My pregnancy went very well. It was pretty much uneventful with no complications. I gained a ton of weight, but other than that, all was normal.
My due date was May 31, 1997. May 29th in the evening I was helping my husband repaint our kitchen cupboards. Everything out of our cupboards was in the living room. I mean, coffee cups were piled up on the sofa, etc. We got the 1st coat of primer on then headed for bed. An hour or so later I was awakened with what seemed like menstrual cramps. Nothing painful, but I still couldn't sleep. This was 12:30 am. May 30th.
I got up and walked around the house. I had lost my plug and started to have bloody show around 2:00 a.m. The contractions still were not painful, but they were only five minutes apart. I woke up my husband and around 3:00 a.m. we left for the hospital.
I arrived at the hospital around 3:30 a.m. and was examined by a nurse. She told me that I wasn't in labor, that I had a bladder infection and it was causing my uterus to contract. She also said that I was only a fingertip dilated, but would "keep me around" until the doctor came in at 7:30a.m. She didn't come back to check on me.
At 7:30 the doctor walked in and checked me. I was four cm! He broke my water. By 8:30 I was in severe pain! The nurse told me to have a shower, I got in, and jumped right back out! No shower was helping me. All I wanted was pain relief. I got a shot of Demerol at 9:00. It didn't help the pain, it just made me stoned. However, by 9:30 I was fully dilated and ready to push.
I was told by hospital staff that I was really lucky, especially for my first pregnancy. That this labor went very fast! (I didn't think so!)
I started pushing at 9:40 and at 10:15 a.m. on May 30, 1997 our daughter was born, healthy and as beautiful as can be! Ashli Elizabeth Penney weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and was 19 1/8 inches long.
Our daughter is now almost four years old and we're actively trying for another, let's hope she has a little brother or sister soon.
