Riken

My beautiful daughter, Ashli, gave birth to this beautiful baby boy, Riken J Brown, on December 14, 2012 at 6:18 PM. He weighed 6 pounds and was 19 1/4 inches long and he is perfect.

He took his time getting here, though. On December 7, Ashli was dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced, so we were all sure she would have Riken that weekend. Here, she and Mack are waiting for an ultrasound to see if things were in order for Dr Bailey to induce her.

Alas, they were not. So Ashli and Mack went Christmas shopping and did tons of walking Friday night. And Saturday. And did everything that is supposed to induce labor. She bounced on an exercise ball for hours on end. And still went another week without moving beyond a 3.

Then finally, on Thursday, December 13, they decided to admit her to the hospital after her doctor's appointment. She told us not to run right over to Nephi, as it could be HOURS before she delivered him after they started Pitocin. Tyler was at my house when the call came from Ashli, and we managed to wait a whole hour before we headed to the hospital in Nephi, where we waited all day and all night. Zack certainly made it entertaining.

He told me the "You're not a monk" joke at 1:00 in the morning and went until 2:18 am. Official record at 78 minutes before I got mad and Tyler told him he better wrap it up.

Ken was a trooper. He had spent the day Thursday working near the Utah/Nevada border, and had his boss drop him off at the hospital in Nephi on their way back home to Sanpete county. At about 1:30 Friday morning, he was so exhausted, he finally just fell asleep on the floor. I drove him home at 4:00  so he could work that day, then I showered and took a nap before I headed back to Nephi.

We all continued to wait for little Riken to arrive on Friday. Ashli's blood pressure had gone up to 156/95 on Thursday night, so they had to put her on mag and lower the Pitocin. She had a long, rough night Thursday and was so glad to get her epidural Friday afternoon. Once she hit an 8, she was at a 10 and delivering him within an hour. She started pushing at 6:00 and he was here at 6:18. Ken was the first one to hear him cry, and he waved us all over to hear him. It was the most beautiful sound in the world!

My sweet daughter sent Amanda Pay out to get me right after Riken was delivered, so I was there for this amazing moment. Riken was just mad at the world, crying and frustrated. And then the nurse told Mack that he could hold Riken's hand. As soon as Mack touched him, Riken immediately stopped crying. He knew exactly who Mack was, and he calmed down the second he felt his touch. It was a moment I will cherish forever.

 I got to see Mack hold his son for the very first time. Awesome:)

Then this. Ashli and Mack have been married for just over 3 years. She had a hard time getting pregnant. They were just about to start fertility drugs, had the prescription and everything, when she got pregnant a year ago. She miscarried at 9 weeks, and it was devastating for all of us. And then.... she became pregnant with little Riken. Her pregnancy was SO hard in the beginning. She was SO sick, throwing up all day every day, and lost 17 pounds. She's a tiny girl anyway, and she didn't have 17 pounds to lose. But she did everything she could to take care of herself and Riken, and had a great attitude through the whole thing. I think she ended up being less than 10 pounds above her pre-pregnancy weight at the time of delivery, and 6 of it was him. So after all that, the moment she had waited SO LONG for and been through so much to get, was finally here. I love the look on her face when she is finally about to hold her baby for the first time.

 
 
 

Everyone thinks Riken looks like his Uncle Tyler (holding the football). He holds his mouth just like his Mom's and has Uncle Zack's nose, though.

Zack and Tyler are SO excited to be uncles. They love this little guy so much. They spend every moment they can with him. He's a tremendous blessing in our family.

His Grandma adores him.

His Grandpa is proud.

 

And he's a tremendous blessing to our family. A wonderful Christmas present.

And even more amazing than we all imagined he would be.