emotional scene in the Season 5 finale, "Company Picnic," the second pregnancy was revealed at the beginning of Season 8 when Pam was already quite pregnant. In the Season 6 episode of the American "Office" called "The Delivery," Jim mentions that his and Pam's first baby was conceived in a port-o-potty at Burning Man. Phillip wasn't conceived anywhere nearly as exotic, but rather in a closet in the office itself.
Phillip was born because of Jenna Fischer's real-life pregnancy
In a more recent episode of the "Office Ladies" podcast, Fischer and co-star Angela Kinsey sat down with Greg Daniels, who adapted the show for American television, to discuss how the Season 7 episode "PDA." In the episode, Jim and Pam sneak off for a romantic rendezvous in the office closet, and Daniels and Fischer revealed that they decided this was when the couple conceived their second child because Fischer's own baby was on the way. "So shortly before this episode aired, I found out I was pregnant in real life. ... And what's really crazy about that is because later when I came in to your offices, Greg, and I told you and Paul that I was pregnant, and you were wondering if you should write it into the show, I can't remember if it was you or Paul, but you said, (GASP!) It's perfect! Jim and Pam got pregnant at Dunder Mifflin! They conceived Phillip in that closet!" Thus, the episode was retroactively decided to be the episode in which baby Phillip was conceived.
According to an interview with People, Fischer had an inkling that she might be pregnant when they shot the episode "PDA" and it all fell into place. "When we started shooting that episode, I thought to myself, 'If everything goes well, this is going to be a very, very convenient coincidence,'" Fischer recalled. The timing worked out perfectly, and Fischer's pregnancy was written into the show instead of having to be conveniently hidden throughout the series.