Elouise Mae Scott's Birth Story

On Monday (December 2), I went into my last doctor appointment basically just to schedule my induction. Elouise has been measuring big the entire time and since Hazel weighed 9 pounds 4 oz, the doctor thought it was a good idea to induce so that Elouise didn't get too big. She said bigger babies cause bigger problems with the mom so I was on board. She was completely healthy and we all wanted to induce. 




So on Monday we scheduled the induction to start at 6 PM on Tuesday night to get cervidil. We met my sweet sister-in-law to drop Hazel off with her around 4:30 and then Jonathan and I headed to the hospital. I cried when I left Hazel because she was holding me SO hard when we left and she just kept saying "but I wanna go with you!!!" She didn't understand why she couldn't be there and that broke my heart. We stopped for a quick dinner at Zaxby's since we didn't have a lot of time then headed to the hospital. They checked me in and we started all the questions. Around 7:30 that night they started the cervidil and then around 10 PM they gave me something to help me sleep. I slept great until around 5:30, even with the nurses coming in often to check all my monitors and readjust anything. At 7 AM they came to check me and I had only dilated to about 2 cm and had it had hardly thinned my cervix at all. (Basically the cervidil didn't do it's job.) So they started Pitocin at 7:30 AM which increased my contractions and made them about 5 minutes apart. (Before then I had been having contractions but they were random and not very intense.) At 7:30 my doctor came in to check on me and they told her my platelet levels were low. When your platelet levels are low they can't do an epidural in fear that your blood won't clot. So naturally I was freaking out because I had planned on having an epidural. So when we got that news we slowed the pitocin down and they tested my blood again to see what my levels were. About 30 minutes later the nurse came back and I could tell by her manner it wasn't good news. She told me that my levels had dropped even lower. She was going to call the anesthesiologist and see what he wanted to do.  



The anesthesiologist came in around 2:30 and he assessed the situation and my other levels of everything and just an overall wellness check and he decided that he would give me the epidural. That's when everything sped up! He came back at 3 and I got my epidural at 3:30. The 2 times I've gotten an epidural it has been practically painless. I kept expecting pain but nothing came. Shortly after that they bumped the Pitocin up to get my contractions really going. My doctor came in at 5:45 to break my water. I was 3 CM when she broke it. She said to expect the baby around 11. When they started getting more intense I could feel and had to breathe through them. My brother and sister-in-law were in the room just chatting and visiting and I felt the need to push at 8 PM. My brother left and Jonathan came back as well as the doctor and some other nurses. While they were getting everything ready I was just trying not to push. Still breathing through my contractions. At 8:37 PM I started to push with Jonathan, my sister, my mom, and my sister-in-law in the room. Elouise was born at 8:45 PM. I literally pushed 5 times through 2 contractions. My doctor was amazed. At one point she told me to "little push" so that I wouldn't tear and so that she wouldn't have to cut me and she said I had amazing control. *totally tooting my own horn here :).* 



Elouise Mae Scott was born on December 4, 2013 at 8:45 PM. She was 8 pounds 13 ounces and 20 inches long. 


My recovery has been TOTALLY different this time around. I didn't tear or get cut so recovery has been SO much easier. It hasn't even been a week and I feel totally back to normal. 
Elouise is such a joy. She is the best baby I have ever been around and I'm not just saying that because she's my baby. My mom has been around a ton of babies in her lifetime and she keeps commenting on how easy of a baby she is. She eats, sleeps, and sits awake contently. She loves to be snuggled in soft, warm blankets and only cries when she is getting her clothes changed, a bath tub, or is hungry. Even then it is only for a minute. I feel so blessed.


Today was the first day that I had both the girls alone. It was an amazing day. I remember my first day with Hazel I felt overwhelmed and unprepared. Now I feel very comfortable and that Elouise has been with us the whole time. I couldn't have asked for a better labor/delivery or end result. I am so blessed.