Happy Birthday Savannah~Oct 29, 2008

Savannah Michelle Leonard

Born 10/29/01

10:10 pm

8 lbs 7 oz

21.5" long

Savannah was due Nov. 17th. Three days befor Cassandra's birthday. According to doctor hottiepants I got pregnant the same week in Feburary for both girls. His suggestion was that I get a warm blanket and a new hobby since February is obviously my freaky month LOL. it was a rough pregnancy with pre-e (toxemia in those days), anxiety attacks, swelling, etc. our first ultrasound didn't show that she had any kidneys. we had to wait 3 weeks to get a level 2 ultrasound to find out if she actually had them or not. that was a long 3 weeks to wait to find out what to do or what to expect next. 9/11 happened and i had panic attacks and insomnia. some nights i thought i would lose my mind. oh ya, and i was still working full time from home too ;-)

Shane and I bought a house that was under construction. We had our final walk through and got our keys on the 27th I believe. We worked all weekend. We finished boxing. I had friends coming out of the woodwork to help us move boxes and such so I wouldn't work too hard. Our movers were scheduled for Monday morning (29th) at 8:00 am. We were living in a horrible tiny rental. with no dishwasher. and no stove. and it was 900 square feet. and did i mention it had no stove? Around midnight I was having terrible pains...kept shuttling myself to the bathroom thinking it was a tummy trouble because hell's bells...this baby had 3 more weeks to go. Finally at 4:00 I called the triage nurse and she told me to go to the hospital. I told her it was gas, it was constipation, it was not time to have this baby. I waited an hour and woke Shane, called Andy and Julie to stay with cassandra. I don't even think I took the hospital bag because 1. it wasn't packed and 2. it wasn't time to have this baby!

we get to the hospital triage, i get all hooked up. she checks me. dialated to 4, 90% effaced and contractions 4 min apart.

really?

so i'm there...shane has to leave to meet the movers and all hell breaks loose from there.

my labor is slow, i walk, i do pit, all the while...movers show up, storage unit is closed (who knew?) so they do a half-assed move and shane high tails it to the hospital. cassandra has never stayed away from us at that point and i'm a wreck because i hadn't prepared her for that because hell, i had 3 more weeks! my parents and grandma are living in oregon. shane's parents are seperated. we are basically on our own at the hospital. a far cry from the hordes of people we had waiting for us in the lobby for cassandra's grand arrival. still, there was something peaceful about knowing it was just us and no mob scene outside.

delivery was pretty uneventful...she was a beautiful baby with tons of black hair, big blue eyes. she was a good size, 8 lbs 7 oz for a baby 3 weeks early. she slept 5 hours at a time from the moment she was born. we went home 3 days later. i remember my MIL came to stay at our house with cassandra that day. we walked in the front door of this wreck-of-a-home and we said to cassandra "do you know who this is?" and she said "yep, that my cubby bear" and we called her cubby ever since.

i hear a lot that savannah is just like me. i don't know if that calms or frightens me, lol. she is full of energy. full of imagination. full of songs and movie quotes. she has turned into a blond haired, blue eyed, freckle faced girl. she had a rough babyhood with chronic ear infections but we made it through.

she is cassandra's best friend. she is griffin's partner in crime. she is alyssa's entertainer. she is her daddy's little cowgirl. when savannah hugs you, she hugs you with her whole heart and soul. her hugs could melt icebergs.

she is forever my cubby bear. i love you savannah.