Riley Gaines & Louis Barker: Life as a New Parents | Sage Steele Show | EP 78

Summary

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The Sage Steele Show: Riley Gaines & Louis Barker - Life as New Parents (EP 78)

Date: October 22, 2025
Host: Sage Steele
Guests: Riley Gaines & Louis Barker

Episode Overview

This heartfelt episode of The Sage Steele Show offers an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at Riley Gaines (noted former collegiate swimmer and women's sports advocate), her husband Louis Barker, and their early days as new parents to baby Margo. The conversation, held in their Tennessee home, is a deep dive into pregnancy, delivery, postpartum experiences, family values, and how their public roles as advocates intersect with private joys and challenges. The episode also traverses their romantic origin story, tense moments in the hospital, dealing with societal pressures, their approach to faith, and plans for the future.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stepping Into Motherhood (01:35–05:40)

• Riley’s Natural Transition:

  • Riley shares that motherhood feels instinctual and is her “purpose in life.”
  • “I feel like stepping into this role as a mom now, like I was made for this. Like, I feel like this is my purpose in life, is being a mother.” (Riley, 01:44)
  • She describes an easy pregnancy, delivery, and a surprising desire for another child immediately after giving birth.

• Louie’s Emotional Experience:

  • Louie admits to being overwhelmed with emotion at the birth, trying to remain composed but ultimately crying when hearing Margo’s first cries. (06:00–07:14)
  • Riley notes how witnessing Louie’s reaction deepened her love and affirmed his suitability as a “girl dad.”
  • “As soon as I heard that cry, all bets were off.” (Louie, 06:00)

2. Family Dynamics & Gender Roles (08:16–11:01)

• Louie, raised with a brother, expected to have a boy first but instantly embraced being a “girl dad” upon Margo's birth.
• Riley shares appreciation for Louie’s selflessness, his treatment of women in her life, and efforts to bond with Margo (including buying pink camo and learning how to tie hair bows via Facebook reels).
• Lighthearted banter about “dad hacks” and balancing masculine/feminine traits in modern fatherhood.

3. Physical Recovery and Societal Narratives (13:25–17:15)

• Riley speaks about her rapid recovery and positive experiences, acknowledging the societal shaming that sometimes greets mothers who share uplifting birth stories.
• She stresses the importance of sharing positive narratives to counter the dominant discourse of trauma/fear around childbirth for future generations.
• “I want to be one of those birth stories that you hear and you realize, like, oh, there are good stories.” (Riley, 14:33)

4. Birth Story & Hospital Experience (18:03–32:01)

• Riley and Louie walk through the details: Riley’s planned natural birth, being induced, handling intense contractions, decision for an epidural, and tense moments with dropping heart rates.
• Louie’s protective yet calm presence; details of writing a thorough birth plan including vaccine preferences, people in the room, etc.
• Memorable moment: Using a mirror during delivery to see her baby being born, which Riley found highly motivating and emotional. (28:21–31:15)
• “I was like, I want to see what’s going on. ... I think that will help me with the pushing too.” (Riley, 28:21)

5. Placenta Encapsulation & Other Postpartum Practices (29:41–34:45)

• Riley explains her decision to keep and encapsulate her placenta into pills for supposed postpartum health benefits.
• Candid discussion and humor about the process—Louie teases about “placenta jerky.”
• They also discuss delayed cord clamping and selective newborn procedures (Vitamin K shot, but no immediate vaccines).

6. Deliberate Parenting Choices: Vaccines, Pediatricians, Research (36:07–49:36)

• The couple details extensive research on infant vaccinations, motivated by distrust in post-COVID authorities.
• Comparison between American and UK vaccination practices; decision to delay certain shots, select preservative-free options, and their research sources (“The Vaccine Friendly Plan” and “Vax Facts”).
• Insight into the difficulty finding unbiased information and medical professionals willing to support their choices.
• Discussion of incentives in the healthcare system for fully vaccinated patients and challenges in pediatric care for unvaccinated infants.

7. Balancing Public Advocacy and Family Safety (69:26–91:04)

• They recount the volatility and dangers attached to Riley’s advocacy for women’s sports—especially threats and violence encountered on college campuses.
• Louie shares the helplessness of being away during alarming incidents, such as Riley’s physical assault at an event.
• They explain their decision to shield Margo’s identity online and form boundaries around her involvement in public life.
• “You go for the family. ... She’s not going to be coming to campuses with us.” (Louie, 86:33)
• Honest assessment of adapting to the heightened risks after the public assassination of Charlie Kirk, a friend and fellow advocate, and how it has impacted their security considerations.

8. Their Faith as Anchor (96:42–103:19)

• Riley and Louie discuss faith as central to their marriage and approach to parenting, including how adversity led them to deeper spiritual surrender.
• Louie details his transition to a more active faith life in America and credits Riley and her family for spiritual growth.
• They deliberate the responsibility of churches to address moral and political issues from the pulpit, as relevant to navigating today’s culture wars.

9. The Love Story: College, Proposal, and Partnership (57:19–70:54)

• Lighthearted reminiscences about meeting as swimmers at the University of Kentucky, with Riley “calling dibs” on Louie and family reactions to dating a fellow swimmer.
• Louie’s unique, sentimental engagement: repurposing a family ring, picking a nontraditional design, and proposing in the rain outside the Titans’ stadium.
• The proposal and wedding segued into life’s major turning points, including Riley’s public advocacy.

10. Aspirations & Hopes for Margo (110:40–114:29)

• Riley and Louie share their dreams for Margo: to be loved, to value being a woman, to live in a fair and just world, and to benefit from the stands her parents have taken.
• “We want to leave them in a better place than we were. If we can do that, then we’ve done our job.” (Louie, 112:58)
• Nightly rituals of affirmations and prayers for Margo’s future.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Instant Motherhood:

  • “The moment she was placed on my chest, she starts looking for food. It just was all so natural. I have loved every single second of being a mom.” (Riley, 01:44–02:54)

• On Unexpected Joy:

  • “My legs are, like, still in the stirrups in the hospital bed... I look at him, I’m like, OK, I’m ready to do it again.” (Riley, 02:58)

• On Faith:

  • “When you know where your identity is found, who cares of things of this world?” (Riley, 75:31)

• On Parenting Partnership:

  • “I can so appreciate there...is a very touching emotional side to you.” (Riley to Louie, 54:37)

• On Navigating Public Life:

  • “We thrive in uncomfortable encounters...But if she’s uncomfortable with stuff, that’s...where I listen.” (Louie, 90:20–91:04)

• On Legacy for Their Child:

  • “We, like, tell her that she’s beautiful...she will be very smart, she will be very successful...and we say our prayers together every night.” (Riley, 110:40–112:58)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Motherhood & Birth Story: 01:35–13:25
• Louie’s Reaction as a New Dad: 06:00–09:14
• Pregnancy and Recovery Discourse: 13:25–17:15
• Hospital Experience & Delivery Narrative: 18:03–32:01
• Placenta Encapsulation & Postpartum Practices: 29:41–34:45
• Vaccination Choices/Research: 36:07–49:36
• Family & Safety Amidst Advocacy: 69:26–91:04
• Faith in Marriage & Parenting: 96:42–103:19
• Romantic Origin Story & Proposal: 57:19–70:54
• Hopes for Margo: 110:40–114:29

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Tone & Style

The episode intertwines warmth, humor, vulnerability, and conviction. Riley and Louie are candid, thoughtful, and sometimes self-deprecating, with Sage steering the conversation toward the deeper motivations that inform their choices as partners and parents. The mood alternates between reflective, playful, fiercely principled, and sincerely grateful—a true peek into the heart of a family navigating extraordinary circumstances, still putting faith and family first.

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Transcript

[Louie]

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[Sage Steel]

I just got to spend the last several hours at the home of a dear friend of mine. Someone who has now joined the coolest club in the world. She's a new mom. She's a patriot. She has inspired me more than she will ever fully comprehend me. Along with millions of women and girls across this country, Riley Gaines and her husband Louie at their home here in Tennessee. And we talked about everything. Their birth story, which is super special. The push gift, which was not about what Riley wanted, but what her husband wanted. And then we go back to their days when they met as swimmers at the University of Kentucky, how he proposed, which is a really cool story as well. How about some tense moments in the hospital after the birth of their daughter, A tough conversation with some nurses who didn't agree with Riley and Louie's decisions and all the way up to what they want and hope for their little girl. It is an incredible conversation with a dear friend of mine, personal and a really different side of Riley Gaines that you've never seen. Where with Louie sitting right there by her side. Riley and Louie, the stars of this episode of Sage Steel Show.

[Riley Gaines]

It's the Sage Steel Show.

[Sage Steel]

You're so natural, you're so calm and it seems like you both are very much just at peace.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, I feel like stepping into this role as a mom now, like I was made for this. Like, I feel like this is my purpose in life, is being a mother. It's made me, I think, a better wife. It's made me like, like all of the things that she has brought into my life. Like, this feels like my purpose. And so natural is a good word. And it is crazy how almost instinctual it all is. I will say, throughout my pregnancy and stuff, I, I felt very confident, calm and ready. There was really no anxiety, of course, there was anticipation to meet her and see what she looks like. That came closer to the end. But now with her here, it's just natural. Even breastfeeding, it's kind of a weird concept, like to think about it before she's actually here. Like you have a little human who will latch onto your boob. That sounds really weird. But the moment she was placed on my chest, she starts looking forward. It just was all so natural. I have loved every single second of being a mom. Pregnancy, labor, delivery. The past two weeks with her. Like, I've loved it all, actually. So much so that when. Yeah, I know.

[Louie]

Bombshell announcement.

[Sage Steel]

So much so, Louie, I don't take you out.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah, that. You know, my legs are, like, still in the stirrups in the hospital bed. I had just pushed her out. And I look at him, I'm like, okay, I'm ready to do it again.

[Sage Steel]

Shut up.

[Riley Gaines]

And my doctor, he was like, riley.

[Louie]

He looks up and he's like, you're crazy. No one's ever said that before.

[Riley Gaines]

He's like, I've been doing this for decades. Like, I've never had a woman in the state that you're in say that right now. Stirrups. Yeah.

[Louie]

No, seriously, like, fresh. Like, he's still, you know, doing whatever that they had to do down there.

[Riley Gaines]

Stitching up down there.

[Louie]

And he seriously peeks over and he's like, you're crazy. He's like, you're crazy, Riley.

[Sage Steel]

Why? What made you say that at that moment?

[Riley Gaines]

Well, I think a lot. Again, my pregnancy, I was so, so blessed to have, honestly, like, the easiest pregnancy of all time. There was no morning sickness. There was no fatigue. There was no aversions. There was. I mean, there was nothing. I basically, my entire pregnancy felt the exact same as I did prior to conception. I was still running, I was still lifting. I was still doing every. Traveling everywhere, which it can be pretty draining. I felt totally fine. I think a large part of that is to thank being fit again prior to getting pregnant, maintaining that fitness. So I think that honestly, my worst symptom. You want to know what it was? Having to pee all the time.

[Louie]

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[Riley Gaines]

That was the worst. You have, like, a little human that, like, sits on your bladder. I had to pee all the time, but that was the worst of it for me. I got cramps in my calves for, like, two weeks, and maybe my second trimester does it.

[Louie]

Yeah. I woke up terrified one night because she got the double calf cramp.

[Riley Gaines]

Oh, yeah.

[Louie]

Shoots up out of bed and, like, I'm a heavy sleeper. And so I. It took me a second to come kind of come around. She's both hands on the bed, just, like, screaming in pain in the calves. And I was like, okay.

[Riley Gaines]

He's like, are you in labor?

[Louie]

We just watched a horror movie. And I was like, oh, my goodness, what's happening?

[Riley Gaines]

And so I think because my pregnancy was so easy, my delivery was just magical. Like, it's. It's hard to describe, of course. Like, there is a little pain that comes with it, but it was the most miraculous thing. And then again, that moment she's placed on your chest. You don't remember the pain. Who cares about that?

[Sage Steel]

Yeah. Take me back to that moment.

[Riley Gaines]

You want to tell. Was really sweet from my end. Because again, you have all the nerves, anticipation, the pressure that you're feeling. You have all these people around you. Doctors, nurses. He's holding my hand. He's being so sweet. So I think I was kind of flooded, but it was probably more. A little more calm for you.

[Louie]

Yeah, I was. You know, I wanted you to be comfortable during, you know, labor and delivery and all that stuff, because it ain't. I wouldn't imagine. It's kind of fun, you know, that doesn't look very pleasant, should we say? Yeah. So I wanted you to be comfortable, but I was. I was an emotional, like, mess. As soon as that first cry came out, I was just. I was bawling. Like, there is a picture. You put it somewhere where every vein. I'm trying not to cry because there's a lot of people in this room, and I was trying to be like, the manly man. And when. As soon as I heard that cry, all bets were off. But there's a picture where every vein is, like, bursting in my neck, forehead, the whole nine yards. It's not a flattering picture, but it was. It was just incredible that I will never forget it.

