Andrea Kristina's delivery 2011-04-22

With regular contractions 5-6 minutes apart we decided to go to the delivery at around 2 am, Friday morning. My sister came over to sleep with Lovisa, who was deep asleep and had no idea what was going on. We took a cab to the Karlskoga hospital's delivery ward. We were excited but I was a bit worried that I only would be open about 1 cm and stuck in the latency phase, like last time with Lovisa... So I was really pleased to hear from the wonderful mid-wife that I was open 4 cm! That means I'm at least in the active phase! The mid-wife suggested acupuncture for the contraction pain in my stomach so she put needles in my stomach for the pain, one needle on the side of the foot to help the cervix to vanish (yes, GO AWAY!!!) and one on top of my head, for relaxation. So there I was, looking like a hedgehog.

 Hard to see, but the lower part of my stomach is filled with needles

Just above my ankle is the needle that is suppose to help the cervix disappear 

Unfortunately my contractions became weaker and appeared further apart. At 6 am I was still only open 4 cm and the contractions only appeared every 10 minutes. It felt a bit hopeless. We tried to walk in some stairs but it didn't help much. At 7 am I was still only open 4 cm and the contractions still 10 min apart. The mid-wife suggested that we should go home and try to rest and wait for the contractions to start again, I was probably still in the latency phase 4 cm open! God, I hate the latency phase!!! It felt hopeless, but home we went and when I stepped in to the hallway the contractions started to feel stronger again! I tried to rest but the contractions were a bit to painful so instead I took a warm shower and we had a nice breakfast. Around 12 am the contractions were about 4 minutes apart and pretty strong so we took the same cab, with the same driver (!) back to the delivery. 

Now I was 6-7 cm open and full with hope when the mid-wife declared that this time they wouldn't send me home! TENS machine on maximum, heating pillow on my belly and Lamaze breathing! We took another walk to really get the contractions going and had a nice ice cream in the sun outside the hospital. It took a while to eat it, breathing through the contractions, but it went down!

Coffee and cookies sitting on a fitness ball with heating pillow on my belly and TENS machine on my back at maximum

Another mid-wife took over at 3 pm and it felt bloody nerve wracking when she examined me and declared it was still at 6-7 cm. Nothing had happened for 3 hours! My god this baby is really stubborn! We decided to break the water to get things moving. With a big diaper the water came in big floods making poor H to wipe up amniotic fluid from the floor, my legs and shoes... And the contractions! Now we're talking pain! Things were really happening down there, I could feel it! H was really excellent when the contractions started to be heavy. He cooled me down with wet towels, massaged my back, let me squeeze his hand as hard as I wanted (I'm pretty strong!) and giving me encouraging comments. I finally realized I needed something more than my breathing and started with the laughing gas. Thank god for the laughing gas! Even though it doesn't make the pain go away it makes the whole thing a bit easier... I also got acupuncture for the burning pain in my back and on the side of my legs and it really helped!  

I was in the bed, on my knees, leaning over the head of the bed (which was raised) when I felt a big pressure down and an urge to push. H got the mid-wife and finally! I was almost open 10 cm and the baby's head was almost down. This was around 7 pm so I had many hours of contractions behind me. I wanted to give birth in the squatting position on the floor with H behind me, giving me support. This position, however, didn't work. The contractions once again got weaker and the urge to push disappeared. We moved to the bed, me on my knees leaning over the raised head of the bed. The mid-wife wasn't pleased with the decreasing contractions so she said she would go out and get a oxytocin drip to trigger the contractions. My uterus was probably tired after almost 2 days with contractions. I felt a big "No" coming up inside me, when she said the word drip, and when I had the next contraction I pushed so my eyes almost popped out of my head. The mid-wife was impressed, the baby was coming out! One more big push and I almost felt like bursting, the head was out and under the next contraction the little slippery body came out. She landed in the bed between my legs. It was an unreal feeling. So much pain and so many contraction and there she was. All blue and white, not pretty at all, but the most beautiful and loved baby in the whole world! Andréa Kristina Bouma. 

H is cutting the umbilical cord

The first breastfeeding, only minutes old...

The reward, swedish "fika"

Skin to skin with papa

4 girls and 1 boy was born the 22th of April at Karlskoga hospital

Lovisa's first meeting with her little sister - love!

Tired but happy!

Hungry!

Happy!

Me and my Dolly Parton boobs

On our way home!

Andréa and me stayed 3 days at the delivery ward and it was so great. I got a chance to recuperate and to start the breastfeeding. H and Lovisa visited during the days. I would like to thank the amazing staff, if I ever will have another baby (no, we're NOT planning another one, but you never know) I want to have it at Karlskoga Hospital! They rock!