But the Queenstown mum is terrified history is going to repeat itself.
Her mother Anne, 34, died from breast cancer, leaving four young children behind, when Ms Scott was 3 years old.
Last year, when 11 weeks pregnant, Ms Scott found a lump on her breast.
While that was scary enough, worse was to come.
You were never prepared to hear you had cancer, but hearing it was incurable was "immediate, total numbness", she said.
The 43-year-old is now in the fight of her life to survive long enough for Lily to remember her.
"Not video, not stories, real memories of her mummy.
"That’s what I didn’t have from my mum."
While the cancer was likely detected early, it was growing fast.
Within two weeks of diagnosis she had a mastectomy, within six weeks she started a chemotherapy treatment that was safe for the baby.
Sadly, the news did not get better. The cancer had already spread to her liver and a bone in her rib.
Lily Lesley-Anne, named after the mothers of both Ms Scott and her partner Craig Gallagher, whose mother also died from cancer, was born by Caesarean section in September, two months early so Ms Scott could begin more aggressive treatment.
For a few months the drugs seemed to be working, but in April this year that changed.
"That came with a shocking dose of reality."
Her biggest driver now was to survive long enough for Lily to remember her.
"I’ll continue to be stubborn, to research treatments both in New Zealand and the UK, I’ll advocate for the best care and confront this thing head-on."
A Givealittle fundraising page has been set up to help the family with growing costs of treatment, travel, for Lily and anything they can do to extend Ms Scott’s life.
The former ODT reporter and regions editor said the family had been blown away by "incredible" community support here and in her hometown of Gillygooley in Northern Ireland.
A fundraiser hosted by Highlands Motorsport Park last week raised more than $30,000, of which 10% goes to local cancer charities, and family overseas have also been raising money.
She recently started a new type of chemotherapy — which she hopes is working to reduce the size of the tumours.
"We do know going forward some of the drug options for me won’t be covered in New Zealand. While I do have health insurance, some of the drugs and tests will exceed the limit."
It was a lot, but Lily and Mr Gallagher kept her positive, she said.
"I’m not always though. There’s some days my brain has gone to some pretty dark places."
Ms Scott is no stranger to the human cost of cancer — her father, Andrew, also died from the disease 10 years ago.
Her own diagnosis was the end of many long-held dreams.
"You dream of being pregnant and having a baby, a lot of that stuff kind of got taken away.
"We didn’t go to neonatal classes with mums-to-be who were excited and happy because we just felt like we couldn’t share in that feeling.
"You dream of breastfeeding, and I wasn’t able to do that. The fact I had to have my ovaries out when we wanted more than one baby ... all that’s gone."
Denial was also probably helping her cope.
"No part of me thinks I’m only going to be here for a few years. I want to be here for Craig and Lily."
She was certain she was not being brave, as people sometimes said to her.
"I’m just dealing how best I can with a really s... hand I’ve been dealt and there’s no point sitting rocking back and forth being an emotional mess because then I’m just wasting the time I do have."