[Sage Steel]

Did it surprise you?

[Louie]

I didn't know what to expect. So, yes, I would say it did. But again, I'm like, yeah, my whole world just changed, you know, right there and then I was like, that's it. There's our little girl. That's what we've been growing for the last nine months. And so it was really. I'll never forget it.

[Sage Steel]

And saw your husband.

[Riley Gaines]

Oh, I'm in tears.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah. No, that. That emotion that I saw from him, honestly, maybe even more so because I was so excited to meet her. I felt like I. I had. I knew her well. Right. Because I'm growing her. She had changed my body, my hormones. Like, I Felt like I was so in tune with her that of course, I was excited, but that emotion, like, I felt like I had been feeling for nine months. So it was. It was she. Sheer excitement to meet her, but looking over at him and he got to experience what I felt like.

[Sage Steel]

I.

[Riley Gaines]

And. And of course, there's a level of what the. The man, the husband, the father experiences during pregnancy, but it was. It's probably nothing like when you get to see her for the first time. I'd felt her kick, I'd felt her move, you know, all those things that he didn't get to feel. And so looking over at him, I immediately am like, I'm in tears. I could cry talking about it. It was just the sweetest thing. And I will say, he was meant to be a girl dad.

[Louie]

Okay, backstory to that. So I have one brother.

[Sage Steel]

One brother.

[Louie]

Yep, that's it. One older brother. Riley's got two sisters and a brother, so I have seen. And her mom and grandma, they're all really close. So I had seen how all of them interacted with each other. Like, very estrogen heavy. Me and her brother, we definitely kind of like gravitate towards each other.

[Sage Steel]

Yes. To escape.

[Louie]

Yes. So I don't want to say I was. I was disappointed when I found out it was a girl or she was a girl. But I was. I think I was wanting to be broken in lightly on the front end. I was like, please give me a boy. Please just give me a boy. Yes. I was like, I've seen how. I've seen how all this goes. Like, break me in lightly. But when. When she was born, that completely changed. I was like, this is perfect. This is exactly like how it was supposed to be. And so she's definitely softened my heart a little bit. Yeah. I mean, as soon as she came out.

[Sage Steel]

So that's interesting. It really, though, didn't change until she was born. Until birth. Because listen, the pictures out here in your property, I take it, I mean, Riley was bragging about you before she was born, about him and him being right, Riley, like, the perfect girl. Dad. Like, you knew more than he knew.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, I see how he treats me, and he treats me like a princess. Like the thing that I find so admirable and that I respect so much about him. And that has made me, again, a better. Outside of being a better wife, like a better human being is just how selfless he is. And it inspires me to be a better person, to allow myself to be inconvenienced by others that, like, it Is nothing to him. I know he would do anything in the world for me or for anyone, for that matter. That's just the kind of person that he is. So I see how he treats me. I see how he treats the other women in my family. I see how he treats his mom. So there was no doubt in my mind that he was made to be a girl dad. He still wants his little hunting buddy. Right? Like, which.

[Sage Steel]

She can do that.

[Louie]

She's coming out in the woods with me.

[Riley Gaines]

Yes. He got her. The first, like, item of clothing he got her was pink camo.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

So that's amazing.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah. She's ready to go. And the stick with you. But, yeah, I knew he was gonna be a fantastic girl dad. He's looking up how to tie bows and, like. Oh, yeah. Hair. All of it.

[Louie]

I'm a. I watch Facebook reels more than anything.

[Riley Gaines]

It's, like, embarrassing. Facebook is for boomers. Like, seriously.

[Sage Steel]

Hey, he's addicted.

[Riley Gaines]

He's addicted to Facebook.

[Louie]

Yeah. But I'll see all these, like, dad hacks where they'll, like, get a shop vac and then they'll, like, put their hair in a ponytail with a vacuum cleaner. I'm like, okay, we're not doing that to her. She's.

[Sage Steel]

Oh, by the way, my girls went hunting with their dad when they were younger, too. And I remember one time, one of them got right. Quinn.

[Riley Gaines]

I don't know if it's you or Evan.

[Sage Steel]

You got a. Got a deer, got a doe. I don't know the terminology. All I know is I like to eat it.

[Riley Gaines]

And I think there was, like, a button buck.

[Sage Steel]

A button buck?

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

I don't know what that is. Okay. It's like, a not fully mature. Okay. And then I got the picture sent to me, and, you know, they had some pink camo headbands. You know, it's 18 degrees. And. And then I was like, let's post it on Instagram.

[Riley Gaines]

Incoming PETA.

[Sage Steel]

I was like, this is probably 2017 or 18. And I'm like, let's stir the pot. So I guess I was bad sooner than I realized. But there was something beautiful I thought about. Yes. Teaching girls what that's all about. And, you know, the importance of being able to look at a gun, hold a gun, and safety, and protect yourself. And the time with dad. Like, the time with dad in the stands, so.

[Louie]

Because there is a lot of sitting and waiting around.

[Sage Steel]

Yes.

[Louie]

And I think what I don't think people realize is that that time right there is the time that you don't Forget. Get. Sure. Like, when there's action happening, it's great. But it's the memories that you make around all of that, because that's the quality time that you. You seldomly get outside of that. Right. Because everyone's either on their phone or they're busy or they're watching tv, things are going on. But when you're in the woods, you're literally sat watching, waiting for deer.

[Riley Gaines]

You know, you just can't be on your phone because you might miss the smallest movement.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

So you're. You're literally just waiting. And I have some of my best memories with my grandfather. He's. And actually he's an elk hunt. Elk hunting guide. And so he comes back from New Mexico. He's been out there for two months. He comes back today. And so some of my best memories as a kid were spending time with him. And, you know, when you're 10 years old, 12 years old, and it's freezing cold and you don't appreciate it then, but as I have now gotten older, my grandfather's gotten older, you realize how precious that time is, really. So to have that with our sweet baby, I think is. Is just really sweet.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah. So it's been two weeks. Two weeks. Listen, she's one of those people who, if you didn't have your baby in your arms and you're at the grocery store, no one would ever know. So physically since then, nothing.

[Riley Gaines]

Like, how do you again? Like, I feel like there's almost a little bit of shame, or at least how it's portrayed online, in saying, like, I have had a fantastic pregnancy, labor, delivery, birth. And even now, the two weeks since, because, I mean, I. My whole pregnancy, people would always tell me, you know, well, you just wait. And I. I was like, that scared me. Like, I was waiting for those last few weeks. People told me this would happen or that would happen. So I was waiting. None of those things happened to me. And they said, well, you just wait for delivery. Okay, I waited. My delivery was fantastic. Even now people say, well, catch up on your sleep while you can. I've been able to sleep totally great. I wake her up to feed her because she's sleeping as much as she can. So I wake her up twice a night to feed her. And physically, in terms of how I have felt, I was up and moving like an hour after delivering. Like, I was totally, totally good. And I know there's value in resting, but look, I'm listening to my body. I truly feel just amazing. And so I want to be one of those Birth stories that you hear and you realize, like, oh, there are good stories. Not everything is meant to be scary or horrific or traumatic or any of those things. Like, I have had a fantastic experience through, through and through. And so even now, being two weeks postpartum, I mean, we went on probably a four or five mile walk this morning. As I said, I was running throughout my pregnancy. And so, I mean, a four, four mile walk feels good. It feels manageable and doable. I feel, I feel totally fine.

[Sage Steel]

You know, it is true though, that almost shaming where people like, well, don't say that out loud.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

Because others, and yes, we are respectful, especially with infertility. I mean, you were respectful throughout your pregnancy. And it is sad that you're almost told not to enjoy it or to keep it quiet. Because to your point, it is important for young mothers, even older mothers who still want to have a child to not be scared and realize that, okay, sometimes you can't control things, right? Your body, whatever the situation with the baby. Other times you can with fitness, with health and mental health and how you choose to handle stress. You happen to have a lot of stress in your life and a ton of pressure. But both of you, and I know that's the beauty of your marriage, right, is that you help each other to keep it all in perspective and maintain that peace. And look, Margo, now you know. Yeah, I don't think that's a coincidence.

[Riley Gaines]

No, I don't either. And even my doctor said that because she has been like this, which what everyone is seeing the entire time, like, she will sleep, I'll wake her up to feed her. She'll, I mean, just the sweetest little thing. She'll, you know, keep her eyes open. Even when they're open, she's really not crying. And so we called our pediatrician. I'm like, is this normal? Like, she doesn't cry. Like, I feel like something's wrong. And our pediatrician was like, no, your baby is, is feeding off of how you are, how you're you. You know, her surroundings are. And if she feels as if she's in a calm environment, guess what? Your baby is going to be calm, you know, God willing. And so that's exactly how she has been. And it is, I think, having him as really my anchor. I, I, I am so blessed to have so many people that I call my anchors. Just people who keep you grounded.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

Having him in my life, being able to confide in him, talk about the work stuff or the political stuff or, or whatever else is going on out there with him is fantastic. But I mean, this our home. Yeah, look at this dog too. Like, this is like my. It's like my sanctuary. Like, I feel so at peace. I feel so calm. We have a gate at the end of our driveway and it's, it's kind of symbolic. Like, I feel like when you drive through that gate and it shuts behind you, it's like you're leaving the rest of the world out there too. And so I just find so much peace and comfort here at home. And certainly with Louis, were there any.

[Sage Steel]

Start with dad. Were there any fears that day like going in the hospital?

[Louie]

Yeah, you know, so I was an emergency C section and I know, yeah, I decided to have one leg and one arm coming out. I mean, I was all, yeah, I was blue when I came out. Yeah, the whole, you know, so you kind of. Riley and I had spoken about it before where the last thing that she wanted was a C section. She just didn't want to have to go through, you know, the kind of trauma of in recovery and the recovery is traumatic, you know, getting cut open. So that was, you know, that was playing in the back of my mind that, okay, things can happen during birth and they do happen. You know, we had the conversation previously of, okay, if I've got to make a decision, baby or mama, who am I picking? And yet that's things, you know, they're conversations that you don't want to have.

[Sage Steel]

But you do need to think. Yeah.

[Louie]

You know, if you don't want to have to make a game time decision and not be confident in the decision you make. And so all those things kind of play in your mind for sure. But I will definitely give credit to the hospital that we're at and the nurses, they were awesome the way that they kind of handled everything because there was a moment in the middle of the night where, you know, Riley's blood pressure was dropping, baby's heart rate, heart rate was getting a little exciting, but I didn't feel stressed by it. And I do think that was, you know, because of the nurses and stuff. But yeah, you get, as dad and, you know, protector, you kind of do get a little anxious for things like this and that. Yeah, she was great. Nurses were great. Riley killed it.

[Riley Gaines]

So the idea was to be as natural as possible. And so I didn't want an epidural. As he said, there's no certainties in pregnancy or in the delivery process. And so I'd kind of my birth plan mapped out, literally written out actually, in terms of vaccines, who I wanted in the room, like, if something were to happen and, you know, I couldn't verbally communicate these things, I wanted it all written out. So I did not want an epidural and I wanted to go into labor naturally, but I think I just made a very cozy home because she didn't want to come out. And so I was already kind of. I don't know if annoyed is a good word, but I felt out of control. Like, I felt like I had to kind of relinquish control of it because she had to be induced. And so we get to the hospital, we had scheduled a time where you go in and they give you the Cytotec and the Pitocin and all the things. And so we went in, they gave me the Cytotec, which I'm fortunate that that kind of kick started things very fast, but kind of too fast. And so the contractions that the cytotech, which is basically meant to ripen your cervix before you start Pitocin, well, it worked maybe so well. I don't know if you consider this so well on me that I never had to take Pitocin. And so my contractions at midnight that night, of course, the doctor's not in at midnight on a Sunday night were, I mean, happening so often without the epidural at this point. I mean, it was every minute, but there was maybe five seconds of relief between each contraction. And so I was miserable. Like, I. For an hour and a half. So from midnight until 1:30 that morning, Middle of the night, I thought I was dying. I was so, like, I was, you know, nauseous, throwing up, freezing cold, shaking, Like, I thought I was going to just like, simply ascend into heaven. I was like, no, I. I can't do this. But I was so, like, I think the competitor in me too. Like, I was like. I told myself, I'm not getting an epidural, so I'm just not going to do it. But it reached a point where I was. I was like, like not comfortable at all. And so you have this big red button essentially by your bed, because in the middle of the night, the doctors are only coming in. However, so often I click the red button.

[Sage Steel]

And.

[Louie]

And you were debating.

