Finally at 7:00 am Friday morning I woke David and told him I really needed to go back to the hospital. I threw up in the car from the pain and when we got to the hospital I called my doctor and asked her if she thought we should go back in to get checked because I was really scared of getting sent home again. She said if I was in pain I should and so we went in and got shown to a room and checked again. I was 2 cm dilated, which was completely frustrating after the intensity of the previous night. But the nurse called my doctor and she instructed them to admit me because I had progressed from the night before and I was in a lot of pain (I think she admitted me partially because I called her before going in).

The nurse started an IV with some anti-nausea meds and some pain meds and I kept breathing through the contractions. I was able to drift off a little between contractions because I was so tired from the lack of sleep, but once again the pain meds didn't really help with the contractions. My doctor stopped by to check on me and she broke my water to help me to progress more quickly. I told my nurse I wanted to wait until I was at a 4 or 5 for the epidural because epidurals can sometimes stop your progress and I wanted to avoid a c-section.

Since we were just hanging out waiting, I told David to go home and get a shower and eat breakfast. After he left my nurse checked me again and luckily I had progressed pretty quickly after my water was broken and was almost at a full 5 cm. My nurse, Maggie, told me I could get an epidural and that sometimes it even speeds up your progress because you're able to relax and let your body do it's thing. So I agreed and was so grateful because the pain was getting really intense even with the medicine and the breathing distraction technique was at the end of its effectiveness. I told the anesthesiologist that women who go natural are warriors but that I was really happy to see him, haha.

David came back surprised to find my epidural done and me a very happy, pain-free camper (see Snapchat picture, haha). Epidurals basically make you feel like you've been to the dentist and been numbed but from your waist down. I couldn't believe the complete relief while looking at the monitor and seeing I was still having contractions. We invited my mom to come over and hang out as I progressed. We all talked and I was able to doze some more. The baby's heart rate looked really good during the contractions and everything was going well.

At 1:00, Maggie checked me and told me I was already fully dilated (I went from 7 to 10 in a half hour) and that she would let my doctor know. The doctor instructed us to hang out until 2:00 and let the baby "rest and descend" without pushing, which is a benefit of an epidural. But then the doctor stopped by and checked me a little while later and said the baby was already at station 2 (meaning lower in the birth canal) and said I could start pushing. So I started pushing at 1:30 and I couldn't believe we were so close to meeting her!

David and my mom held my legs while I pushed during contractions. My contractions were pretty far apart so I would drift off between them and David and my mom would sit down and wait for the next one. After the first hour of pushing I was kind of disheartened because she hadn't moved much. With your first they'll let you push for longer, but if the baby isn't handling the pushing well or you go over three hours they start thinking about a c-section.

But my doctor came by again and coached me a little and during the second hour I started making some real progress. My doctor came back at the beginning of the third hour and the nurse explained my contractions were so far apart we didn't have as many chances to push. My doctor had the nurse start me on some Pitocin so the contractions would come closer together. Scotty's heart rate still looked great even though we were into the second hour so that was awesome.  

I was starving at this point since I hadn't eaten since Thursday night and had thrown up and I was getting tired from pushing for a couple hours. But luckily the Pitocin helped and David and my mom were encouraging me and telling me they could see her head. David took over coaching me through each push from the nurse.

Eventually Maggie brought a mirror over so I could see the progress the baby made during each contraction. I could see Scotty had a head full of dark hair which was amazing and unreal at the same time. I couldn't believe I was living the birth videos you watch in junior high, haha! While her head started being more and more visible, I got really in the zone and the contractions were happening right on top of each other. But I also started running a fever, meaning I could possibly have an infection, so my doctor ordered me some antibiotics, which unfortunately didn't arrive in time before Scotty was delivered.

My nurse had advised me not to do a booster of the epidural so I wouldn't be completely numb but had enough feeling during pushing so I could be in more control. It turned out to be awesome advice as I could feel what was going on with my muscles and it was slightly uncomfortable but I was able to push effectively.

My doctor came in from delivering another baby and was surprised to find I was ready to deliver. David later told me he was getting a little nervous right before that because the doctor wasn't there and the nurse wasn't paying attention as she was getting stuff ready for delivery in and out of the room. He said it looked like with on really strong push the baby would have come out and there was no one but him and my mom right there, haha. But the doctor came and there was a rush of activity as they reassembled the bed and the room and my doctor pulled up a stool to catch the baby.

With a final push at 4:13 pm, my doctor told me to open my eyes as she lifted up Scottlyn Mae Hatch. I started crying my eyes out when I saw her and how beautiful and perfect she was. They put her on my stomach and wiped her off.

She came out angrily crying and peed on the doctor a little which was funny because I did that when I was born as well. When they took her to the side of the room to get weighed she went to the bathroom again and my doctor even commented, "the plumbing's working" which is what the doctor said at my birth.


Talking with David later, it turns out we both checked and made sure she was actually a girl when she came out, just in case. She got a 9 on her Apgar and weighed in a 7 lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches long.


I got to do skin to skin with her for a long time while the doctor stitched me up (I heard her mention second degree tears to the nurse) and everyone enjoyed looking at the her. 

The nurses brought me a sandwich, grapes and chips, which I'm still pretty sure is the best food I've ever tasted.  I pushed for about three hours and luckily her heart rate looked perfect the entire time but I was pretty tired, hungry, and greasy from no sleep, the fever, and all the pushing.


This was my awesome birth team of my nurse and doctor, I had such a great experience because of these two ladies. And David was so wonderful and supportive the entire time, I'm so lucky to be married to him and to have him be an awesome dad to our girl. This is our first family picture with Scotty.



We moved down to the mom/baby floor and watched Scotty get her first bath and shot. Unfortunately since I didn't get the antibiotics soon enough before birth, Scotty had to get blood drawn and antibiotics as well. It wasn't fun watching them poke her and she had to have an IV for the days we were there.

We enjoyed family coming to visit our new girl in the hospital and fall in love with her as well. Nothing could have prepared me for the tidal wave of love I felt when I saw her. It's overwhelming to lock eyes with this tiny person who you realize you already know because they've been inside you for so long and there's already this connection.

Scotty's arrival was like people describe when they talk about feeling this instant increase of love. But I felt it in more ways than just towards her. I love David more now because I love him as an awesome husband and as the father of our baby.

I love my parents more because now I finally got an understanding of how they feel about me. I love all our family with more intensity because they make up this support system of love for her. My love and gratitude towards my Savior grew as I now have another huge reason to be grateful for the opportunity to be together as a family forever.