Our Gender Surprise Delivery!

On June 12th, 2014 we went to Labor & Delivery at 5am for an elective induction.

5:30am- Admission process started

6:00am- IV attempts started. Took 3 RNs & 3 needle sticks before getting a working IV.
6:30am- Pitocin started at 2mu. Cervix at 1.5cm/50% effaced
8:10am- Water broken per OB (AROM). Cervix at 3cm/75%/-2
9:00am- Epidural started (I was assuming I'd labor fast) and it was rough going in. He was digging right and left trying to find midline. It was my most painful epidural placement.
11:45am- Pitocin only at 12mu. Cervix at 4/75%/-1. Got more IV fluid bolus due to variable decels (cord compression during contractions), which in turn spaced out my contractions.
2:00pm- Cervix at 5/80%/0 Finally at 20mu of pitocin
3:30pm- Cervix at 6/80%/0 Asked OB for pitocin max of 30mu but he kept me at 20mu since making progress with the 20mu. Pretty sure he was delaying me till his clinic hours were over.
5:00pm- Cervix at 8/100%/+1 per OB
5:28pm- Complete 10/100%/+2
5:29pm- OB & delivery team in room setting up
5:32pm- Pushing started. Only took 1 push!
5:33pm- Cody announced IT'S A GIRL!

She was born with a loose nuchal cord (cord around the neck) that was quickly reduced by the OB.

6 pounds, 10 ounces & 20 inches long

Introducing...

Georgia Rae Sweatman

Before we even got pregnant I just knew in my heart the name of another daughter would be Georgia Rae. There was practically no discussion over her name. I told Cody it was like someone was telling me that's what it should be. It was already set in my heart and there was no changing it. God is very powerful and I trusted Him completely on this. I'm so blessed Cody loved the name too!

 



Cody's middle name is Ray and he had always said he wanted to pass down his middle name. After having 3 girls we saved it to use for our 4th child no matter the gender. We feel very proud to be able to pass this along to our child! I think it flows beautifully with her gorgeous Southern name!

While I was nursing Georgia & bonding, Cody ran home to get the girls to come meet the new baby. Cody did not tell them nor the grandparents what the gender was. I wanted that announcement to happen in the delivery room! I needed the gender to be very obvious for my girls to figure out so we put a purple bow on her head before they walked into the room. 

We let just the siblings come into the room first to meet their new sister! As soon as Reese saw the bow she said "it's a girl!" They couldn't stop smiling and looking at her! We told them her name is Georgia Rae (which they already knew if we had a girl). 

After each of the girls got a chance to hold baby Georgia we allowed the grandparents to come into the room. My mom instantly noticed all of Georgia's hair! Reese announced her baby sister's name to the grandparents. 







Sweatman Family of 6!

Introducing Scarlett Kate!!

She's here!!!!

Scarlett Kate Sweatman
12/27/11 at 12:37pm
7 pounds 12 ounces, 21.5 inches

Birth Story
We went in for an elective induction at 5:15am on 12/27/11. The first 30 minutes was spent getting me admitted, starting my IV, drawing labs and signing consents.

At 5:45am Pitocin was started

On admit I was 3cm/50% effaced/-3 station

The contractions started almost immediately. I wanted the epidural for sure and was told I could either get it now before they started a scheduled cesarean on another patient or I could wait an hour. I remember having to wait over 3 hours last time due to surgical cases so I went ahead and got my epidural early. It took 3 attempts to get my epidural in this time. The 1st attempt the catheter was threaded into a vein. After the 3rd was placed the epidural was completely one sided. I told the anesthesiologist to come back after the cesarean section and evaluate me. I was numb on my right side but completely mobile on my left and feeling contractions. She ended up pulling the epidural catheter out some which did the trick and I was soon comfortable. 

At 7:44am Dr. V broke my water and I was 4cm/75%.

At 10:56am I was 6cm/-1 station.

At 11:25am Dr. V came to check me and I was 7cm/+1 station and beginning to feel a lot of pressure with each contraction

At 12:23pm I asked to be checked because I was in tears with the pressure at this point. I was 10cm and +2 station!

At 12:32pm I started to push and just 5 minutes later at 12:37pm Scarlett Kate was born!

She was born with a very loose nuchal cord (cord around the neck) which was quickly removed

Our Family of Five!

Nana & Scarlett

Meme, Granddad & Scarlett

Aunt Ashley & Scarlett

We are so incredibly BLESSED! 

Scarlett is our little miracle -- she was God's plan for our family and we are so thankful He protected her throughout the pregnancy and that she is strong and healthy!! 

Introducing Emma Grace!!

She's Here!!

Emma Grace Sweatman 

9/30/10 at 12:48pm

7 pounds, 20 inches

Birth Story

I went in on 9/30, Thursday, at 5:30am for an elective induction. When I was put on the monitors, I was already contracting every few minutes and I was dilated to 3-4cm/75% effaced...so either way Emma was coming!

At 6:30am Pitocin was started

At 7:25am Dr. V broke my water and I was 4cm/80% effaced

At this point I asked for my epidural so that the contractions I was feeling wouldn't get much worse. Unfortunately, they were in the middle of a c-section so I had to wait. Then there was an emergency case and I had to wait more... and more! My nurse refused to increase my pitocin until I was comfortable with an epidural so I sat at a measly 6mu of pitocin for 3 hours! After 3 hours I finally got my epidural, which was heaven :) And the nurse finally started to increase the pitocin.

At 12:05pm I was only 5cm/90% and on 14mu of pitocin. She decided to cut the pitocin down to 7mu because of Emma's heartrate acting a little goofy. I was getting disappointed that I wasn't further dilated at this  point and that my pitocin was barely even on.

All the sudden I felt an intense sharp pain and asked my nurse to check me.

At 12:40pm I was 10cm and +2 station with an intense urge to push. 

My nurse ran out of the room to flag down my OB who was about to start a c-section case. He came in and was shocked I was ready to deliver since I had just been 5cm 35 minutes earlier. He did a test push with me and said "we are ready". 

He did ask me to breathe through the intense pressure in between the contractions instead of just pushing. It was very hard to keep that control, but I did. He seemed to be very impressed and said I was "just going to breathe the baby out".

At 12:48pm (only 8 minutes later) Emma Grace was born!

She did have a loose nuchal cord (cord around the neck, which explains the heart rate issue) which the OB quickly removed.

My labor was only 5 hours (from the time he broke my water to delivery), which is pretty good!

Emma is perfect (just like her sister)! She has a little bit more hair than Reese did at birth. You can't see her eyebrows or eyelashes though (which was the same with Reese). There is much debate on who Emma looks like!! We have heard every combination possible I think ;) She does have some of the same features as Reese did but there is still enough different.

Emma sleeps great, 3-4 hour stretches! Breastfeeding has gotten much quicker the last few days (which is nice since it took an hour to nurse her the first few days). She gets the hiccups just as much as she did in utero :) So far we haven't had any issues with reflux (which was a big issue with Reese).

~Sisters~

~Going Home~

Here are a few "sneak peak" photos from Emma's photo shoot at just 3 days old!