RIGGS STEPHEN

December 5th, 2018

5:09 PM

7 lbs 14 oz

20 in

      The beginning of December we thought we would have a baby for sure. On the 3rd of December, Dr. Matt stripped my membranes, but it didn't really seem to do too much. I was adamant about letting him come on his own. I knew he was my last baby and I wanted that experience. There was a small part of me that didn't want him getting any closer to Christmas so every day I did all I could to help induce labor at home. I ate spicy food, rubbed on oils, ran up and down the stairs for 30 minutes at a time and even tried to talk to baby boy and explain to him that it was okay for him to come. That last one was a bit of an inside joke. =) Wednesday morning I woke up at 5 and immediately started having contractions. They were regular, but not painful. I started timing them as I sat in bed trying to make progress on President Nelson's challenge to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. The contractions continued as I showered, got ready, and packed lunches. They were consistently 2-3 minutes apart for 2 hours and we decided we should head to the hospital in Idaho Falls. We woke up Boyd and explained to him the plan, we were heading to Idaho Falls and they needed to get ready for school and Audrey would pick them up.

    On the way to Idaho Falls my contractions started slowing down. Ugh!!! I thought maybe it was because I had been sitting for a while, but it was really frustrating. We got to the hospital and they put me in a room to be monitored. I wasn't any more dilated than on Monday (4 cm) and the contractions had pretty much stopped. Lame! I walked and walked the halls but my efforts didn't produce anything. The nurse had a conversation on the phone with the doctor and they said we could go ahead with labor if we wanted to do an induction. It was not what I wanted to do, but it seemed logical since our kids were farmed out and taken care of for the day. Phil was nasty to get on with it as well and we were so excited to finally meet our little baby boy. We decided we would have the doctor come in and break my water. I thought for sure that would jump start the contractions and I could still labor on my own for as long as I could without an epidural. I just wanted that experience of laboring through pain and test my strength for this babe.

     Dr. Gunderson broke my water around 12:30 and he said that the baby's head was so low it kind of just stopped up the water. I continued to walk the halls and bounce on the ball. It was a little trickier than before as water kept gushing every now and then. After about an hour I had a couple contractions that I could feel, but nothing like I expected, it was going much slower that I thought it would. After some time, we opted to start pitocin to kick things in to gear. Jessica Calderwood was coming to take pictures of the labor and we didn't want it going in to the night. With pitocin started we paced the halls again and the contractions immediately kicked up in intensity. After a few laps in the hall, Phil needed to grab something in our room. While there I had the first, really intense contraction. It brought tears to my eyes and as soon as Phil realized I was in pain he brought up getting an epidural. I figured it would take at least an hour to get one, which would give me some good time to progress. As we left our room to make some more laps, Jessica came and walked with us while she snapped pictures. We only got around twice, probably less than 10 minutes, before the CRNA was there do administer the epidural. I was a little disappointed and asked Phil quietly if we could tell him to come back. Phil said no. Haha. He does not like seeing people in pain, especially those people he loves, it's hard for him and I understand that.

    The epidural was a pain! I never minded getting one before, they have always been a breeze! This time was different and it took a really long time before the CRNA was done. I can't complain though, because it worked REALLY well, a little too good. I literally felt nothing, not even the pressure, which was crazy. After I got the epidural it didn't take long before I began shaking. Phil told me to "quit it" and I told him I was just in transition. We bantered back and forth a bit but soon enough my nurse checked me and I was nearly ready to push. Dr. Gunderson arrived quickly and we got the show on the road.  Phil flanked my right side, which was different from the left where he always stood. Jess stood above me on the right and took pictures. The first contraction Dr. Gunderson told me quickly to slow down and not push so hard. I guess he was progressing too quickly. Another little push after that and our sweet baby boy was out! I think he was crying before he was even all the way out and the sound couldn't be any sweeter. And all that hair!! He was warm and perfect and fit just right as they laid him on me. It reminded me that our life wasn't complete without him and now it's completely full. Phil cut the umbilical cord and they cleaned him up and weighed him in the warmer. He weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces, our biggest baby. Some of my favorite moments are watching Phil watch our babies as they are across the room being measured and cleaned. Those moments soften these dads in ways that can't be done with anything else. He was alert and took us in while we admired him and soaked in every bit. He nursed right away and proved to be the best eater! We could not have been any more happy or any more in love with our tiny new little baby boy.

    It was strange not having already named him and Phil did not want to leave the hospital without a name. After they moved me over to a recovery room, we spent some quite hours alone just staring at him and snuggling him. I contemplated the names we were considering, Riggs and Creed trying to fit see him in those big names. Finally, Phil needed to head home and get our big kids and we made a decision. Riggs Stephen. I think we knew all along that his name would be Riggs, but it was my indecisiveness that held us back from naming him before he was born. We did know that his middle name would be Stephen. We love using family names and Phil is close with his brother Steve. Plus Steve is an awesome guy and will be a great person for Riggs to live up to and be like. He's kind and caring, adventurous like Phil, they share a lot of the same hobbies, smart, thinks critically, loves to have a good time, is easy going and stubborn all at once. He has a great heart and a strong testimony.

     My night nurse for both nights was amazing. I loved her and she did a wonderful job of giving me space and taking care of both Riggs and I. Riggs had to spend al little time in the nursery that night because he was grunting and they were worried about his lungs and oxygen levels. It reminded me of Brewer a little but I willed myself to go down that slippery slope of worry. Turns out everything was just fine. I felt really good in the hospital, with the exception of my back. It killed and ached when I would stand up and walk. But that was really my only compliant and pain, so that was awesome.

     Phil brought the kids down the next day, around 2 o'clock and they got to meet their baby brother.
They were so excited and eager to see him. I got a little video clip as they walked in the door and their eyes say it all! They were so sweet, calm and quiet, each taking a turn to hold baby Riggs and love on him. Jessica came again to take pictures and it will be such a treasure to have those first moment of siblings together. And the first moments of our family of SIX together!! Grandma and Grandpa Monson came for a little visit and then took the 3 bigs kids home with them so Phil and I could have some time together. It was healing I needed that time with Phil. It's different having more kids because your responsibilities change and as a parent your time is more spread out. What I will remember most is laying on the hospital bed together snuggling our baby in the absolute calm.

    Baby Riggs did really well in the hospital. He ate well, filled up plenty of diapers, passed his hearing screening (on the second try) and was content to go get checked out by the pediatrician in the nursery. Although once there, I'm sure he cried. He did have an ultrasound to check on his kidney which still showed mild hydronephrosis. He also was diagnosed with combs positive, so we would have to keep an eye out on his coloring and maybe even have his blood checked. But in the hospital his numbers were surprisingly low. Wahoo!!

    The next day Phil got the kids ready for school and came back to Idaho Falls for the 3rd day in a row. I got myself and baby Riggs ready and we checked out of the hospital and headed for home. Tiffany kept our kids for a bit after school so we could get settled in at home. Those couple of hours were really nice to decompress and rest. But being at home felt natural with him and the kids were so excited to have him there. We were all excited to be there all together, finally!

   I have so many more pictures, but am having a technical issues. Note to self: add them later.