It’s hard to believe that it’s been three weeks tomorrow since Sawyer Scout joined our family. Time has been so precious and we have been soaking up all of our moments as a tribe of four. I am excited to finally share her birth story. It was such a hard but beautiful day that I will forever have embedded into my memory. I love that I have this space to record these sweet moments for us to look back on. Pregnancy and childbirth is truly a miracle. I am constantly in awe of how amazing our God is. What a privilege it is for us to be able to give life.We had our 39 week appointment and I was at a 3 and contracting. I really wanted to go into labor on my own because I was induced with Paisley and it was a long 26 hour labor. However, we went ahead and chose a date just in case she didn’t want to come on her own. It just so happens I’m a champ at carrying children that would love to be in the womb forever-so June 16th came-the night before our induction and my nerves were going crazy. I kept thinking about our last night as a family of three, how nervous I was to do this again, and how much our life was about to change. We got everything ready to go for the next morning and of course I couldn’t get any rest because I was so excited to meet her. We left our house at 5 AM so we could get there for our 6 AM induction, dropped Paisley off with my parents, shed a few tears as I kissed her bye, and went on our way.When we arrived the staff checked us into a room, I changed into a gown, and the nurses started to hook me up to the fetal monitor. Once they took my blood work and got the IV going, the RN started me on pitocin at 6:00 AM. Labor had begun. My midwife came in to break my water about an hour later and the contractions began to get more intense. My mom brought Paisley to the hospital around 9:00 and we had a “big sister Bag” waiting for her when she walked into the room. She was so excited to meet her sister but worried about mommy’s “owies.” You can see the post about her bag here.
She was such a good girl while she was with us. She kept saying that she need her “listening heart” (stethoscope) so she could check mommy out and make sure I was ok. Around noon, the contractions were really strong and started to make me anxious. I was at a 5 but felt like I had a long way to go. I got an epidural with Paisley but it didn’t help when I needed it. I was going to try to go through labor this round without it but the pain was getting a little unbearable. The nurse came in and gave me some pain medication through IV and that was some of the craziest stuff ever. I felt like the room was spinning and it made me really drousy but helped take the edge off of the contractions a little bit. I decided that I would go ahead and try the epidural but wanted to wait until I progressed a little more. I can’t imagine going through childbirth without my husband. He was so kind and encouraging and never left my side. He prayed over me constantly and I know that prayers and going to the Lord is what got me through this labor. I am so blessed to have him. I got the epidural around 2:00 when I was at a 7 and it was more painful than I remember. I was hoping that it would take away the excruciating pain but it didn’t much at all. I don’t react to medication well and honestly believe I got it too late because after it was in we progressed fast. I could still roll over, move my legs, and everything. It wasn’t until after I delivered that I started going numb. Before I knew it I was at a 10 and it was time to push. I don’t remember how long I pushed but it seemed like an eternity. I tried to focus more on the count down than the pain but it started to be too much. I literally felt like my pelvis was breaking and then both Scout and I’s oxygen started to drop. They put my mask on and I just remember feeling like I was going into shock. I saw Zack’s face come over me and hearing him say that we were so close-just two more pushes and we could meet her.  I will always remember the feeling of that last push. The instantaneous relief and adrenaline of meeting your child makes the pain literally cease. Tears started to flow as I heard her first cry and Zack whisper that I had done it-our baby girl was with us.June 17th, 2015 at 5:02 in the afternoon, our lives changed forever. God blessed us with another daughter-a beautiful 9 pound 20 inch baby girl with a head full of hair.  After 39 weeks and 3 days of pregnancy, Sawyer Scout Ashcraft had finally arrived. And, she was so worth the wait. Immediately after delivery, we had an hour of skin to skin before the family came in. I loved this time of just us getting to know our sweet girl.  Her daddy is pretty smitten by his girls. I am so glad that other than us and our parents, we didn’t let anyone come in until Paisley got to meet Scout and have her special time. I will never forget the look on her face when she walked into the room and Zack placed Scout on her lap. The face of pure joy and love for her sister brought me to tears. One of the sweetest moments I’ve experienced. Then after a long 11 hour day of patiently waiting, we opened the flood gates and let the family come in. Paisley had us all laughing with her “shooshing” everyone for them to be quite. She was all about making sure baby sis stayed asleep. I am so thankful for this little miracle. Zack and I are still in shock that we have two girls. She has been the best baby and we couldn’t ask for better. Thank you to all of our friends and family that were praying for us. We are loving life as a family of four and are so excited to watch her grow alongside her sister. God is good.