[Riley Gaines]

You're like, I was so debating.

[Louie]

Like, should I press it? I was like, hun, Like, I have seen you uncomfortable before. I was like, you're hurting at this point.

[Riley Gaines]

Like, really?

[Louie]

I was like, this is. You're not okay. I was like, push the button.

[Sage Steel]

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[Louie]

Yeah, I think she was definitely looking for the. Well, you know, the conversation we had was what am I going to tell them? That I'm in pain? She was like, everybody in here is in pain. I was like, well, I'm not going to tell them anything novel. What are they going to do? I was like, what you're going through right now is not, I don't think it's normal. And it was just a gut instinct. I didn't know. You know, we've never, this was our first child. We hadn't seen it before. It's like, but that's not normal. You're not. Okay, like, just push the button. Let's, let's see what they can say.

[Riley Gaines]

So they came in, gave me the epidural. And let me tell you, from that point on, like, I, that was when I really started to Love every second of it. The epidural made me, like, heavy. Like, my legs felt heavy, but I could still move them. And that was a concern of mine in getting the epidural was I didn't want to not be able to move my body.

[Sage Steel]

Right.

[Riley Gaines]

That scares me. I could still move around decently. Like, again, heavy. It was harder, but I could do it. It just felt like my legs were weighted. It made you kind of warm. Like, there was like a literal warm sensation. Like, I. I loved it. I love the epidural, and that is not what I thought I was going to. To love. And so now I will say if and when, hopefully, God willing, again we have another kid. Like, I will absolutely be eating the epidural sooner.

[Sage Steel]

You wouldn't wait as long sooner.

[Riley Gaines]

I think the women who can do the home and natural births are literally superheroes. I think you're Superwoman, maybe. The contractions were a bit different because it was, in a sense, induced. I wonder if natural labor would have felt any differently. But from that point on. And like you said, there was some concerns. So from then 1:30 to 4:30 that morning, for three hours, my heart rate or my blood pressure plummeted, and so they had to put me on oxygen. Her heart rate was dropping, and because the contractions were so frequent, she wasn't getting any relief either. And so they were freaking out. And the tragedy nurse.

[Sage Steel]

So when the nurses. Then there's tension in the room with the nurses, then of course you feel.

[Louie]

That and you're like, well, you know.

[Riley Gaines]

He was still so calm, and I was still. I felt great at that point.

[Louie]

I don't want to say that they were. They probably weren't freaking out. That's not the best way to put it. They were moving with a purpose.

[Sage Steel]

Okay.

[Louie]

And you know, you know when you're in a hospital and you have four or five nurses and the charge nurses there, and they're all kind of looking at the monitors and moving with a purpose, you can tell something's going on. But, I mean, I felt calm because they seemed calm. I could tell, you know, she was happy as a clam. I mean, I was. Who knows?

[Riley Gaines]

I couldn't feel the contractions anymore. So that's good.

[Louie]

Yeah. Who knows what's in the epidural? I mean, there's probably all kinds of stuff, but she was great. And so I was at peace during. She was comfortable. I felt confident that the nurses knew what they were doing and so, you know, that they weren't. I don't say they were freaking Out. But it was. It was exciting. I heard one of the nurses talking about an operating room and how the operating room was full at that moment. And so I was like, I didn't, you know, didn't bring anything up because I didn't know if she had heard that. And I didn't want to put that in the back of her mind. Oh, my. Am I going to have to go in for a C section right now? Knowing that she didn't want that. But they were definitely considering it, which got me paying attention a little bit more, you know.

[Riley Gaines]

And they told me the next morning, had the doctors been in and it not been the middle of the night, you absolutely would have had a C section. They're like, we wouldn't have let that continue on for longer than it did.

[Sage Steel]

Because of the drop in heart rate for both and blood pressure. Yes, it was close.

[Louie]

Yeah, it was a little exciting for a minute.

[Riley Gaines]

But then they gave me this shot of something that slowed down the contractions. So then from like, 4:30 to 7 the next morning, that Monday morning, everything I think was relatively regular again. I couldn't really feel it. I was, I mean, fully dilated at this point. So the doctor came in, broke my water, and she was here. And the pushing process, like, I pushed for maybe like three or four contractions. Like, it was easy peasy.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

We played worship music. Like, it was like, again, like, so enjoyable. And I loved the process. I really did.

[Sage Steel]

And because they did a great job with the epidural, you felt it. I always say, like, to me, that's the most magical part where, like, you feel this little baby that you've been cooking totally literally entering the world.

[Riley Gaines]

I felt it and I saw it because I asked the nurses, you know, you start to push, and I was like, I feel like I'm missing out because I want to see what's happening. And. And so I asked them. I was like, do you guys have, like, a mirror? And they were like, you want to see? They're like, I promise you, it's not pretty. I'm like, no, that's fine. Like, I want to see what's. What's going on. I think that will, like, help me with the pushing, too. And so they. They put a mirror down there, and it was the coolest thing ever. And they were right, not that pretty. But you see, like, the baby's head start to, like, come out of your body. And it's the craziest thing. Cause I saw all this dark hair, which really threw me off, because I don't know why I thought she would have lighter hair. That's just what I had pictured in my head. And so I see all this dark hair and like, I think that too kind of started the emotions going. And one other thing that. What you.

[Sage Steel]

Go ahead.

[Louie]

I was gonna say, I think that kicked on your competitive nature as well, because you, like, you could see the top of her head and you could see her hair, and you're like, okay, she's nearly there. Like, she's actually, you know, the nurses are like, okay, keep pushing. Nearly there. You're doing great. But when you can't see anything, it's just like, okay. They're the affirmations. They tell everybody. Right. And so I think you actually being able to see it was like, okay, she really is there. Like, let's go. And I mean, you were locked in.

[Riley Gaines]

I was. And the last kind of like, woo woo thing that I. I really wanted to do was. And he thinks this is, like, disgusting. Uh. Oh, yeah, this is.

[Louie]

This kind of. This is a little foul. Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

I wanted to and I did. I have. I wanted to save my placenta. And so you deliver the baby. The doctors down there, I didn't. I didn't really know, like, what the delivering of the placenta was like, but they basically, like, push your stomach and.

[Sage Steel]

Yes.

[Riley Gaines]

Like, you feel nothing.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

And so I had them keep it for me. And I have now got it encapsulated into pills. It is meant to be the most, like, nutrient dense thing you could possibly ingest. Because that's what I mean. That's what was providing her. Her nutrients the whole time. And so we now have placenta pills.

[Louie]

The thought of that just, like, they give you this little cooler to, like, ship it off in. And you feel like it's like an organ. It's like you feel like someone with a heart or something. Transplant going. And it's like, okay, we've got this cooler with a little human organ in it. It's like, I hate this.

[Riley Gaines]

And I put it in the mail and shipped it off. And they turned it in. They basically, like, dry it, like, I guess dehydrate it, like jerky, and then crumble it down into pills. Like, I don't know.

[Sage Steel]

Oh, my goodness.

[Louie]

Placenta jerky. And grind it up.

[Riley Gaines]

Shut up.

[Sage Steel]

Don't say placenta jerky.

[Louie]

Well, that's what it is. It sounds awful. It really did sound awful.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

Louie's like, I cannot believe you're doing this, but it's meant to be the best thing for, like, postpartum depression and things like that.

[Sage Steel]

I didn't. Okay, okay. A lot has changed.

[Riley Gaines]

A lot.

[Sage Steel]

23 years since I first gave birth. Which, by the way, high five. And your hands are full. But you're the only other woman that I know that did the mirror. I did it. Oh, my gosh. People thought I was disgusting and gray. And her dad was like, why would you want to look? And same thing. I started sobbing. And it inspired me. I was like. And I was not an athlete like you, but I was like, oh, here we go. And it was like the most beautiful thing. I hope people listen to this. And take the. And oh, by the way, just have the mirror there. You don't have to use it, but if it's there and ready, just in case. And then you can take a glance and be like, oh, never mind. Move it away.

[Riley Gaines]

Move that mirror away.

[Sage Steel]

But like, you'll never for the rest of your life forget that moment that you actually saw your baby, which is before you got to hold her.

[Riley Gaines]

And everything goes back too. Everything goes back. Which even, like, I love you. It's crazy how now her being here. Number one, I cannot believe. Just two weeks ago she was like, in my stomach. Like, that's a crazy thought. But even now, like, in terms of physically how I look, like my stomach kind of just went back to normal. So that's crazy again.

[Sage Steel]

So you're gonna get some hate. Some hate. I know, but it is a miracle. And that is. I think it's also why God, you know, he did it. To make sure that we keep reproducing.

[Riley Gaines]

Absolutely.

[Sage Steel]

Oh, wait, what happened? Like, it doesn't even seem like it. And so we're doing this again. I have not heard of the pills, like, the placenta. You heard about the blood and all of the important, obviously, nutrients in there to keep baby alive and then beyond. But I didn't know that you.

[Riley Gaines]

That's a bit woo woo hood.

[Sage Steel]

So you're taking them every day?

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah, I mean, it's just like a literal.

[Sage Steel]

You don't chew it right. You just swallow it.

[Riley Gaines]

You just swallow it. That sounds awful.

[Louie]

Like, the whole thought of it. I'm just like.

[Riley Gaines]

I know.

[Louie]

Kind of the whole. I mean, even.

[Sage Steel]

But you could.

[Riley Gaines]

You.

[Sage Steel]

I mean, you could take it.

[Riley Gaines]

You. Technically there's like people like. I don't know if you know who like Liver King is. Like, people like, will buy placentas. And another reason why I wanted to take mine with me, because hospitals, allegedly. I've read stories. Well, they will. Will sell women's placentas because there are people out there who are either super into lifting or maybe just total weirdos who will buy and ingest placentas.

[Louie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, okay, even our. I didn't know. I don't wanna. No.

[Sage Steel]

This is my daughter speaking over here.

[Riley Gaines]

Wait, what? She decided three years ago. She's dating her placenta.

[Sage Steel]

You have never told me that you want to eat your placenta. Okay, we'll continue this later.

[Riley Gaines]

Sorry. Well, it's funny because even this girl right here, lady, our female dog, we have three dogs. The other two are probably laying somewhere with like their belly up domestic terrorists, probably just wild. But she had 10 puppies. And I was thinking, like, when I was reading about everything and seeing that you can't, like this is an option for, for women to do, I thought back to her when she had her puppies. Guess what? She ate all 10 of her placentas. So I think it's like a pretty primal, like, I mean, truthfully, like, animalistic thing to do, but natural, at least in terms of other mammals.

[Sage Steel]

Well, and as you're nursing. Right. I mean, that makes sense. I'm guessing that.

[Riley Gaines]

I think so too. Yeah. To keep your. All of your, your vitamins and minerals and calorie count, even keeping all of that up ultimately helps supply and everything. So.

[Sage Steel]

So, yeah, so cool lock here.

[Louie]

I think the other thing that we did that some people don't know to ask about was a delayed cord clamping. So before they cut the umbilical cord, which I got to do, that was really cool. I wasn't kind of prepared for that, but that was really neat. Yeah, we waited until it turned white. So once it's white, it's done pumping everything through that it's going to pump. And so she's got everything that, you know, the last kind of push of everything that, you know, Riley was supplying, she got all of that. And then at that point we're like, okay, she's got everything she needs now we can cut it.

[Sage Steel]

So that makes. It totally makes sense. I wouldn't have thought of that before.

[Louie]

Because a lot of. And I think especially with the, I'm gonna say the larger hospitals where they're very much like, okay, let's. We gotta turn these beds over. I mean, baby comes out, cut it, placenta's gone. You know, they're just. It's very, you know. Yeah, they're turning the table. But, yeah, you can ask him for a delayed cord clamping. And I would, you know, make sure she gets everything.

