What a family's love sounds like

DENVER - From day one, Meghan and Justin Riggs knew something was wrong. On the day she was born, doctors knew Eva couldn't hear, but weren't quite sure why.

"It was scary," Meghan Riggs said of the months of not knowing.

Eight months later they took Eva from their home in South Dakota to the Children's Hospital in Denver. Tests showed Eva's hearing loss wasn't temporary. She would not regain her hearing on her own. It was a diagnosis no parent ever wants to hear.

"You find yourself having uncertainty of, what am I supposed to do with this? How am I supposed to move on from this?" Meghan Riggs said.

The answer for Meghan and Justin Riggs was to pick up and move their family to Denver, where the Bill Daniels Center for Children's Hearing would give Eva her best chance at a future. The Daniels Center is part of the Children's Hospital.

While Meghan and Justin learned sign language and worked with Eva to develop communications, there was still a connection they missed.

"As a mother, you want to sing your child to sleep and you want your soothing voice to calm them down," Meghan said.

Meghan and Justin learned that many individuals with hearing loss live successful and full lives by utilizing sign language to communicate. They also learned of another option: Cochlear implants.

When they learned Eva was a candidate for Cochlear implants, they thought long and hard before making a decision. They were concerned about the surgical procedure their 13-month-old daughter would have to undergo. But the chance for Eva to hear and learn to speak outweighed the risk.

It was a decision made easier when they met Stephanie Olson, a family consultant at the Children's Hospital. Stephanie knows better than most how Eva's life could change.

"I was identified with the hearing loss at the age of 3," Olson said.

She spent much of her life communicating through sign language. It wasn't until three and a half years ago that she made the decision to get a Cochlear implant. She was able to provide Meghan and Justin with firsthand experience of how the implants change a life.

"Being able to have somebody that's been down the exact same road is so helpful," Justin Riggs said. "It was huge to us."

The surgery complete, the Riggs family counted the days until the Cochlear implants would be turned on. It is the day they refer to as, Eva's first hearing birthday.

"It is really exciting. I mean it was the day that was making our whole journey worth it," Meghan said.

Jennifer Kolb, an audiologist with the Children's Hospital would be the person to open Eva's world to sound.

"It is a pretty amazing moment because it is her first time to hear sound and it is really kind of the start of a new life for her and her family," Kolb said.

That new life would start, not with the sound of her mother's voice, but with a beeping sound. Eva's Cochlear implants were hooked up to a computer to allow Jennifer Kolb to check the settings on the devices.

The moments leading up to the implants being turned on are anxious ones for parents.

"I think they're always holding their breath. They want to be sure it is going to work," Kolb said. "It's just so important for parents to see some sort of reaction from their kids and realize there is going to be this new hope for their children."

The moment for Eva and her family provided that reaction. She cried.

"I do expect a little bit of crying because you can't explain to a 1-year-old why their world has suddenly changed," Kolb said.

Stephanie Olson can relate. She remembers the moment her Cochlear implants were turned on.

"I just remember hearing those sounds and thinking it was so annoying," Olson said. "It wasn't like this sound sent into my ears and there was this beautiful moment. It is a lot of work."

After 18 months of silence, Eva will learn to associate sounds with different things. She will learn to do something as simple as respond to the sound of her name and eventually, she will learn to speak.

Speech will allow for a moment her parents are waiting for.

"For the first time, she is going to say mommy and daddy. It is just going to be so amazing," Meghan said.

This story done in conjunction with The Denver Post.