Sahuaro’s drama teacher, Ms. Rossmeissl, is back on her grind. She had her baby, Conrad Randall Strong, in January and is now back at work. If you haven’t read Drama’s Deviating Delivery Drama, you should probably do that so you can better understand the circumstances surrounding little Conrad’s birth

While pregnant with Conrad, Rossmeissl developed Gestational Diabetes, which is a form of high blood sugar affecting pregnant women. During a regular OBGYN appointment, her blood pressure was taken and was abnormally high. She was instructed to go to the hospital even though she had no contractions whatsoever. “I had what’s called Preeclampsia caused by the Gestational Diabetes and so they told me I had to go to the hospital.” At this point, Rossmeissl was around thirty weeks and babies aren’t fully ready to come out until forty weeks, but Conrad had other plans. “Somewhere around the fourth day in the hospital, they wanted to start labor. About 24 hours later, they finally had to do an emergency c-section on January 1st and I became a mom!”

Conrad remained in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for around a month, with his loving parents by his side rooting for him. “He spent the first month of his life in the NICU trying to get healthy and breathe on his own…that kind of stuff.” Baby Conrad is now three months old, yet he looks more like a newborn due to being premature. He has surpassed all of his issues surrounding his surprising birth. “He’s doing really great, he had to overcome some food allergies and he has a lot of stomach issues because he’s premature. But within the last few weeks, since I’ve come back to work, he’s been a happy camper,” Rossmeissl said.

“My favorite part is when he smiles and he’s happy. Also when he does a little baby ‘coo’ and I think just the ability for him to be able to recognize me. All of those moments make me very happy,” she beamed.

Being a new mother is difficult enough, so can you imagine being the mother of a child whose well-being is unknown? “It was difficult because it all happened so quickly. We were very brave through it all but there is always this reality that you never know what could happen. But we got through it and when we got him home it was like that moment in Finding Nemo at the very end of the movie and you’re like…now what?” she explained.

For the three months Ms. Rossmeissl was on maternity leave, Mr. Smith filled in for her as the drama teacher. “It’s been a little stressful being back because I’m in the midst of shows, but I thank Mr. Smith for being here to fill in on such short notice. I think the students appreciated having a substitute that had a background in theater.”

“It’s good to be back…I missed my drama family!” Rossmeissl concluded.