[Riley Gaines]

So the whole time she was on my chest. She was still like connected to me.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

Which is kind of weird. I didn't know like the cord was that long. Stretchy or like stretchy or like. I didn't. It was just never a thought that crossed my mind. But yeah, it only took like five or so minutes and then we decided to cut it. And one of the things also in terms of vaccinations because I think we as the general public learned a lot over Covid and ultimately I think it has led especially younger people. I've been so encouraged to see so many younger people and younger couples and younger families really begin to ask questions about vaccines or even Big Pharma. And so that was one of the things that we did started really reading about what's in these vaccines. I was shocked to learn that these vaccines oftentimes are filled with mercury and aluminum or how you say in England, aluminium. Aluminium. They're like loaded with these things. But it struck me because during pregnancy they tell you not to eat fish or at least limit your fish intake, especially fishy fish like salmon because they're high in mercury. But we're going to give babies vaccines that have super high levels of mercury and there's this huge shift in society to use deodorant that doesn't have aluminum in it. But we're going to give babies vaccines with 300 times the amount of the FDA recommended amount of aluminum to ingest or put in our bodies. It didn't make sense to me. And so in terms of vaccinations, we did nothing. That is not to say that we are anti vaxx. It's not to say that maybe we won't later down the road for other vaccinations, but I think it's more so just asking the questions, getting information from a totally unbiased source. We had multiple books that we read that I really appreciated. One of them was the Vaccine Friendly Plan. One of them was the Vax Facts. These were fantastic resources for us. But it didn't make sense to give a baby, an infant, a newborn who is merely minutes old at this point. Vaccines, especially things like Hep B which would require the mother to have Hep B, which I don't, I didn't, I still don't. So why would she then get a vaccine for that? We did give her the vitamin K shot. It is not a vaccine but it helps with, with blood clotting and things like that. But we asked for the preservative free vitamin K shot which hospitals have and you can ask for which I think then begs the question, why do they even have a vitamin K shot that has preservatives when they have a preservative free option? So that's what we did in terms of vaccines and the resources that we use to come to those conclusions.

[Louie]

You know, we looked at what they do in England. So I was trying to figure out, like, you know, I didn't know what I had growing up and stuff, but in England they wait until you're six weeks old before they give you anything. And I think part of it is because in England everything's paid for by the nhs. It doesn't cost people anything. I think they look at it a little more, you know, they cut out the fat and say, okay, what do we need? Because it's actually costing the government money now. What do they, what do we have to give them? What's not, you know, what's the, the fluffy stuff that we can give it and make some money on it or, you know, I think so. That was one thing that we looked.

[Riley Gaines]

At was compare that to here, where they're charging insurance companies. Or if you have to pay out of pocket, which it would be ridiculous to have to have a baby in the US and have to pay for that out of pocket. The amount of money that a delivery, a birth costs having a human is insane. But, yeah, you compare that to where Big Pharma knows, oh, well, we can make some money here. It's very different to the nhs.

[Sage Steel]

I didn't know that. No, that again, it's very telling. I'm not at all surprised at the amount of research and homework that you did with this. And I admire you so much. And it's, you know, I try not to beat myself up because, you know, 20 plus years ago, we just weren't educated, Internet was different, et cetera. But I trusted everything my doctors said, everything. And I think I got lucky. I had some good doctors along the way, but also got lucky that there were no ill effects on my kids. Because I pretty much said, oh, yeah, if that's what you're telling me, absolutely, yes. And that's the problem with what happened five years ago with COVID is now, okay, we lost trust completely. We know that we should never, ever trust again. And therefore it is our responsibility as mothers and fathers to go take that deep dive and do the research so you know what is best for your baby and what your priorities are.

[Riley Gaines]

And I was just gonna say it's sad because we lost trust in a lot of institutions, not even just the medical field or the medical realm or our healthcare providers, like even in terms of our government, like there's not a lot of trust there. And that's a sad thing because you want to believe that regardless of which party, regardless of who is president, that they have your best interests at heart. Those authority figures, even in academia, like those are the people who are qualified, or at least, I mean, on paper, on paper qualified to be providing you your education. But that's not what's happening anymore. And so I think with the transparency of the media that we have seen, especially social media over the past few years, I mean, certainly it's allowed us to start to question lots of different realms and factions of society, which I think again, you don't want to do. Who wants to be, you know, doing all the things that we're doing, traveling around, but still open up a book and read about vaccines? Like, that's not what I wanted to be doing, but I recognize we both did. We recognized it as something that was necessary to ensure the best that we can as parents, our daughter's safety and her, her health and her wellness and her well being.

[Louie]

It was hard to find information about all this stuff, like doing research. It wasn't readily available. Like if you do, if you do like a Google search for it, it doesn't just throw all this information at you, you know, which makes it hard to, you know, where do you look, how do you find it? Where do we get this information from? It wasn't as easy as we thought it was going to be, which that.

[Sage Steel]

Doesn'T surprise me either, I guess because they don't want us to know all of these things because it's tied to big Pharma. And then they would lose money if we decide to not get more. But you go down that rabbit hole.

[Riley Gaines]

And they all work together too. Like Google works with Big Pharma. It's not like this big conspiracy, like.

[Louie]

All the COVID stuff. Right, right. It's coming out that they were, you know, especially like the things like Facebook, they were censoring stuff. So yeah, it wasn't as easy as it probably should be to just get facts about everything and just information. Because the other side of it was, I think there's two extremes right now. There's the 10th Covid booster end of the spectrum and then there's the absolutely zero vex end of the spectrum. And you know, we're, you know, we're neither of them. And I think a lot of everyday people aren't that binary. One end of the spectrum so it was hard to kind of just find. Just give me. Give me the information about it. And that was. That was what those books had. It was. It was relatively, you know, relatively unopinionated. It was like, look, here's. Here's what it is. Here's the information.

[Sage Steel]

Did you get any pushback from doctors?

[Riley Gaines]

I will say, being here in Tennessee, we were very blessed to have a fantastic doctor. He was willing to work with what we wanted. He had his recommendations, and he had his guidance that he provided. But at the end of the day, he's like, look, it's your baby, so do what you think is best for your baby. And I am here to help with that. And so our doctor was fantastic. So we had this thing because her blood type is different than my blood type. So we found out after the fact that her blood was basically fighting my blood and was creating antibodies to kill my red blood cells. But ultimately, in doing that, it was killing her red blood cells, too. And so her first night, I guess, in the hospital, she had to spend. She got to be in the room with us, which was another thing I was adamant on. I was like, unless there's something really wrong, like, I don't want you taking her from me again. You hear too many horror stories. I'm like, I don't want her leaving the room unless there's something that, you know, I'm reasonable.

[Sage Steel]

Right.

[Riley Gaines]

And so she had to spend her first night in the room with us, but under this, like, blue light to help with her bilirubin levels. And so there was a bit of jaundice there. And so NICU nurses were involved in this process. And when the NICU nurses came in, that's where there was a bit of shame. Granted, they see some of the worst things, and they see babies who, I mean, oftentimes could be on the brink of death. And so they came in and they, you know. So why did you defer the Hep B vaccine? I'm like, this is. Whatever she's dealing with right now has nothing to do with that. So why are you even asking me that?

[Sage Steel]

Is that what you said?

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah.

[Louie]

I'm like, yeah, light rallies. Not got Hep B, so why does she need it?

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah.

[Louie]

And they were like, okay.

[Sage Steel]

And it's just, like, they probably were surprised that you knew.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, and then she needed. Because of this. This blood thing or whatever it was, she needed to have donor milk at the time, because the first few days before your milk supply comes in, you're just basically making colostrum, which Again, my supply was fine. It's been fine. She was getting everything she needed. But because of where she was, she needed donor milk. And so I asked the. I would have preferred her to have donor milk as opposed to formula, but I asked the nurse who came in and told me she needed donor milk. Again, this is the middle of the night. The next day, after she had been born, she said, your baby needs donor milk. Are you okay with that? I said, well, yes, but, like, who are the donors? Right. Because I have been very particular about what I put in my body. How do I know the person that would be providing their milk or. Or in this kind of refrigerator that you guys have filled with milk? How do I know that that woman didn't have the COVID vaccine? And if that's the case, like, does that. Something that is pasteurized out? Like, I had all these questions for her, and she said, I don't know. I've never had someone ask me that. Why don't you look it up and then let me know? And I was like, yeah, to do that research. I was so shocked by that.

[Sage Steel]

Gosh, yeah, that's so frustrating.

[Riley Gaines]

Actually, do your job in the middle of the night. I'm like. We had been up basically for 24 hours at this point. I'm like, did she just tell me to let her know?

[Sage Steel]

Wow.

[Riley Gaines]

I know, baby.

[Sage Steel]

But you all have also made a beautiful decision with pediatrician, right?

[Riley Gaines]

Yes.

[Louie]

Yeah. I think we've been very fortunate to find the one that we're using. It's a pediatric concierge service, so where they do in home visits. And she's great. To the point, you know, where we can say she. From the start, she said, if you want to do everything, all the vaccines and all that stuff, cool, we can do that. If you don't ask me questions, I can tell. Like, I can give you the. The facts and the data on it, and then you guys make your own decision. And, you know, pediatricians, that's. That's not. That's not standard practice. Now. I would say that's where we had.

[Riley Gaines]

The hardest time finding a pediatrician outside of the doctor. My OB GYN was fantastic, but it was finding a pediatrician that was willing to see a baby who was unvaccinated. We have since learned that doctors and pediatricians, if 80% of their patients receive the full vaccine schedule by the time they're 12 years old, they get a certain amount of bonus or a certain amount of raise. And so they don't want to see patients who aren't fulfilling that requirement for them to get the bonus. And so they'll simply turn you away. And again, this is in Tennessee where like a fairly, I mean a pretty conservative part of Tennessee where you wouldn't imagine you would have to face this, especially with the growing number of people who are choosing to take the route that we have taken. But that is something we had a hard time with. And so this woman, it's fantastic. Again, she'll come to your house, which I prefer, I think, especially with, you know, having a baby whose immune system is so frail and fragile and developing. You don't want to take them to sit in a waiting room where there's all these sick little grubby daycare kids. And I say that my sister has a one year old boy and it's so funny. He's like the cutest, sweetest little thing, but he'll come home from daycare with like bite marks all over his arm where other little kids are biting him and he'll come home with someone else's milk bottle in his bag. I'm like, oh gosh.

[Louie]

Like, you know, when, when do you go to the doctor? It's usually when you're sick. So you go to the waiting rooms and you know, it's, it's just, it's full of sick kids because that's, you know, they're there for a reason. So it was comforting to know that, you know, she's not going to live in a bubble. Absolutely. She needs to go out and there's.

[Riley Gaines]

Dogs love on her here.

[Louie]

She's. We try not to let them lick her face, but do they every now and then get the occasional little lick as they're trying to go away? Yes, it happens.

[Riley Gaines]

And this girl loves her lady. Again, I don't know if it's the fact that she had puppies or what it is, but she wants to be as close to this baby as she possibly can.

[Sage Steel]

And when you were pregnant, that's how she was with you. Oh my gosh.

[Riley Gaines]

When I was pregnant, she, again, we have two other male dogs. She would like fend them off. Like she would circle me like a little shark. And if the, the male dogs got too close to me, she would, I mean, like kind of nip at them, like back up, like let her just grow this, this human. And that's exactly what she did. And now she will just sit at the bassinet or at the little swing over there and just watch. And it's the sweetest thing.

[Sage Steel]

So protective. It is, mama.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah, it's Like Nana from Peter Pan. Yeah, she's like that dog.

[Louie]

I mean, she keeps the other two in check. If Buddy, our. He is our bull in the china shop. He came running through the door a little too fast the other day, and she was not having it. She knew that we just walked in with the baby and she. I mean, she got on him. She was like, that's outside, baby, not in here. Yeah. Wow, she's been amazing.

[Riley Gaines]

Do you want to just really quickly tell about my push present, too? Because if there are any women watching this who are pregnant or hoping to get pregnant, this is the standard. A push present. Oh, my gosh. It's the standard. And men watching. You should know to get your. Your. Your wife or your spouse or your baby mama a push present.

[Louie]

It's a scam.

[Sage Steel]

It's a scam.

[Louie]

It is a way to get another gift. But I was. When I found out about this through Riley, I was gonna ask you that.

[Sage Steel]

Did you discover this or did Riley say, hey, have you ever heard of a push present?

[Louie]

She dropped some hints early on. She was like, now don't forget, I need a push present.

[Riley Gaines]

I was like, joking.

[Louie]

What is a push present? I've never heard of it. But, yeah. So I wanted. Obviously she had been carrying this baby for nine months, and it's ten.

[Sage Steel]

Sorry, 40 weeks.

[Riley Gaines]

They lie. They lie. They lie to women.

[Louie]

Like 10. That was another thing, trying to keep up with all the. How many weeks she is. And, you know, okay, is that six months? Is that not.

[Sage Steel]

I know.

[Riley Gaines]

I felt like I was six months for three months.

[Louie]

So you did that?

[Sage Steel]

Well, you looked like you were six months when you were 10 months.

[Riley Gaines]

10 months. I love this.

[Louie]

But, yeah, it seemed warranted. She had been growing our little human for. For 10 months. And so I thought, okay, let's. Let's get her. Let's get her something. And I'm a. I like jewelry. I have.

[Sage Steel]

Do you?

[Louie]

Yeah. In high school, I bought and sold watches, shoes, bags, you name it.

[Sage Steel]

Illegally.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

In the UK maybe that's growing up in Dubai too, where there's much more of an emphasis on, like, it is very fine jewelry and.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

Diamonds and things like that.

