Community Corner

Stony Brook Welcomes First New Baby of 2011

Jaidyn Anthony Sharkey was born at 12:23 a.m. on New Year's Day.

For Amanda Doll, New Year's Day wasn't just the beginning of a new year. It was the beginning of a new life for the 23-year-old Lake Ronkonkoma woman, who gave birth to the first baby of 2011 born at Stony Brook Long Island Children's Hospital at 12:23 a.m. on Jan. 1.

Jaidyn Anthony Sharkey weighed five pounds, two ounces and measured 18 inches, and dozed peacefully under a blanket patterned with frogs and turtles on Monday as his mother reflected on the last two years, which have not been easy.

Doll has a 17-month-old daughter, too – named Aaleemah – whom she has been raising on her own. Doll's own mother isn't around, either, although she does get some help from her father, Tony Doll, and her uncle, Rich Jones.

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"It was really, really hard," she said. "I feel like it definitely made me stronger."

Doll, a stay-at-home mom, briefly lived with Aaleemah in North Carolina, where she said the cost of living is much cheaper. She returned to live with her father in the Sachem area, where she grew up, in February of 2010. And she said she is relieved to have Jaidyn's father, William Sharkey, 22, as a positive influence in her children's lives.

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"[He] is more like a father to my daughter," Doll said. "She has never had a dad."

Aaleemah, who loves to watch her mommy put on makeup and even tries to help sometimes, was a little confused at first when her little brother arrived.

"She thought he was a baby doll," Doll said. "She saw me holding another baby and was like 'Uh uh.'"

Jaidyn was one of 11 babies born on Jan. 1 at Stony Brook, which is slightly higher than an average day at the hospital, according to Susan Little, nurse manager of the Maternity Center. Of those 11 newborns, six were boys and five were girls.

Doll's original due date was Jan. 10, but after a sonogram in late December showed the baby wasn't gaining weight quickly enough, doctors decided to induce labor. A few days after his birth, nurse Ellen Schaefer said Jaidyn is healthy and eating well.

"He's a little peanut," said Schaefer, who has been with Stony Brook since 1989. "We expect him to thrive and be out of here as soon as he can."

Amid the excitement of giving birth to Jaidyn, Doll hadn't yet given any thought to New Year's resolutions.

"Just to be the best mother, give your kids everything they need," Tony Doll suggested.

Amanda Doll nuzzled Jaidyn's forehead for a moment.

"But that's not good enough," she said.


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