Julius Scott Eliot

Today marks seven whole weeks with our little boy, Julius Scott Eliot. Seven seems to be a pretty magical number around here as he entered into the world weighing seven pounds, seven ounces. As I look back at these quick seven weeks, my heart swells knowing time passes too quickly and this little boy is growing abundantly.

Every Sunday evening, we have dinner over at my in-laws for family time. My sister and brother-in-law had just arrived from the Carolina's in anticipation for my due date (that upcoming Thursday). We all had dinner that Sunday evening and right before coming home, my father-in-law joked that we could see our baby boy that night. Up until this point, I was hoping to go into labor early as my mom went two weeks early with me and I had been staying super active... my fingers were crossed but I wasn't holding my breath. Every night for the last several weeks I thought, "tonight could be the night"!

We came home and I started to get ready for bed that evening. I stepped into the shower and noticed that I had a bloody nose... odd- as I don't ever get bloody noses. Once out of the shower, I Googled (haha) what that could mean and came to the conclusion there was a hormonal change happening. I crawled into bed around 10:30 and felt baby boy nestled inside of me.

I had some cramping for the next several hours and was awaken at 12:30am by a cramp that lead to my water breaking in bed. I rolled over and told Taylor my water had just broken- to which he replied, "are you sure?". YES. We both rolled out of bed and I quickly waddled over to the shower to get cleaned up. I just remember about to step into the shower and Taylor came into the bathroom and said, "Sooo... this means we're NOT going back to bed, right?". LOL!

I was able to get all cleaned up and tried to stay calm but I knew our little boy would be here soon. Over the next 15 minutes, contractions gained strength and were about every 6-8 minutes. I called the hospital to let them know what had happened and we gathered our items to head north. After a painful drive to the hospital, we arrived by 1:30am where my contractions were every 3-4 minutes. They took us to our room and I changed into a gown. By this point contractions stopped me in my tracks and were very uncomfortable. The nurse measured me at 4.5cm and they decided to admit us.

I remember the nurse hooking me up to the belly bands so they could monitor baby boys heart rate. Not even five minutes later, they grew quickly concerned. His heart rate dropped from 140 to 60. After 3 minutes, they instructed I roll over where I was on my hands and knees on the bed while they rushed me to the OR for an emergency c-section. I remember laying in the bed, in and out of painful contractions while they hooked me up to an IV. While on my left side, baby boy had moved- un-pinching his cord and his heart rate returned to normal. At this point, the pain was incredible and I requested a epidural. I was able to return to my room luckily while we waited for the anesthesiologist.

I believe it was going on 3:30-4:00am when I started to feel the epidural in my left leg. They measured me at 9cm shortly after and the doctor said it was just about time to push. Everything progressed so quickly and painfully as my epidural didn't have time to set in. Every 3 minutes, I was told to push during my contractions. The doctor and nurses proclaimed he had beautiful hair and Taylor swears that our baby boy arrived within 16 pushes from starting. My last push felt like eternity as I dazed in and out of consciousness. I just remember the chants of the nurses and my doctor yelling "one more push Alyssa, one more push!".

At 4:18am on April 26, 2021, our little Julius Scott Eliot entered the world. He weighed 7lbs, 7 oz. and was 20.5" long. Time stood still as his little body laid upon mine for the first time. The whole moment felt surreal. A piece of our hearts was finally earth side. For the next two days, our family of three soaked every little second in.

Motherhood changes your heart. When I look into those big blue eyes, I see God's abundant, selfless love.

Thanks for being here.

Hugs, Alyssa

If you wish to see more of Jules, you can check out #growingjuliusscott over on the gram!