[Louie]

Yep. So I wanted. You know, I've always. I've taken pride in the jewelry that I get her, and so I wanted to get her something that we could start almost a little bit of a tradition or like an heirloom kind of thing. So I knew I was going to get her something jewelry related. And her birthstone is. Margot's birthstone is a Sapphire. So I was like, okay, it's only fitting that we've got to do something with a sapphire. So we went for a ring that it's set up to the point where we can continue on the more babies we have. So the first one, you know, this one, it's got, it's a row of diamonds.

[Sage Steel]

Get a close up.

[Louie]

Row of sapphires. Row of diamonds.

[Sage Steel]

So the diamonds are. Mama.

[Riley Gaines]

Which is my birthstone, by the way. April.

[Louie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So diamonds, Mama. The sapphire is, is Margo. So when we have another one, it'll go from a three stack, we'll step it up to a five stack. So we'll do another birthstone and then.

[Sage Steel]

Another row and another row of diamonds.

[Louie]

So it kind of. We can continue on and build from it. And then when it's, when it's time, you know, when we either die or feel that it's the right time, we can then give each of our kids. Oh my gosh. Present. So, yeah, I wanted to do something that we could, that we could build on. I thought about a necklace for a while, but how do you add on to a necklace? You add another pendant to the chain and I was. That. It didn't seem. It didn't seem right. So, yeah, that's how we ended up really.

[Riley Gaines]

I always thought he would be a good girl. Dad.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

He thinks about these things and like.

[Sage Steel]

It wasn't just a gift. It needed to be a gift that had meaning.

[Riley Gaines]

And as, as, I mean, masculine as he is and like does all the manly stuff, has a construction business again, hunting, like, like all of those things and just the, the most fantastic protector and provider to our family. Like I can so appreciate there. I don't want to say there's a feminine side to him because.

[Louie]

Yeah, don't say that. Shoot.

[Riley Gaines]

But there. But you do have like a very touching emotional side to you.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

That is like, it's not feminine. It's not feminine, but it's. Well, there's a side can be appreciated by.

[Louie]

Well, I think, you know, growing up so my parents divorced. I was raised, you know, we live with my mom. So I was brought up with a very. I don't say feminine perspective, but, you know, I was fiercely protective of my mom. You know, you, you obviously, as, as men, we should honor and uphold women. But I think when, when you are brought up by a mother, it makes, it kind of takes it to a new level. And so, yeah, I think that was. She'd always, always taught me to, you know, spoil whoever, you know, when I Was dating and stuff. It was the same way, you know, I would treat them well. And, you know, I think that's. You're lucky that you get that now. So.

[Riley Gaines]

I am. And the cute British southern country accent when we first met. That's so funny.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah, I. And I knew where you were from, but I was so confused, and I thought it was also. There's some Australian in there.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

Is what I thought. And I'm like, okay. Uk, English, Australian, Kentucky, Tennessee.

[Louie]

It's all messed up and.

[Riley Gaines]

Right. Fluent Arabic. Like, it's like, the most cultured, the.

[Louie]

Most English thing about.

[Riley Gaines]

Honestly.

[Louie]

Yeah, I'm wrong.

[Riley Gaines]

Honestly. And so I feel so, like, I am like, Tennessee through and through. Like, you will have to drag me out of this state, like, dating him. I told him pretty early on, like, I will never move to England, by the way. Like, I'm not moving there. Like, you will have to move to Tennessee. Like, this is home. My family's here. So I am Tennessee through and through. So to be married to someone who is truthfully so cultured, like, that's another thing that has really opened my eyes and I've grown to appreciate because I think. I mean, even still, really, like, I'm a creature of habit. I know what I like. I like what I know. That kind of thing.

[Louie]

You don't order the same thing every time we go eat something.

[Sage Steel]

No, no.

[Riley Gaines]

But now I can appreciate other cultures and all that stuff a little more.

[Sage Steel]

Can you. Can you speak some Arabic?

[Louie]

Hi, my name is Louis.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah.

[Louie]

Yeah, my name is.

[Riley Gaines]

And French. Like, it just. It's so much more well rounded than me.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

So this is the. The femininity. No, we're not gonna use that word. He doesn't like it.

[Riley Gaines]

No.

[Sage Steel]

That softness, like, that warmth. You. Did you feel that right away when you guys were in college? Because for those who don't know, they both swam at Kentucky. And that's how you guys met once upon a time.

[Louie]

Swammers. Very proud. Swammers.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

Past tense.

[Louie]

Very much so. Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah. Honestly, I think initially, and I'm kind of ashamed to say it, but I. You know, you. You go off to college, it's the first time, like, away from your family. I heard the British accent, and I was like, oh, like, I am calling dibs on him. I told all my roommates, who were also swimmers, which. It's kind of like a thing. Like, swimmers typically date other swimmers, of course, swim.

[Sage Steel]

You're training together. Swim sets.

[Louie]

Oh, it's. Yeah, that's.

[Riley Gaines]

We had a wedding this weekend of two of our friends on the swim team who got married. So, like, it's a thing I didn't really want today to swimmer. Like, I, I actually swore up and down I was not going today to swimmer. Partially.

[Louie]

Your dad thought I was gay at first.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, okay. My dad, to be fair, he thinks any man who's going to voluntarily wear a Speedo.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

He can't rationalize with that because he was a football player.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

You know, kind of like your big NFL player. He's like, no, if a man is going to voluntarily put on panties. His sport. That's what he calls it. He's like, then there's no other reason than they're gay.

[Louie]

I'm like, dad, we'll overlook the whole jock strap in the locker room thing that they got going on.

[Sage Steel]

Great point for football players. But the, but the Speedo.

[Louie]

Yeah, that's a lot.

[Sage Steel]

Did he really say that to you?

[Riley Gaines]

Well, he was joking, but I love it. Like, Riley, like, come on. Like, don't you want to date like, a football player? I'm like, dad, like. And he has come so far too, because even me growing up, like, he was convinced just swimming wasn't a sport at all. Like, if it didn't have a ball in it. Like, it's not a sport if you don't have to jump very high or run very fast. Like, it's, it's not a sport.

[Sage Steel]

And now and then his daughter, his youngest, is a gymnast.

[Riley Gaines]

Exactly.

[Sage Steel]

No balls there.

[Riley Gaines]

Exactly. That's like a.

[Sage Steel]

Let me watch how I say it.

[Riley Gaines]

That's so true. Well, at least there shouldn't be. And so he has come so far and it honestly, like, one of my favorite moments from my collegiate career was my senior year at SEC's, which is like your big conference meet. You know, it's, it's. I mean, outside of NCAAs, which is your national championships, it's the fastest meet in the world. Faster than the Olympics comparatively, because of how much depth even the SEC has in terms of swimmers. We get those people from other countries who come to SEC schools to train and, and all that stuff. And so it's the fastest meet outside of the national championships in the world. And so I'm geared up. I'm ready to go. My dad is in the stands and I can hear him. I'm getting on the block for the 200 fly, 200 butterfly. The girl in the lane next to me is the three time defending SEC champion. Like, she holds the SEC record. I was almost certain that I was like, I was fighting for second place kind of going into that race and I'm standing on the block and it's this like, moment of silence kind of. Because, you know, it's take your mark. And in that moment, like, it gives me chills to think about it. Like, it goes dead silent. And that's where you lock in. And they say, take your mark. And I hear my dad, this is like, what you don't do for me. Like, think about like a golf tournament, right? Like, you don't scream when they're on the backswing. Well, they say, take your mark. And I hear my dad in the sands. He's always called me Pooh my whole life.

[Louie]

What's the story behind that Hunter?

[Riley Gaines]

I don't know. But he's always called me it. And so I hear in the stands, let's go, Poo. And it's meant to be this silent moment, but honestly, like, I locked in then and I was like, I'm not fighting for a second. I'm gonna win this race and dive off the block. It's the 200 butterfly again, which is. A lot of people would view this as like the.

[Sage Steel]

The most grueling, brutal 200 doing that stroke.

[Riley Gaines]

Yes. And so I'm at that point, I knew when I dove in the water I was going to win. And I did. And I. I beat the three time defending champion. I broke her SEC record. Oh, my gosh. So, you know, being the fastest person to ever come out of the Southeastern Conference in the tuner butterfly, not need even an event I really trained for necessarily. I kind of just got thrown in it because our. We needed someone to do it and. And that's what I did. But my dad. All that to say, like, in that moment, I realized, like, he totally thinks swimming is a sport. He would never admit it to me, but he recognizes how hard I work. And there's a video of him afterwards where he's jumping up and down. He's so, so proud of me.

[Louie]

I have never seen a man hop the way that he was hopping right now.

[Riley Gaines]

He was so excited.

[Sage Steel]

And he's the big guy.

[Louie]

Oh, yeah. He's. He's well built. He's not tall, but he's right, right. Football player, you know, you could tell. Yeah, it was.

[Sage Steel]

But he was.

[Riley Gaines]

So you.

[Sage Steel]

You guys were together at that point.

[Louie]

So I wasn't. I was in Lexington. We were dating, but I'm in Lexington, you know, because we'd had secs the week before.

[Sage Steel]

Okay.

[Louie]

And so that was our off week, should we say? So I was in Lexington. But someone had sent me the video of him just, like, hopping around. It was kind of so cool.

[Riley Gaines]

He proposed to me a few weeks after that, actually.

[Sage Steel]

Really?

[Riley Gaines]

You know what? Yeah. You tell this really quick.

[Sage Steel]

How did you do it?

[Louie]

So it was the.

[Sage Steel]

I hope it wasn't at a pool.

[Louie]

No, I'm starting. The last. I had. I was, like, trauma scarred by swimming pools at that point.

[Riley Gaines]

So you started a swimming pool company.

[Louie]

So I started a swimming pool company.

[Sage Steel]

Naturally.

[Louie]

Yes, naturally. Right. The joke has been made. Oh, you must know a lot about pools because you spend so much time in them. They're different.

[Sage Steel]

It's.

[Louie]

But yeah, it was the day after everything. The Tuna Freestyle. Well, I guess a couple days after the Tuna Freestyle.

[Riley Gaines]

NCAA is where Will Thomas came into the picture.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

And so her friend Will.

[Riley Gaines]

Yes.

[Louie]

Williams.

[Riley Gaines]

And so he proposed the next day. And obviously, neither of us could have ever anticipated, like, the direction either of our lives would go from that moment, from that race, you know? Please.

[Sage Steel]

Wait, what did you say?

[Louie]

I had to catch while she was down. I didn't think she'd say yes otherwise.

[Riley Gaines]

Oh, my gosh.

[Louie]

Yeah. So we. I'd had the ring for a few months.

[Sage Steel]

Really?

[Louie]

Yeah. My brother actually came over from England. Like, he. I'm surprised that you didn't, like, know that something was up when my brother just came over for an impromptu trip. The amount of money it cost to ship jewelry overseas is obscene. So I had my brother fly it over.

[Sage Steel]

It was cheaper to have him fly it.

[Louie]

Like, it was cheaper to pay for a plane ticket and basically feed and house him for a week than it was to, like, ship this ring over. So her engagement ring was a ring that my granddad gave to my mum. And so we took all the stones out of it and had them made into a new band. I'd already spoken to her dad, so I had no idea when or how I was going to do it. I just. I just had the ring. I was like, okay, step one done.

[Sage Steel]

And you. And you did the design, like, the redesign.

[Riley Gaines]

Oh, I had. You had no say. He had no idea my preference on anything.

[Louie]

I actually did the complete opposite to any guidance that I was given.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

Everyone.

[Louie]

Everyone had said from the start, she's gonna want just a plain, you know, plain single stone on a band. And I was like, okay, I'll look at it. I had five options for rings, you know, designs that I. That I'd picked out. And the one that she has is kind of like my wild card. I was like, I. I liked it, but it Was everything. Like, it was the complete opposite to what everyone had said. So she's got a five. It's a five stone with one center stone, and then it's got smaller dimes all over the. All through the band as well. I looked at it and I was like, that's incredible. I love that. And so I was like, okay, that's. I'm doing it. That's what I'm doing. I'm going against everything. I was a nervous wreck that she wasn't going to like it, But I don't know. I think you.

[Riley Gaines]

I love it. Nothing I would have picked. I would have not picked, honestly, really, anything about it. I'm a gold person. It's. It's platinum or silver. I would not change a single thing about it. I feel like it's very unique. Yeah, it's very different. I love every single thing. I'm so glad you didn't listen to the guidance anyone gave you, but I absolutely wouldn't have picked this.

[Sage Steel]

But I'm so glad it's such meaning. It is because it was in the family. So how did you do it?

[Louie]

So I woke up that morning and decided, today's the day. Don't do that. That's risky.

