A few months ago, Y&R’s Melissa Ordway (Abby) considered her life to be pretty darn perfect. Aside from working at a job she loves, the actress is happily married to Justin Gaston and raising their adorable daughter, Olivia. But life got a whole lot sweeter when Ordway unexpectedly found out she was expecting, a surprise that unfolded during lunch with another married couple. “I don’t know why, but I had a feeling she was pregnant,” Ordway explains. “Justin asked them, ‘When is Olivia going to have a new friend?’ And my friend said, ‘I cannot believe you asked that. We just found out we’re pregnant!’ We were cheering for her, we were so excited.” In the midst of the jubilation, Ordway realized that her own body schedule was off. “I was sitting there and it dawned on me,” she smiles. “I was thinking, ‘What’s today’s date? No, it couldn’t possibly be.’ ”
Doubt was a reasonable reaction for her, since prior attempts to start a family never panned out. “I told myself, ‘It’s probably nothing. I’m just being crazy because I’m stressed out or whatever,’ ” she recalls. “Plus, I had just started working out again, so I thought it was related to that.”
Still, she knew there was a possibility that she was in the family way, but because she and Gaston had been repeatedly disappointed in the past, she kept her hubby out of the loop this time. “I had an extra pregnancy test at home, and they always say to take it in the morning,” she notes. “The next morning, I took it and I was like, ‘No way! This has never been positive, ever, ever, ever!’ So, in those five minutes, I was trying to come up with a way to tell Justin, because he was still asleep. I decided, ‘I’m going to be really cool about this and show him in a really cute way,’ but I couldn’t. I was so excited, I just ran in and yelled, ‘Justin! Wake up!’ When I showed him the test, he asked, ‘Wait, are you kidding?’ And I said, ‘I’m definitely not kidding!’ We were so excited.”
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The Gastons dialed down the enthusiasm a bit because they wanted to make sure the results weren’t a false positive. “We ended up taking six more tests,” Ordway chuckles. “I took every type of every brand and they all said positive. Since it was Saturday morning, I couldn’t call the doctor until Monday, so we didn’t want to tell anyone. That happened to also be Mother’s Day weekend and when we went out to eat with my mom, I really wanted to let her know but I didn’t want to say anything if it turned out not to be true. I was freaking out inside.”
As it turned out, she could have shared the news without reservation. “The next day, the doctor told me, ‘If you took seven tests and they all came back positive, I’m pretty sure that you’re pregnant. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks,’ ” laughs Ordway. “That’s how we really found out, and we were ecstatic. It was crazy.”
The doctor advised against disclosing her condition until safely into the second trimester, but Ordway was conflicted about sitting on the news because summer storylines were coming up on Y&R. “I kept getting these bikini scenes and I told my husband, ‘I have to say something,’ ” she shares. “As an actress, that’s something that scares you because you’re worried that they’re going to be mad. I was 10 weeks along when I sent Mal [Young, executive producer/head writer] an email and asked him to call me when he got the chance. When he did, he was very lovely and wonderful, and just so supportive.”
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With Abby laser-focused on a corporate career, Ordway agrees with the decision to hide her pregnancy on-screen. “The writers know where the story’s going, so to throw a pregnancy in takes away from that story,” she points out. “What’s going on with Abby right now, I don’t think it would be a good time for her to be pregnant. So, I definitely understand, but I do wish that she could get pregnant at some point, because I always see the cutest little babies on the set and I’m like, ‘Why can’t Abby have one?!’ ”
Disguising Ordway’s burgeoning belly during scenes has already begun. “I was rehearsing a scene with Eileen [Davidson, Ashley] and all of a sudden I hear, ‘Bring in the plant!’ ” Ordway giggles. “I died laughing and said, ‘This is one of the most soapy things that has ever happened to me!’ It’s funny, I’ll be in a scene and it doesn’t always make sense for me to be holding a purse, but it does when you’re pregnant. When I didn’t really have much of a bump, it was an iPad, but now I’m carrying around a lot of purses, sitting behind desks and wearing lots of black. The directors and everyone else have been so great about trying to make me feel comfortable. They’re like, ‘Don’t think about it! We’ve got it covered. You look great.’ Everyone is so sweet.”
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Ordway reports that she has been feeling well throughout her pregnancy. “I’ve had it pretty easy,” she admits. “I have other friends that are pregnant and they’re like, ‘Ugh, are you sick all the time? Isn’t it horrible?’ Luckily, I was only a little nauseous. It’s still so surprising to me what the body can do. I’m like, ‘I’m doing dishes, oh, and I’m growing a human being right now.’ It’s insane, but it’s a dream come true.”
