Hi I'm Misty, I'm 28 and currently living in the Chicagoland area. My husband, Tony and I have been together for almost 9 years but have only been married for a few months.

I suffered a miscarriage almost 3 years ago and although we weren't trying to get pregnant again, we weren't necessarily preventing it either so we were both shocked and extremely excited when the test showed positive - as a matter of fact, I took several tests just to be certain :)

We were thinking of some baby names and had a very hard time thinking of girl names so even though we would be happy with a healthy baby no matter if it is a boy or girl, we were kind of relieved when we found out it was a boy because we had already agreed on a name. We wanted a name that was a little different but not so different that we would have to worry about him getting picked on or beat up on the playground :) so we are naming him.......

TROOPER ALAN

Birth Story:

I went to the doctor on Monday the 14th for my weekly checkup and while I was being checked I lost my mucus plug. My induction was scheduled for the following monday but the doctor said that he really felt I would go into labor within the next couple of days.

Tuesday night my husband, mother-in-law and myself went to Red Lobster for dinner and shortly after dinner I was beginning to not feel very well - I had an upset stomach, felt very gassy, and was extremely tired.

Wednesday morning I woke up around 2:30am still not feeling well, I tossed and turned until around 4:30 and finally got up and made something to eat (I ate a huge bowl of cocoa wheats). I remember telling Tony I had a feeling that we would be having a baby soon (in my head I was thinking in a day or two - not today), Tony left for work around 5:15am and my contractions started around 6:30am. I called Tony to tell him that I really wasn't feeling good and I didn't care if it was false labor, I was too scared to be all by myself. While he was on his way home I jumped in the shower to help myself relax and when he got home we timed my contractions at about 3 minutes apart lasting about 1 minute each. We called the doctor on call and she said to head to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital around 7:30am, I was checked and was only about 2cm's and in a lot of pain so I happily accepted the nurses offer for nubain to ease the pain until the anesthesiologist was available to give me an epidural. When I was finally given the epidural it was placed wrong and was not easing my pain, so I had to wait for the anesthesiologist to be available again to pull out the first one and do it again. Once the epidural was in place and working the doctor broke my water and found that it had meconium in it. The doctor told me that it was common in babies who were past their due dates and although it could cause some breathing problems and pneumonia as long as he was suctioned immediately, the chances of any long term problems could be reduced - but of course I was still very concerned. This would mean that Tony wouldn't be able to cut the cord and I wouldn't be able to hold my baby until after all of this was taken care of.

The epidural gave me the chance to take a long nap and save my energy until it was time to push, however once the epidural began to work, it worked a little too well and I was completely numb from the top of my belly to the tip of my toes. When the nurse came in and said that she wanted me to do a couple of practice pushes we discovered that there was no way I could push effectively, so she turned down the epidural and turned up the pitocin and within a half an hour I was ready to push.

At about 5:15pm I began to push and when Trooper's head started to show the nurse brought over the mirror - it's not something I would have asked for because I never thought it was something that I would want to see but I'm really glad she did because when I could see my progress, it made me work even harder to get him out - and before long the nurse said that she was going to page the doctor (yay!!!)

I remember feeling a lot of pressure but not any pain until Trooper was on his way out, then it hurt so bad I didn't think I could do it anymore. I had to have an episiotomy (I'm so glad I was numb for that!) and as soon as Trooper was out he began to cry. He was wisked away to a bunch of nurses who suctioned about 13cc's out of his lungs and stomach but luckily everything else went great. He scored 9's on all three of his APGAR tests and because they were able to get all of the meconium out he has not had any problems with his breathing.

Trooper was born January 16, 2008 at 6:36pm. He weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces and was 21.5 inches long.

This is the bedding we picked - "Pro Flyer" planes and choppers

Valance

Mobile

Lamp

Crib

Changing Table

Super comfy glider

Travel System

Playard

High Chair

Diaper Bag (dad friendly)

Swing