[Riley Gaines]

Very risky. We're still. Because we had just finished this national championship meet, which was my last meet ever, so I was effectively done swimming, like, but when you go to, like, a big championship meet, it's fun because your whole team will go and get their, like, nails done together, and you do these, like, super outlandish, crazy nails. And so my nails were, when I tell you, gold, chrome. Like, they were the ugliest, most gaudy, like, gold, fun chrome. Like, they were not cute perfect at all.

[Louie]

Well, the only other guidance that I had been given was make sure that your nails were done.

[Riley Gaines]

Okay. Not gold.

[Louie]

They were.

[Sage Steel]

They were done, but they were done.

[Louie]

The box was checked, so the nails were done and the hair needed to be done. And she just got her hair done that day. So I was like, perfect, Today is the day. So I said, look, I text her, said, hey, we're gonna go out for dinner. We'll leave whenever. Look cute. That's all I said, you know, just nothing terribly out of which.

[Riley Gaines]

Didn't even cross my mind. I wouldn't have even guessed. Like most women when they're like, oh, my gosh, I had no idea my fiance or husband was going to propose. Like, I had no idea. I wouldn't have even thought it would have been in the next two years and actually kind of what I had advised him, because at this point, following college, like, I was going to dental school. That was my plan. But the dental school that I was going to, University of Tennessee, their campus is actually in Memphis. And so I didn't want him to move to Memphis with me because I didn't want us to, you know, really start our. Our roots in Memphis. No, thank you. That's the armpit of Tennessee. I knew I wanted to be in Nashville.

[Sage Steel]

Donald Trump.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah. Yes, exactly. And so I told him, like, why don't you just keep. You have a business in Nashville. Stay there. I'll be done with dental school in four years. It's not that far of a drive, so we'll still see each other, but I don't want to get engaged and live apart from my fiance. So I don't know what my plan really was, but I had pretty, like, explicitly told him, like, don't propose. So I had no idea that he was.

[Sage Steel]

This is a pattern.

[Louie]

Yeah. Yeah. So we went downtown, went out. Well, we're going out for dinner. And I think you kind of caught on at this point because we pulled off 65, and we got off at the exit by the Titan Stadium. And I said, I've never been to the Titan stadium. Which was true. I never had. So we drove around the parking lot, and I was like. I'd loosely looked up, like, cute ish places to propose where there's, like, a good view or whatever.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah.

[Louie]

And there was, like, a little spot down there that that somewhere had popped. You know, it popped up online saying that that might have been okay. So we did one loop around the stadium, and I was like, oh, that's the spot. But I've missed the parking for it now. So we had to do another loop around the stadium. And you're like, why are we going back around? And I was like, no, let's go for a walk. It starts raining. Pouring, like, pouring down. I had an umbrella. I was kind of prepared. I knew there was a risk that it might rain. So we pulled over, parked, went for a walk. And similar to Margot, as soon as the ring came out, I mean, I was bawling, crying. I mean, the knee hit the ground, and I was just like, it's gone.

[Sage Steel]

So the planned speech or actual words, how did that go?

[Louie]

If you were bawling, I couldn't tell you. I blacked out for a minute. I really like that moment that I have no idea what I said or I just blacked out and I was crying, and I don't even Know if I actually said anything or if the ring was just there and I'm crying.

[Riley Gaines]

I don't remember either. You don't? I do remember. Like, it all happened so fast. And like, I said, like, genuinely, like, was so out of left field for me, where I was like, oh, my gosh, like, I need a pose. There's a camera somewhere, right? Like, I have to, like, like you, you know, there was no camera. It was pouring down rain afterwards. I'm like, louie, like, where's the photographer? Hiding in the bushes? No, but I, like, I did try.

[Louie]

But, you know, last minute, same day, it's hard to get a photographer lined up.

[Riley Gaines]

So I'm like, and it's so funny how you think you have these, like, your future planned. But as soon as he got down on one knee, I knew, of course, my answer was yes. And I couldn't have imagined it any other way. And so where I thought in my mind, like, I didn't want to get engaged yet, immediately seeing that and knowing the person that he is and the lifestyle that. That we want and that. That we can build and how we make each other better people, like, I mean, of course my answer was yes. And from then on, like, it's just been the biggest blessing. And I highly, highly recommend, because I was still in school, Like, I was still, you know, in college. 21.

[Sage Steel]

You were 21?

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah, yeah. Which is wild. And you don't. You don't see that. You don't really hear that happening. But it has been the biggest, biggest blessing of having someone, I mean, your best friend who doubles as, you know, the love of your life, and getting to go through all of these fun stages together, whether that is kind of like the craziness of. I mean. I mean, you think about the cool things we've been able to do over the past few years, like go to the White House, be at inauguration. I mean, all of, like, the super cool things, getting to do that with him. But now stepping into this role, too, like, it has been the best thing. And you have people who will tell you, especially being young, you know, don't get married young. It's kind of like the beginning of the end when you do. And I disagree with that wholeheartedly. It is not the beginning of the end. I mean, it's kind of like the beginning of, I mean, forever. Like, it's the most beautiful, amazing thing. And I feel like my life only just started when we got engaged and got married.

[Sage Steel]

So the beauty of the timing, too, because, I mean, you were 21. Years old and right after Will Thomas, right after that. Devastation, really, and disappointment in so many people. We've talked about that at length, for sure, but I don't know. I think about how you would have been doing that more alone. You would have been together, dating. But, like, the toughest time in your life when you had the toughest decisions to make. Like, do I just stay silent or do I say, no, this is wrong. Not knowing that it was gonna lead to any of this. But you had a teammate from the beginning of this fight, really.

[Riley Gaines]

And you think back to 2022, it was a totally different political, cultural, social climate that we were living in. Like, it was not favorable at all to say what I was saying, which was merely that this is a man and he's not a woman, and he can't become a woman, and I'm a woman. We are women, and we deserve fairness and we deserve safety and we deserve equal opportunity. Like. Like that was it. But saying that was not looked favorably upon by the media, by social media. I mean, virtually, in any realm, at least not publicly, privately. Absolutely. I think the support has always been there. But it was, like, in whispers or winks or, like, behind closed doors, where people felt comfortable enough to tell you, like, you keep going. You keep fighting for that. And that was really hard for me because at the time, I had. I mean, just learned how to use my voice, how to say what I wanted to say. I didn't know how to do it effectively. I didn't know the kind of lingo or language that I needed to use or the messaging tactics. Like, all I knew was what we had just went through was a total injustice to women everywhere. But saying that out loud, it caused an onslaught of. Of hatred and just people who were totally vile who said the most, like, I mean, awful, heinous things you could possibly imagine. And so having him there for that, like, again, I don't know if. If I would have done what I have continued to do if I had to kind of go through that alone or without, you know, my. My partner for life.

[Louie]

Yeah, we'd had conversations early on, you know, should I speak out? Should I do this? And I remember we had a conversation in Lexington, and we were in. We were in the house that you were renting. We were in the room in the bedroom, and I was laying on the bed, and you're like, what do I do about all this? And so I said, well, look, if you speak out, you're gonna take some arrows, but guess what? We're gonna do it Together. And then here we are. That was what, four years ago? I guess.

[Riley Gaines]

That's crazy.

[Louie]

Yeah, that is crazy to think. Three and a half.

[Sage Steel]

How was that for you from the moment you knew that she had made that decision?

[Louie]

I didn't know what it looked like. I don't think none of us, neither of us knew what it looked like. And I think we were both pretty naive. I mean, we were 21 years old at the time. You know, we. We didn't know what this looked like, how it was going to play out, or how charged this issue was going to become. And so, you know, people saying stuff online, people always say stuff online. They always have. It's faceless and keyboard warriors, you know, so that stuff like that, it didn't really get to us. I don't think it too bad. I mean, you got thick skin. I mean, obviously it's not nice having people say horrible things, but, you know, you kind of just take it and brush it off.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, when you know where your identity is found.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

Who cares if things of this world, you know, and that's something I learned pretty early on, is that, you know, we are fighting for the hope and the promise of eternal life. And in doing that, who cares about what happens for the very, very brief time that we are on this planet and the grand scheme of things, like, doesn't matter. And so I would say, I mean, truthfully, like, really early, like, I was able to kind of use that as what kept my sights moving forward in doing what was right, objectively right. I mean, biologically, how men and women are different. But also, like, it's very clear in the Bible, you know, men and women were created equally but different, like each with intentionality and purpose. And we were made in God's image, his perfect image. And we have a creator who doesn't make mistakes. And in knowing that, that's what's kind of given me the COVID and the security and the confidence to say, especially on this topic, what I've been saying for the past few years now.

[Louie]

And you know, I've loved seeing you grow in that role as well. But as, as husband, it is hard sometimes when, when people, you know, the, the comments and stuff online, whatever, you know, they're basement dwellers, you know, they're just, you know, whatever.

[Riley Gaines]

But the Keith Olbermann's of the world.

[Louie]

Yeah, the Keith Olbermanns. Yeah, you are, you are just. Yeah, I won't go there. I did tell her we should do a charity boxing match, me and Keith Alderman. And, you know, we'll do it on the White House.

[Riley Gaines]

It's not a call for violence. Not a call for violence, but pick.

[Louie]

Your charity, Keith, and we'll set it up.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah. And it would take 0.5 seconds for you to make him not even. He would just run away. What would happen? You wouldn't even date him. But that protective side of you, the man in you who has always been her protector, like it is different when she's heading into the belly of the beast. San Francisco State the first time, before you knew what would happen there and then.

[Louie]

And we were naive, you know, we thought she was going to speak some college kids, you know, big deal, right? Getting a call at. I guess it was like 2 o' clock in the morning here. Well, it was actually a text at first. And whenever. When she was traveling and I was working another job so I can travel with her, you know, I keep my ringer on, you know, tell the text when you get back to the hotel, all this stuff. And I heard my phone go off, so I looked at it and it was a text saying, just got punched in the face by a dude in a dress. And so crazy. I have never felt as powerless, I guess, as I did at that moment. What are you supposed to do, right? You just got a text saying your wife's been punched in the face by a man in a dress and she's 3000 miles away, 1500 miles. Whatever it is, I can't do anything as a husband. It was. That was a true helpless feeling. And I remember laying in bed and I've got a pretty good temper on me. I don't usually get too riled up by things, but I was like. I remember shaking. I was so mad. And you know that there's no outlet for it. I'm in this alone in a room, you know, I've got my wife on the phone. You hear all these just animals on the other side of the door trying to break it down. I think one of the things that. I think one of the few things that I do remember from that night was there was a cop in the room with you. And I didn't realize you had the phone on speaker. And I said to Riley, I was like, look, you tell that cop if anybody gets through that door, he better empty his gun into him or I'm emptying mine into the cop. I was like, it's one or the other, you know, that's how I felt in the moment. You know, looking back on it, we realized that the campus police did a abysmal job. Should we say looking after you. And, you know, I feel comfortable saying that, you know, we love. You know, I've talked to her. I'd love to be a police officer, but not being a citizen, that's kind of hard. Right? You know, we have a lot of respect for them, but we've told the police chief from that day to his face that, you know, we saw him again. We went back to San Francisco State, and we told him how poor of a job he did.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, it was not only just negligence, it was also the fact that the campus police actually sided with the protesters and the mobile, telling me, like, look, we have to take their side. We have to be allies to them. There's nothing we can do to the point where, I mean, I'm in this room. I'd been up because of the time change and things. It was the middle of the night again. It's like midnight at this point in California. I got on a flight early that morning, so virtually had been up for 24 hours. I was so tired. I was so disoriented. I was so, like, not sure how I was going to get out of this room again. The mob on the outside is banging on this door again, saying the things they wanted to do to me, which were horrific. And so, I mean, there were tears in my eyes, like, can't you do something? Like, I just want to go home. I told the officer, the chief, and he said, that's really selfish, don't you think? I want to go home. And it was at this point where I was like, oh, my gosh, like, you're not here to protect me or to do your job. Like, you are totally siding with the mob outside the room. And that was a really hard realization because, again, like, again, this is San Francisco, and it wasn't the San Francisco Police Department. It was the campus police department, San Francisco State University PD but it was a hard realization because, of course, I am the biggest supporter of our law enforcement, of our US Military, members, of our first responders, of course. But to have those people you admire and respect and whose job it is to protect you so unwilling to do that, I was really shocked.

[Sage Steel]

What did you say when you went back?

[Riley Gaines]

It was the same guy. It was the same chief who was still in charge of the event that I was doing the next time, and even went back again with Charlie Kirk, and we did an event together, and the same guy. And I told him, I said, look, I'm shocked you're still here. Quite frankly, I don't feel very comfortable or safe with you being here because you did nothing to ensure my safety last time. And he was, you know, kind of gobsmacked that I was.

[Louie]

He wasn't expecting it. It was a good job. Yeah. We rocked up with an army of security guys.

