Hello World

Cooper Cole Dunaway was born June 15th at 12:18pm. He is a tiny little man, just 5 lbs 14 oz (exactly 2 lbs less than his sister ) and 18 inches long.

Our little birth story...

The plan, as you all know, was to have my mom come on Wednesday June 16th and spend a week with us before Coopers arrival. On Saturday, my mothers intuition and some mild contraction set in and I called my mom and asked her change the ticket and get out here asap. I had a little feeling that our little man would be making an early arrival. She arrived Monday afternoon and we spent the day grocery shopping and playing with Taylor.

9:30 pm on Monday June 14th San Diego was hit with a mild 5.7 earthquake. I had just laid down to go to sleep so I jumped up checked on Taylor and had a good laugh about it with Dusty and my mom. {I don't do earthquakes well, In fact I really can't stand them, they freak me out }

9:40 pm Dusty and I went back to bed, the second I laid down my water broke. Of course!

10:30pm We headed to the hospital, when I got there I was dilated to 3 centimeters and my contractions were irregular and not painful at all.

6am. June 15th. Still 4 centimeters and not progressing. Stubborn Ashley DID NOT want pitocin.

10am... still 4 centimeters, Stubborn Ashley and Nurses have tried EVERYTHING to move things along.

11:00 am Suborn Ashley gives in and gets the lowest amount of pitocin and an epidural (since Pitocin increases your contractions, and pain ) We also a nice little visit with Taylor and Grammie.

11:30 am Nurse checks me ... STILL 4 centimeters... seriously!

12:00 pm I call the nurse because I'm feeling pressure. She checks me and says "oh dear, DO NOT PUSH. Calls my doctor... ( yes, that would be 4 to 10 centimeters in less that 30 minutes)

12:18pm: 3 pushes and Cooper joins team Dunaway.

Cooper was little firecracker from the first few minutes of life. He had quite the upset belly when he was born. The first 12 hours he was very upset, lots of tears and wiggles until he was able to pass some air bubbles through his system and get some much needed milk from mom. WOW he was so hungry ( and he is a great little eater. He loves to nurse ) As soon as he got those air pockets out of his system he melted into the most wonderful, calm creature. He is sleeping well ( a little day/night confusion) eating very well and staying a good schedule for the few days of life.

Taylor LOVES him, she has been gentle and kind and loves to give him kisses. She walks around the house saying Baby Brother Cooper. She is quite the nurturer.

Our whole family is healthy and happy we are smitten by our newest tiny team member and have been counting our blessing every second. Here are some pictures.

Our nurse ( her name is Ashley too) She was darling and beautiful, she has just moved to San Diego from the Midwest. Dusty needed a picture :) to funny!

Grammie and Peanut visit

Minutes before delivery, ready to GO!

Seconds old.

So tiny, look at him compared to Dusty's hand.

Taylor meeting Cooper for the first time.

The hospital let Taylor push a button that played a lullaby around the entire hospital... a little announcement to welcome Baby Cooper to the World. Taylor loved IT!!!!

Family Pictures, So glad Grammie was there to catch these little moments.

Dusty holding little Cooper.

Little Man. He is so alert and strong, it's amazing that a baby so small and skinny can hold his head to well. Strong like his daddy.

Big Yawn.

( please excuse the grammatical errors... I'm a little pooped)