Sorry For my Abrupt Departure, But Melissa is Back! Meet Baby Awesome

Get our free mobile app

Hey there! Remember me? Long time no talk...

Normally when I write articles, I like to keep you informed about things happening in the community, spooky destinations, paranormal weirdness, etc... But this was really important to me and I wanted to share with you where I've been the last 3 months.

Last Spring I made a pretty huge announcement, I was pregnant and my husband and I were expecting our first child.  Pretty exciting stuff right?  My due date was October 17th, a perfect little Fall baby! Well, my little guy ended up coming a bit earlier than expected.  Baby Awesome (also known as Riley) was born on September 25th, 2021.  I had all of these plans of things I wanted to get done here at work, and planned to announce on air when I was going on maternity leave because I didn't want to just leave you hanging, and wondering "where did Melissa go?" But as kids usually do, my son threw a curveball my way and I ended up having him a tad earlier than expected.

My pregnancy was considered high risk because I had Gestational Diabetes.  I had to go to weekly doctor appointments to check on the baby and look at my blood sugars. Besides diabetes (which has since gone away, pregnancy is so weird) my pregnancy had no other complications, that is, until my September 24th appointment.  On that Friday I was scheduled to go to my doctor for a routine NST (non-stress test) and then my plan was to head to work after my appointment. I did these tests every week, they would hook me up to a monitor and track Riley's heartbeat and movement.  Riley looked perfect on the monitor (thank god) but my blood pressure was through the roof.  I hadn't had any BP issues, so this was abnormal for me.  My doctor came in and it turns out I had developed severe preeclampsia. I'll never forget the panic I felt when my doctor told me "hey, so I have to admit you to the hospital to monitor you and you'll be having a baby this weekend."  32 hours after my appointment, I gave birth to the most perfect tiny human, and my maternity leave began.  So needless to say  I wasn't able to come to work and inform you that I would be leaving for a few months.

Now here we are at the start of 2022, I'm back to work and raising a healthy, and perfect 3-month-old who, quite literally, amazes me every single day.  Babies are so cool, they're always learning, and each day it seems like he does something new.  Lately, he is so smiley, and it melts my heart.  I'm really grateful for the time I was able to have off with Riley, but I am excited to get back to creating content and rocking out on air with you! Thanks for being along for this wild ride with me, and for allowing me to share a little piece of my life with you.  Now please enjoy a few pictures of my favorite smile in the whole wide world.

2021 was the most incredible, amazing, happiest, and hardest year of my life, but this sweet guy made everything so incredibly worth it.  I'm excited to see what 2022 has in store! I wish you and your family a very happy new year, and I hope 2022 turns out to be everything you want and more!

A special thank you to Kristen Elise Photography for allowing me to share her beautiful work with you!