[Riley Gaines]

And it was that point because they.

[Louie]

Had proven that they were incapable of doing their jobs. We said, fine, we're going back, but you stay out of this. You know, so you're.

[Sage Steel]

So you two went up to him together. So you're standing there when she said that?

[Louie]

We were walking in. Yeah, we just got out of the car and we were walking up to the little green room beforehand, and he was trying to be all jovial and cheery, and we're like, the last time I saw you.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah, we're stuck in a room together.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah, I bet he thinks about that deep down.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, he knows.

[Louie]

You would hope.

[Riley Gaines]

And even after that, when all of this happened, we found out, even the DOJ is investigating now how the university and the police department actually colluded with the students to make sure I was held captive. And so they're doing their own investigation into that. But anyways, in learning some of this stuff, I reached out to the police department and I said, look, like. I think charges should be pressed to anyone who needs to be held accountable, whether that's the individual students, whether that's the university, whether that is the police department, to which they told me, look, there are no grounds for any charges to be pressed anywhere. Sorry, you're out of luck again. I was basically kidnapped for five hours, four hours almost. I think almost five hours in this room, and there's nothing you can do. That's crazy. And so the security piece again, the online stuff, whatever. I have thick enough skin and enough security with myself and with my stand, that. That. That is in one ear, out the other. I don't care what you comment online.

[Louie]

Ad hominem, you know, just name calling it. The online stuff is just whatever.

[Riley Gaines]

But I do think there's a level, I think when you're going on college campuses and you see the hostility I know that you're met with, and you see people like Charlie Kirk, who ultimately had his life prematurely ended by a person or what we know as the public. I think maybe there are still some questions as. As to, you know, who all was involved here. But I mean, the motive is very clear as it was written on the. The shell casing, the shell casings, of saying, you know, I mean, using kind of this. This trans rhetoric, calling him a fascist, someone who is involved in the furry community, like, these people who lobby for the trans issue are legitimately insane. That's not to say I don't think there are some people out there, maybe people who. Who use the preferred pronouns, and they think they're doing it, you know, they have good intentions behind what they're doing. Maybe that's a faction of the crowd. But if you are someone who genuinely believes that men can get pregnant or that women can have prostates or any of the other crazy nonsense that the trans people believe or the. The people who lobby the trans rights activists believe, then you. We would be naive to think that you're not deluded enough to kill someone for disagreeing with you. And that's exactly what they did to Charlie Kirk. And so I'm scheduled to be on campuses. I would be lying to you. And it's hard for me to admit this as someone who, again, like, I do feel like. Like I'm very tough. Like, there's this level of, like, I feel like I'm invincible, but, like, I'm reluctant, truthfully, to go back on campuses because there's a. These people are unhinged and they. They want to. And they have proven that they will kill you for, again, saying what we have been saying, what you have been saying, like they hate you for it. And all the while claiming to be the party or the people who embrace love and acceptance and who are welcoming and, you know, all the things that they claim to be, all the virtues, they're not those things. They're the most hateful crowd there possibly is. And so there is a bit of reluctancy, but all the while recognizing, like, it needs to be done now more than ever.

[Sage Steel]

It does. But now it's not just you two.

[Riley Gaines]

No.

[Sage Steel]

Right. And so how has what has happened and the tragedy with Charlie Kirk and now the opposite, the birth of your beautiful baby girl. And that's a lot to process. How has that affected your plans going forward as you want to still stand up and be that voice?

[Louie]

It's definitely. It's definitely forced us to rethink how we're going to be doing things. You know, she's not coming to events. She'll be traveling with us, but we're not going to bring her on campuses. You know, it's just not. It's not smart. People are crazy. You know, there's a target on her back just because she's our daughter. And how do you. How do you truly hurt somebody that you want to hurt? You go for the family. Right. So she's not going to be coming to campuses with us, which I think.

[Riley Gaines]

Was initially the plan.

[Louie]

Yeah, at first we were. Yeah, our mentality was business as usual, and she's coming along with us. But it forces you to think about it a little more.

[Sage Steel]

And you do want people to see what Charlie and Erica preached for so long. Get married.

[Louie]

Carly was so excited.

[Sage Steel]

And so I think. And Riley, so many people look up to you. Right, Lou? You know how people feel about your wife. And so for her to be young and vibrant and strong and a mother with her baby girl there, just the visual of that is so needed and not right now, maybe. Is that. That's what you guys are feeling?

[Louie]

Yeah, we're going to keep doing. It's. I mean, it's going to be business as usual, and she's. She's going to be coming with us, but we're going to be shielding her. Yeah, she doesn't need exposing to that. And, you know, we're not going to put her in a situation where, you know, God forbid something happens at an event where we've got to worry about her being there as well. You know, she's going to be safe and sound away from it. And, you know, we've got a good group of people that make sure that she's taken care of when she's doing her stuff. So, yeah, it just makes. Makes you rethink things a little bit, but, you know, and that's. We're ready for it.

[Riley Gaines]

Another reason why. And Louie was actually the one who was pretty adamant on this, but of course, I've, like, fully gotten behind it and respect and can understand where this is coming from. But even not showing her full face on. On social media, which is really hard for me because, like, I.

[Louie]

We're proud of her.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah, Like, I'm so proud. And I think she's like, yeah, well, she's beautiful.

[Sage Steel]

Perfect.

[Riley Gaines]

Like, all this hair. She has such blue eyes. Like, everything about her is just perfect. And so I want to be able to, like, show her off, if you will. Like, I'm so proud that this is like a little human that we together created, but shielding her from that online presence, too, of the crazy people. But also creeps. Like, there's a lot of, like, just creeps. Creeps and gross people.

[Sage Steel]

It's not worth it.

[Riley Gaines]

It's not worth it. And it's something that, you know, when this was something that we were talking about, how do we want to do this? How do we want to discipline you have those conversations. We looked at people, you know, like, we admired people like Charlie and Erica, and they didn't show their kids face, and it didn't mean they didn't love them any, you know, but they loved them so much, they didn't feel like they needed to expose them to that Same thing with, like, I know Ali Best sucky doesn't show her kids. Brett Cooper doesn't plan on showing her baby's face. So, like, it's, I think, becoming again, more of a thing as tensions and craziness has. Have continued to increase. And so that, I think, is something that. And, you know, we'll. We'll look at things later as we go down the road and as she gets older, but I just think right now, while she's so little and so young, shielding her as much as we can from the craziness, there'll be a.

[Louie]

Time and place where it's appropriate that we kind of introduce her to the world, but not. Not at this point. You know, she's got some growing up to do first, so.

[Sage Steel]

Louis, has there ever been a time over these past four years where you. You've thought to yourself, this is too much.

[Louie]

I'm a fiery guy on the inside. I come across as pretty calm. I almost. I enjoy. I don't say I enjoy. That's probably not the best word. But we thrive in uncomfortable encounters. You know, we're the kind of couple where we want to challenge people. And so there's been times where, I mean, when we were back at San Francisco State last time, there was a guy who was sat second or third row who just starts yelling. You know, Riley said something and he just. That's. It's too much for this guy. He just starts yelling and cussing at.

[Riley Gaines]

Her and stuff and gets up and like, charges me.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

What?

[Louie]

Yeah. You know, there's moments like that where you just, you know, you want to make an example of him. But in terms of, you know, has it been too much? Is there a time where I've thought this is all too much for her? I always ask her, you know, how she's doing, and if she's uncomfortable with stuff, that's, you know, that I think that communication point where it's like, okay, I'm not comfortable with this. That's. I listen to that, you know, and, you know, she's the one that's out there in the face of it, and so she needs to be comfortable and confident in what she's doing. So I wouldn't say there's been a point where it is. Where it's Been too much. There's definitely been times where my adrenaline is definitely spiking, but I think part.

[Riley Gaines]

Of that, too is having, again, kind of this sanctuary where you can. I don't know. I feel like I've gotten really good at compartmentalizing, which maybe could be to a degree unhealthy. But I feel like if I'm on doing work stuff, you know, whatever it is, like, I can be on. But I feel like I've really developed this skill where you can. I can shut it off and like, when I'm here and when I'm holding her, like, I'm a mom. Like, I'm. I'm a mother. Like, that's. This is what. This is what I'm doing.

[Louie]

I still sounds surreal.

[Riley Gaines]

I know.

[Sage Steel]

The fact that you just said that.

[Riley Gaines]

I know it is weird.

[Sage Steel]

It's like, because when I met you, I mean, in person was later felt like we knew each other, and I did feel like you were a kid. I mean, you were.

[Riley Gaines]

I still feel like I'm a kid.

[Sage Steel]

I'm like, well, I'm quite immature myself, so.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah.

[Sage Steel]

But like, fun.

[Louie]

That's what we call it the other day.

[Sage Steel]

Are just fun and silly. Yeah. No, but, like, you are obviously a woman, a mother. But, gosh, you've been through so much at such a young age.

[Riley Gaines]

And you. You learn to adapt. You roll with the punches. You. I mean, if you don't know what you're doing, you act like you know what you're doing. You smile. Honestly, like. But all of that has led us to here.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

And even you, I mean, you think about your life and what has led you to where you are now, which, I mean, I'm sure the people listening to this have seen the photos of, you know, your wedding. The most beautiful wedding, the most beautiful venue. Like, oh, my gosh, you looked like a literal Disney princess, which, I know we don't really like Disney.

[Sage Steel]

Not Disney, but the princess. No kidding.

[Riley Gaines]

No, but honestly, like, everything about it.

[Sage Steel]

Thank you.

[Riley Gaines]

But think about this. The. I mean, hardships and the adversity and the sadness, I'm sure. And the times where you're questioning, like, what. Like, God, what are you doing with my life? But you look at where you are now and all of it, even the hard things, ultimately led you to where you are, where you have your husband, who is just, like, incredible. Now you're. You're merged families. Like, it's the most beautiful thing. But it took going through those hard times to get there. And so in looking at that and looking at our life and looking at, again, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it's horrific. Like, it feels almost honestly, like I still feel in total disbelief by it. Like, just shocked, number one, that he's gone. Two, something like that could happen. Like, I. I still feel in total disbelief. I don't think I, like, have really processed those emotions in the correct way yet. A tragedy that never, ever, ever should have happened, especially in the greatest country in the world. Nonetheless, it did. But you look at the things that have come from it. People buying Bibles, people going to church. I mean, these vigils. I mean, it's like a total cultural revival. All these turning point chapters happening in high schools and colleges all across the country. Like, it's really an amazing thing. And even being at the memorial service, like, it was like the most powerful, beautiful service you could have possibly imagined. And, you know, that Charlie, I mean, is sitting right beside his Lord and savior and he's smiling, which is hard for people on this planet to really grasp what that's like. But you have to imagine he's happy as can be up there.

[Sage Steel]

I have truly felt a turn, a change in my kids and strangers at the airport, people who are desperate to understand more and more watched the service from across the world because there were 100 million plus streams, right, and were so moved and have said, I'm gonna open my Bible for the first time in a decade. I'm gonna go to church. I'm gonna have a conversation. I'm gonna get on my knees and pray. And, yes, we wish it didn't, you know, hadn't taken that. And for some reason, this is the plan. And so now what do we do with it? And I think it is incredible to see. There's a lot of beauty in tragedy.

[Riley Gaines]

100%. 100%.

[Sage Steel]

I want you to know, and I think you do. I probably haven't said it enough to you, but your faith has so inspired me, and you're so, you know, I don't know, clear with your beliefs. It has inspired me in so many ways, and I know millions of others.

[Riley Gaines]

So sweet.

[Sage Steel]

Can you describe what your faith together has meant to you throughout your marriage, your relationship before then and now as new parents?

[Riley Gaines]

Well, I don't think I do a fantastic job of always, especially. I mean, you go on Fox News and you have, you know, two minutes to get your point across. It's hard to really get into the meat of. Well, it's really not hard. It's just not something that I do. And maybe it's something I should be better about and something that Charlie was so good about that is. I mean, that is central to everything. It's central to my life. All of the cultural, I mean, all of the issues that really plague this nation. It goes back to the word what we're told is going to happen. We know why it's happening. We know the solution to it. And so I feel like I don't always do a fantastic job of communicating that, at least not, you know, public facing. But I will say, with all of the different, you know, trials and tribulations you've. You've. I've kind of gone through these past few years, it almost forces you to just kind of surrender and to just kind of, you know, throw your hands up and say, look, Lord, use me for. For your will, whatever your purpose is for me. Maybe I don't understand it now, but use me. I'm here. And so in our private life, that's kind of the approach that I feel like we have. And I will say again, being married young, there's so much value in getting to grow spiritually with another person as well. You grow individually, but you grow together. You grow as one. And so that's been really cool. And I think Louis, come. I mean, you could probably talk to this too.

