Amy Elizabeth Cooney

The Day Amy was Born

Amy Elizabeth Cooney was born on April 27, 2006 at 4:15pm.  She weighed 7lbs, 15oz. and was 52cm long.  This is her story..........

Everyone thought that amy was going to come early.  She seemed to drop quite low well before my due date.  However, every night I would go to bed thinking, "will it be tonight?", and it never happened.  My regualr doctor went out of town, so I was seeing someone else.  6 days after my due date, I had an appointment and we decided that if I didn't go into labour that night, then I would be induced the following morning.  Well, we woke up at 5:30 and still nothing.  We were at the hospital for 6:00am.  My doctor never showed until 9:00am.  She inserted the prostin (a drug to ripen the cervix and start contractions).  I called Corey to come back to the hospital after that because he had gone home to let out dogs out to pee.  By the time he arrived there at 10am, I was experiencing the beginnings of some contractions.  We went for one walk around the hospital, and after that I didn't feel like walking anymore.  I had some lunch (aka purple popsicle) and the labor progressed. 

I didn't like to sit down during my labour....honestly my most comfortable position was leaning over the bathroom sink.  I got in the shower once, that felt pretty good, and Corey and I had a good laugh because everytime I tried to get in, I would have another contraction and head right back to the sink.  I was checked around 3pm and was told that I was about 6cm.  Thinkgs were pretty intense then, about 30-45 min later I was telling them that I felt like something was coming out of me that I had no control over.....I guess you could call it the urge to push, but I didn't feel like pushing, it just felt like something was coming out......they didn't really believe me and decided to get me some drugs until I could be examined again, but things really happened quickly then.

While my nurse went to get the Demerol, I made my mother go and get her because I could barely keep my legs closed, she came running with a wheelchair and brought me immediately to the labour/delivery room (I wasn't there up until now because it usually takes awhile for an induction). 

There was a lot of activity then, they needed to get another dose of antibiotics into me and they wanted to check the baby's heart rate and then to check how far along I was.  Well Amy's heartrate was dropping and fast.  One of the midwives quickly left the room and had my doctor and the OB/GYN paged saying "it has to come out".  I had a few good pushes, they broke my water, then did and episiostomy and used the forceps delivering out a beautiful baby girl.  (of course I left out a few minor details like Dr. Cooke showing Corey how to hold my hand, but these are the important details).

She was hanging upside down at first, and was all blue and Dr.Cooke kept squeezing mucous from her mouth saying hurry up and cut the cord....I kept thinking I can't hear her crying yet...please let her be okay.

She was okay, and we did finally hear her cry.  The doctor stitched me up while Corey was holding Amy.  I didn't want anyone else to hold her until I got to.  While Heather was weighing and measuring Amy I got in the shower to get cleaned up.  I was then ready to walk down the hall to my room with the baby.  Since my knees were a little wobbly they made me get in the wheelchair to go to our room. 

Once we were in our room, mom and Donna both held Amy, then left us to be alone as a family.  We started the breast feeding right away.  Unfortuneately, the Lactation Consultant was out of town and we had quite a bit of difficulty with it.  Her glucose level was low since she had a bit of trouble at birth, so they had to insert a needle into her foot and give her a dextrose injection for 12 hours our first night.  It did bring up her levels, but they were a little on the low side and she was losing weight. 

We were getting conflicting information from the different nurses, midwives and physicians during our stay, and although Amy was losing weight, no one suggested supplementing with bottles or cup feeding, or that anything was wrong, or that it was too much weight loss, until discharge......

We stayed in the hospital for four days, and were almost not discharged they day we were since they thought Amy had lost too much weight.  They sent us home on a crazy feeding regimen and we got to see the lastation consultant the next day.  She started seeing us twice a week but after 6 1/2 weeks Amy still hadn't gained enough weight. 

We started Amy on formula that tuesday and by friday she had gained a full pound.   Although it was not easy in those first few weeks, I would not change our experience for anything. 

Amy is now the healthy, happy baby in all these pictures, and we all love her very much!

Welcome to my Site!

Hi Everyone.  Our little girl is One Year Old!!!

Its hard to believe how fast a year can go by.  Amy is looking and acting much more like a toddler now than a baby.  She started walking 4 days after her first birthday.  She says all kinds of words now, like Bike, Book, Baby, Bear, Bye, One, Cheese, mum, dad, Abby, Soo (for her Sook), she points to things she wants, brings you things you ask for.  She is such a smart little girl!

Also to note: Amy will be a BIG SISTER in December!

Since our space is limited on this site, we invite you to check out our other website with loads of pictures at

www.amycooney.piczo.com  check it out!

As an update (April 27, 2007) - 1 year old

Weight:  23lbs 11ozLength:   76.5 cm