First Cape Girardeau baby of 2009 is an early bird

Abigail Marie Amberger is newest Perryville, Mo., resident and the first baby born in Cape Girardeau County in 2009.

She arrived at 3:36 a.m. on New Year's Day, 19.5 inches long and weighing at 7 pounds, 3 ounces and eight days early. She spent her first day in Southeast Missouri Hospital's neonatal unit, after inhaling some fluid during the delivery.

Tonya Amberger, an office manager for Murray Enterprises, said she started feel uncomfortable shortly after her husband, Wes, returned from a daylong New Year's Eve duck hunting trip with son Zachary, 17.

At 1 a.m., the couple drove to the hospital for what turned out to be a fairly easy delivery, the new mother said.

Wes Amberger, a drafter and estimator for Earthworks Inc., said he plays football and talks sports with Abigail's older brothers, Zachary and Kyle, 14, and hopes to do the same with his daughter. The only big change in the Amberger household, aside for the immediate lack of sleep, will be "lots more pink," Tonya Amberger said, laughing.