[Louie]

Yeah. You know, in terms of faith, for me, my grandma was Catholic. She was. I mean, every Sunday she was at church. But, you know, we lived in Dubai growing up. And so for seven years, I think the closest church to us was like a three hour drive or something like that. So growing up, it wasn't something that was at the forefront of. Of our life. You know, for me and my brother, it wasn't really until I came over here. I remember standing on the pool deck at Kentucky. I think I'd been here for. I think it might have even been my first or second day in the US and it was the dive coach. My mom and I had gone to the pool and we were just seeing, you know, checking everything out. And he was there and he asked me, he said, he said, do you go to church and all this stuff? And I was like, yeah, no, you know, haven't ever really been involved. And he was like, well, you should come. He was like, we should, you know, you should come with us. He's like, you should come for dinner with me and my family, all this stuff. And I never took him up on it. And he actually text me a couple weeks ago after Margot showed up and I told him, I said, look, I remember that conversation that we had on the pool deck. And I wish I told him this. I said, I wish I had taken you up on that sooner. You know, I really credit my faith from Riley, from a combination of Riley, her family and a handful of the guys that were on the men's team at Kentucky. As one of the guys who, I mean, everybody just knew him, he was just, he was just a great guy and he was working on me while I was in Kentucky and I was like, I'm good. I was too busy having fun on weekends or whatever, you know, usually not be in a well state, Sunday mornings or whatever. But I wish I had taken them up on it sooner to get involved. But I mean, as men, you know, we're told that we need to lead spiritually and we do. But never underestimate the power of a strong woman in her faith as well. And you know, it's hard because I want to lead more in that aspect, but truthfully, I don't, I don't have the knowledge base necessarily to lead always. And so I do find myself looking to her for guidance on stuff and the things that we can talk about and work together. But again, being able to grow with somebody in that way, it's, it's really cool.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, the Bible talks about having like a childlike faith and how those of us who look, and I'm not here to say that I'm perfect or, or sinless, but growing up in the Bible Belt in Tennessee, like it was pretty standard practice. Like you went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. And in doing that, even if you're not fully tuned in, you know, you're 10 years old, what can you really learn sitting in the, the, the big chapel where, where you know, it's a lot of old people, like what are you really picking up on? But you do, you pick up on screen scripture and different things. And the Bible talks about having a childlike faith and having those people who are supposed to guide those who are like children in their faith or learning. And so in doing that, like it has helped me so much too. And we, like I said, we've both just been able to, to learn and grow and it's been, I mean, just one of the most amazing things. We go to an awesome church here. Our pastor has become a dear friend too, and so he is awesome. I'm so fortunate. We go to a Bible believing church. We switched churches actually a few, maybe about two years ago because I mean, it had come to my knowledge actually it was after President Trump was shot. This is what it was Going to church the next morning and my preacher, my pastor didn't say a word about it. And I remember like really being off put by that. And no, I was not expecting him to get up there and deliver this police political sermon. How, you know, Trump has been called to save the. I mean, I wasn't expecting that. But we are called in the Bible to pray for our nation's leaders and my pastor didn't do that at all. And so I started digging into my church and some of the elders and different things and I was not pleased with some of the stuff I was finding. So we switched churches. The church we go to now is so, so fantastic. And that's been a large part of us growing in our faith too, is going to a Bible believing church where you can take the message and apply it to your life and live by it outside of those four walls on Sunday morning. And that's what our pastor Robbie Robbie Galady has really helped us do too.

[Louie]

Yeah, and I've had debates with people that have been wanting an endorsement from her. You know, there's a guy who was running for a seat somewhere and he was a pastor. So I was like, oh, great. What's your kind of take on the church and politics? And he was an old school pastor and he was like, yeah, I don't think they should mix. I don't talk about anything to do with politics in my sermons. He said, we've got people that come from all different belief systems there. So I was like, okay. I said, do you not think that you might be doing your congregation a disservice by not touching on issues that people are facing in their everyday lives and teaching them how, teaching them how to deal with them from a biblical perspective. Because a lot of these issues now have become political. You know, like the trans stuff, for example, shouldn't be, you know, the men and women's sports shouldn't be a political issue. Right. It's a, I mean, it's common sense, but inevitably it has become political. Same with abortion. Right. It shouldn't be a political issue, but it is, you know, and so I said to this guy, I said, look, I really believe that you're doing your congregation a disservice by not touching on issues that have become political. You're not equipping your congregation to deal with these issues from a biblical perspective. And we agreed to disagree. And I said, yeah, but you're not going to get an endorsement that way. That's not something that we agree with. So. Wow.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah, those are the Choices that we have to make. And I think after Charlie died, when so many pastors and priests ignored it and didn't say anything, I remember where we were that day. Actually. We were on our honeymoon when it all happened. I remember we went to church for the first time as a married couple, and I was excited and heartbroken at the same time. It was packed. And at the end, the end of his homily, the priest finally alluded to it. Eluded without saying a name, without talking at all about what happened and how we should handle the trauma of witnessing it as we all did on television.

[Riley Gaines]

Horrific.

[Sage Steel]

Yeah. And so to not mention it, I'm like, well, we won't be going back there. And I do think that we have to, you know, yes, to each his own. But for what I need and want in my life, I want a leader in that church to. Okay, how should I process this? Process this, and then let's have conversations later, because that's one of the problems. That's why we're in this position in the first place. Right? Okay. I need to let you guys get back to being your little family. Last two. I would like each of you to chime in. Riley, what is one thing that you want people to know about your husband?

[Riley Gaines]

Oh, one thing I want them to know about my husband. I feel like there are a million things I could say here because he has kind of been the husband that's. I mean, behind the scenes, if you will, always supporting me, always being my rock, always being kind of the constant throughout, all the ups and downs. But, you know, as I'm on stage or on a camera, whatever it is, like, he. He's not the one that's being shown yet again. If I'm upstairs in my little studio room, he's the one who's fixing the lights for me before. And so what I would want the world to know about my husband, outside of.

[Louie]

I'm nervous.

[Riley Gaines]

It is outside of, obviously, the very good looks and the full beard and the very American mullet and the agloo eyes, the moulay. It's.

[Louie]

It's a mole.

[Riley Gaines]

It's a mole. Outside of all that, I think it is the fact that he is the most selfless person, like I said, would do anything for anybody. So imagine, you know, I mean, if he would do that for anything for a stranger, imagine how he treats me and how he treats Margo. And so it's been so fun to watch your husband become a dad. Like, no one can really prepare you for that. Like, you think I Thought I loved him as much as I possibly could before she was here. But watching him with her, like, it's a whole new kind of love. And so he's been, of course, just a fantastic husband, but the best dad. Your track record's not that long. Two weeks.

[Sage Steel]

Sample size. Small, but so far, so good.

[Riley Gaines]

Yeah, two weeks. But has been. I mean, anything I need, of course. I'm waking up in the middle of the night. Night. To feed her. And I tell him, I'm like, just sleep. Like, there's no point in us both being awake. Like, just sleep through the night. And he wakes up every time. He's like, look, whatever you need, Like, I'm here for you.

[Louie]

I think it's hard as a dad because there's only a certain amount of things that you can do. Right? Like, I can't feed her.

[Sage Steel]

Yes.

[Louie]

It just. God made it that way. And some people may disagree that Ben can't feed babies.

[Sage Steel]

That's called science. These are facts.

[Louie]

Yes. So it is hard. But I do have to remind her. Look, you don't have to. You're not doing this alone. I'm here for you. I'm here for her. Well, both of you, hers. And so, yeah, that's something I'm trying to push on more, is that, you know, assign me duties. I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm good with direction. Yeah, you kind of it. What do I want the world to know about you? It's. It's hard when people say, know so much about you already. People know that you're strong, that you're tough, that you're a little fiery, but, you know, you kind of touched on it a little bit. But you were. You were made to be a mother. I thought I loved you before. I really did. But seeing how natural you, I mean, you are with her, I mean, that's just. It's just created a whole new kind of love. You are in your element as you are sat right now.

[Riley Gaines]

I could sit here.

[Louie]

You. You. You were made to be a mother.

[Riley Gaines]

And just stare at her. She's just so sweet.

[Louie]

Yeah.

[Riley Gaines]

She could sit here all day. Look at ladies.

[Louie]

She has not.

[Riley Gaines]

She is not bud.

[Sage Steel]

Nobody has.

[Louie]

She has slumped further down onto the couch. But that's about all.

[Sage Steel]

Your daughter, your dogs. No one has moved. And I will say that like, it's. It's beautiful for me, and I'm so grateful to get to watch this. And of course, I've gotten to know you away from cameras, which has been just such a Blessing the human side of people. God forbid we get to know that, right? But you are a dear friend. Forget about the other stuff. And to see how you look at him, to see you soften, I mean, because you're always so friendly and bubbly and all that, but, like, that toughness, I told you, inspires me. And then the way you look at him, like, literally look up and it's everything. And you are the model of what America needs. It is beautiful to witness. And that's a lucky little girl to have you two. So final question, final question. What do you want life to be like for Margo?

[Riley Gaines]

Gosh, this is something that, honestly, I feel like I have been thinking about far before I ever knew I was pregnant with her. Because a lot. I mean, essentially, outside of, again, doing what I have done, because I know it's the right thing morally and biblically, like having a younger sister and thinking about the world I want her to grow up in. Because, like I said, like, I was done competing when that championship ended. Like, that race with. With him was my last meet ever. It was my last race. And so, you know, it was. It was done for me, but it was knowing that I have a younger sister. What do I want for her? So I feel like I've been thinking about this question a long time, and I want a fair and just world where they know there's value in being a woman. They know there's value. And I can speak to this now, and being a mom and bringing life into this world, all such beautiful things that only women can do. And so that's what I want little Margot to know, that she has two parents who love her very, very much. We, like. It's so funny. Like, every night when we're putting her in the bassinet by our bed, we'll go through our affirmations and we'll tell her that she's beautiful and that one day she will be very, very smart. She will be very successful. And we go through all the different things that. That we hope for her and that we want for her, and we say our prayers together every night. And so I'm just so excited to watch her grow up. She's already gotten so much bigger, which, like, I like, again, it makes me just like. I'm like, okay, stop it. You're. She got down to six pounds, one ounce, and now she's, like, already back up at. At like, eight again. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, you're. You're growing too fast, which breaks my heart, but it makes me so excited, especially watching you and Quinn, who's here today. Like, watching Yalls relationship, like that makes me so excited for the future and seeing how you guys, of course, like, number one, you're a mom, but I think at this stage of her life too, like, you're friends, I'm sure you call each other 10 times a day and, you know, who knows what those conversations are like and. But that's. That's what I'm excited for for little Margot.

[Louie]

Daddy, this is something that we've. We've spoken about before is, you know, what do we want for her? And however many kids we have, and we've just said we want to leave, we want to leave them in a better place than we were if we. If we can do that and we set them up to be. To be good people, to leave them in. In a better place than where they started then. And we've done. We've done our job, you know, so, yeah, that's. That's what I want for. For her and for however many we have in to.

[Sage Steel]

Your joy is like just. It's beaming through. It's so evident. It's really, really awesome. And thank you for sharing today, for sure. But I mean, from like, from day one, you two have been. You were very open with your pregnancy, and now I can see where you were standing under the chandelier when you're showing the belt. Like, it all adds up now. But I mean it when I say that she's a very blessed little girl to have you two as parents.

[Riley Gaines]

Well, we're blessed to be her mom. And I hope one day she can feel proud of, you know, the work and the stand that we have taken as her parents again before we knew we were going to be her parents. I hope that's something that she can be proud of and reap the benefits of. And if things continue in the direction and with the trajectory they are both again, culturally and politically, then I think that will hopefully be the case.

[Sage Steel]

Oh, she's going to be looking back. And even if she doesn't want to listen to her mom and dad, which she won't for a minute, I'll be like, listen, let me tell you, listen here, girly. Yes. Yes. So I love you guys. Thank you.

[Riley Gaines]

We love you and we love you and Dave.

[Louie]

We miss Dave today.

[Riley Gaines]

I know I always made this like a. Like a. I don't know. He needed to be here for this.

[Sage Steel]

I always say that work thing, it gets in the way of my fun things in life.

[Louie]

She tells me to say when I'm leaving in the morning. She's like, do you have to go to work? Yes, dear, I do.

[Sage Steel]

I've got to keep things going. Brb. Yes. Thank you, guys. Love you.

[Riley Gaines]

Love you.

[Sage Steel]

She is perfect. She has not moved.

[Riley Gaines]

Literally. She's a perfect angel.

[Louie]

She is. Just needs to stop destroying diapers at 2:30 in the morning. I'm getting over that.

[Sage Steel]

I don't believe it.