Catching up with OZFM’s Rush and All Request Lunch host, Stephanie O’Brien, after returning to work post maternity leave
====
It’s official – Stephanie O’Brien is back on the air with OZFM and the rest of the Stirling Communications team here at The Newfoundland Herald and NTV. After 14 months of maternity leave from media, O’Brien returns to the spotlight with a new girl on her arm – beautiful blue-eyed baby Charlie.
Host of the All Request Lunch, O’Brien steps back into master control alongside Stephen Lethbridge and Hugh Campbell following an exceptionally busy couple of years. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, O’Brien received a visit from a stork, planned a wedding and a honeymoon, and then officially tied the knot to now-husband, Drew.
In The Newfoundland Herald’s special Valentine’s Day issue we caught up with O’Brien to talk about life as a newlywed and introducing their first born, now The Herald sits down with the radio star to talk life back at work this past month and her current sleep schedule, or lack thereof.
“I’ll admit my anticipation, my expectations, they were low coming back to work. But it’s so good. It is awesome.
Couldn’t Be Awesom-Er
“I actually didn’t think it was gonna be awesome, but it couldn’t be – my new word – awesom-er. It’s deadly. I do miss the baby, but I also really missed my job and I really missed talking to adults. I think more than anything, I just missed routine. Now we have a routine down, and Charlie is really happy where she is and everyone’s just happy in my house right now, it’s really good,” O’Brien shared.
“By the end of the first week, we had found our groove again. I think what happened is, so many other things happened in the past year on a bigger scale that when I got back to work I’m like; God this is such a great job. I took it for granted. I didn’t realize how much fun it was, and it’s really not overly high stressed. It’s a lot of work, but it’s good work, you know what I mean? It’s very social work which keeps me busy, but then when I get home I don’t wanna talk to anybody. Don’t call me, don’t text me. I’m done, that’s the truth,” she laughs.
Balancing a new baby and heading back to work can be a struggle in the beginning for most, especially after spending day after day next to your newly born bundle of joy. Luckily, O’Brien has been fortunate enough to find the perfect balance for her current situation.
“I do miss her, and sometimes during the day I get super carried away with my job and I get all caught up in it, then I have this pain in my stomach where I remember her and I go; oh, I wish I was with her right now,” O’Brien explained.
“It’s a good change. I think we’re on a really good streak right now. It feels really good, and I’m actually well rested. I go to bed earlier now than I ever did. I’m in bed by 9:00 p.m., I’m asleep by 9:30, I don’t get up until 4:00 a.m. I get a full night’s sleep. My baby sleeps through the night, so I’ve actually never had more sleep! It’s been really good, I’m super pumped. I don’t know how I got so lucky, and I’m gonna knock on wood as we have this conversation, because I don’t wanna be up all night tonight.”
Charlie’s Personality
As for Charlie, the babe is already taking after her local celebrity mama and becoming quite the little social personality.
“She started at a dayhome. We tried to keep her at home with grandparents, and then we realized she just really needed to be social. We just really wanted her in a social environment because we’d seen her in play groups and how well she responded to other children, and we ended up finding a dayhome that’s not too far from our house. They sent us a picture on Monday of her hugging another little girl and it was just really sweet, it was adorable. Then they do all these arts and crafts and I mean she’s only 14 months old and it just blows my mind. She’s totally a people person, and I don’t know where she gets it,” she shared sarcastically.
The crew at OZFM, NTV and The Herald couldn’t be happier to have part of the family, Stephanie O’Brien, back with us. Whether suffering from a little morning sickness, pre-wedding jitters or lack of sleep from diving fresh into motherhood, she’s always a riot on the air.