Preface to Scarlett's birth story:
I found out I was expecting Scarlett on Hazel's first birthday. It was a bit of a surprise, but a pleasant one. We were actually planning to start trying when Hazel turned one so it almost seemed too good to be true. With Hazel it took us ten months of trying and we were planning for round two to take just as long- so even though we were ready for another, we weren't quite ready... if that makes sense.
My pregnancy was wonderful. I got a little bit of morning sickness, but it only lasted a few weeks and was very mild. I didn't have months of terrible "all day sickness" like I did with Hazel so both David and I were convinced we were having a boy. In fact, we were certain. We had a name picked out, I knew exactly how I was going to decorate the nursery and every time I went to the store I looked at little baby boy clothes. We were both shocked to find out we were having another girl. It took us about half an hour to pick out a name. We had never before thought of the name Scarlett but it just popped in my head and we both agreed. Scarlett Colleen. Colleen after David's Grandma Asay. We toyed around with other names throughout the pregnancy but both knew she would be Scarlett.
Now for the birth story.
A week before my due date my doctor stripped my membranes. Although I hoped, just as every woman in late pregnancy does, that this would send me into labor I knew that it wouldn't. When I showed up at my next doctors appointment on my due date my doctor said, "I think we both knew you would make it here today." I had dilated a centimeter more that week and decided to have my membranes stripped again. This was a Thursday. My doctor said if I didn't go into labor that weekend I could have my membranes stripped again on Monday. If that didn't work he wanted to talk induction at my next appointment. My blood pressure was pretty high and he thought it would be better to not let the pregnancy go too far past the 41 week mark.
I spent the next couple days feeling pretty discouraged. I wasn't having any indications at all that labor was coming any time soon. I prayed and prayed that I could go into labor on my own and /or that my blood pressure would be low enough at my next appointment so I could go into labor naturally. On Saturday morning I wasn't feeling too well so David watched Hazel so I could sleep in. Later that morning I had a feeling to go get my grocery shopping done. We had a really laid back Saturday and I tried my best to enjoy it because I figured it would probably be our last Saturday as a family of three.
I made blt's for dinner and afterwards I put Barney on for Hazel to watch before bed. I sat down to watch Barney with her and was feeling really down. I was really discouraged I hadn't gone in to labor yet and was frustrated thinking I would have to be induced. (TMI alert)! At that very moment I felt a little bit of moisture. I thought for a brief moment that my water had broken but quickly dismissed the thought. Hazel came and sat on my lap and as I shifted I felt more moisture. I decided to get up and use the restroom. There were no obvious signs that my water had broken but when I wiped it was wetter than normal. I ended up going to the bathroom three or four times before I decided yes, my water had broken. It is definitely not like they show in the movies. My water had also broken with Hazel and I knew if this was anything like that bad contractions wouldn't be too far behind. I had David call our friend's, the Cooper's, who were going to watch Hazel for us while we went to the hospital. I hurried and fixed Hazel's hair, I had already taken out her pony tail from the day and her hair was sticking up every where. We packed some snacks and clothes for Hazel and were off.
The entire drive to the hospital I worried that my water hadn't really broken and we would be sent home. I also tried (and tried and tried and tried) to get a hold of my parents but neither of them were answering their phones. I did get a hold of my sister, Keisha. She was going to run over to my parents house and let them know I was in labor.
It was a very slow night at the hospital. In fact, I was the only one there. The nurse at the front desk walked me back to the delivery room rather than calling someone to come get me. I changed into a hospital gown and shortly after was tested to make sure my water had broken. Thank goodness it had but I still was only dilated to 3 cm and 70% effaced. She put in my IV and called the doctor to let him know I was there. he arrived shortly after to talk about our game plan. At this point I wasn't feeling any contractions. Since I had tested positive for Group B Strep the doctor said he would like to start pitocin within twelve hours if I wasn't progressing. He gave me the option to start sooner if I wanted. I decided to start my antibiotics and keep trying to get a hold of my parents and then see where I was.
I arrived at the hospital at 7 pm and at 11 pm still was not having contractions and was still dilated to a 3 so I decided to start the pitocin. My mom and sister, brother in law and nephew were on their way from Boise, about 2 hours away. They started me on pitocin and although I was starting to feel contractions they were weak and far apart. The doctor came again to check on me. We decided to up the dosage. Not too long after the contractions became very strong. Within about 20 minutes I had dilated to a 6 and was completely effaced. I tried to remember the breathing and relaxation techniques I had practiced. I was able to relax completely between contractions but didn't do very well during them. I decided to ditch the natural child birth I had planned (I blamed the pitocin) and get an epidural. As soon as possible. I have some scoliosis so they epidural took a while but once it started to kick in i felt much better. I was still feeling quite a bit of cramping on my right side but it was not as intense.
My family arrived while I was getting the epidural, at around 12:30, and came in the room shortly after. They were a good distraction from the pain I was still feeling. When they started my epidural they also lowered my dosage of pitocin thinking my body didn't need it anymore. It seemed like contractions were slowing back down. The nurse came in at 2 am to check me and asked my family to step out for a minute. We left Carson in the room because he was asleep and didn't want to wake him. When they checked me I was at a 10 and ready to push. I told David he better take baby Carson out to the waiting room. It wasn't long and the doctor came running in. He was literally out of breath from running and asked if he had time to change into his scrubs. I wasn't feeling too much of an urge to push and told him to take his time. At this point I had a lot of adrenaline running through my body and was really shaky. I was also really tired and remember worrying I wouldn't have enough energy to push.
When the doctor came back in he sat at the foot of my bed and told me to let him know when I felt the urge to push. I decided to push through my next contraction. After my first push everyone was excited because baby was right there. After three pushes the doctor said, "How about we try one more." I pushed once more and out she came! Four pushes was all it took. It was so fast and easy and wonderful. I felt so blessed because my epidural was weak enough that I was able to feel everything without being in to much pain. Feeling her come out was the most amazing experience of my life. She was born at 2:23 am... just 23 minutes after my family left the room.
