Rigby Chronicles: Luke Jeffrey Rigby

This post is LONG overdue and just plain LONG!

Luke was born October 2, 2014. Our lives have been turned upside down since! So much happiness, emotion, lack of sleep. :-) It's been overwhelming but in a very good way. There is a whole new element of joy in our home. Of course, there is nothing like snuggling a newborn to help you remember what's important in life. But beyond that, it's been so good for our family to feel so much love all at once together. It's wonderful.

Yes, the sleepless nights and trying to keep up with the endless amounts of laundry and housework have been a challenge. I've had days when I've wondered if I'm really cut out for this or not. It's so hard sometimes! But, the good far outweighs the difficulties. It's been good for me to have to chill out about my house a little bit. So the laundry doesn't get done today. Big deal! And the dust is getting thicker and thicker as we speak. No problem. Breathe...I will have a clean house again someday. Right now, these little kiddos need their mom more than a clean house. (Even though, by all accounts my house is still pretty clean. I can't let it go all together people!) :-)

Luke was 6 pounds 3.8 ounces, 18 inches long. He was born with a bit of a breathing issue which caused him to have to go into the NICU for a day. It scared me terribly. I cried for at least three hours after the birth. I couldn't stop. I was so scared for him. But it turned out that his lungs were just a little weak and needed a little bit of a kickstart. They put him on a CPAP machine, cleaned out his lungs and he was good to go after that. Not being able to hold him at first was so difficult. Knowing what that experience is like and then not being able to have it was heart wrenching. I can only imagine what it is like for mothers who have babies in the NICU for weeks or months. Let alone those who suffer the loss of a child. My heart just ached for them during this time. A healthy baby is truly a miracle.

The delivery went great. I didn't feel any of the labor pains up until I started to push and then I felt it quite a bit! Oh yes. But it was short lived and worth every pain. Thank goodness he was small. I had even slept through many of the contractions through the night after I got my epidural. It was great! Jeff and the girls were with me the whole time. Jeff was probably the most exhausted of all of us by the time the delivery came because he got absolutely no sleep. We arrived at the hospital at about 1:00 a.m. and he hadn't slept all night. I and the girls however, slept just great. :-) The girls were so excited and fascinated by the whole experience. I was a little worried about how they would respond but wanted them to have the experience. In the end I'm really glad we had them there. To see a baby delivered is just amazing and not something you get to see many times in a lifetime. I'm glad they got to be there for this.

Our Doctor is also amazing. Dr. Hodges. He's a little bit famous actually. His photo went viral on Facebook and other internet outlets recently as another family he delivered for had a photographer there for their second birth which was a miraculous story. She caught a great shot of Dr. Hodges and the dad hugging and crying and it went viral, made the local news, Today show website and the whole bit. He's a great guy and wonderful doctor. I love that he lets the dads help with the actual delivery and bring the baby out. What an experience.

I think all of these pictures speak for themselves.