I sit here typing this blog reflecting back on the last 13 weeks... (Yes, Savannah is now three months old and I have yet to update this blog since she was born.)

Our lives changed forever the moment I gave birth to the most amazing little baby in the world.
In the last three months I have watched this perfect angel grow and smile and laugh and coo. I have been so fascinated with her progress that I have not had the time and desire to write, all I do is talk to Savannah and stare at her. I thought I did owe it to myself and those of you who read this her birth story, even if just a 'Readers Digest' version, and an update of how life has been since.

Welcome to the world Savannah Noel Hage.

Savannah was born October 4th, 2010 at exactly 1:15 pm.

I watched the video of her arrival in the world this evening for the first time. I have to admit that I did tear up when I re-experienced her birth.

She was 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19 inches long. From the moment that she left my belly and entered our lives, we have felt such a joy that we cannot describe. In fact, we had never truly understood what love is until we met her.

Our labor and delivery wasn't simple. It took days and a long two hours of pushing.

My body wasn't progressing or cooperating to allow for a vaginal delivery, so, my doctor suggested induction at 40 weeks.

Our first attempt at induction was a bust... a heart crushing bust. I was so ready to meet our little girl. We were scheduled to be induced on September 30th, but as we met with that doctor on the Thursday morning, he gave us the news... we weren't ready. Even the baby wasn't quite in position for a swift delivery.

So, we rescheduled.

On Sunday evening, October 3, 2010 we arrived at our hospital, more optimistic that our little angel would arrive the following day. I was going to be given a cervix ripening agent. This was the second time I had to undergo a ripening treatment and this time it had to work.

The medicine did its job and I, almost immediately, started having contractions. These contractions, oddly, were not painful. My tummy would tighten every 70 seconds. This went on for several hours. then, at 1:15 am, my water broke! I was officially in labor!

According to the video I saw tonight, that's when the contractions actually started to hurt, but I don't remember them being too painful.

Of course, I am sparing you all a lot of the bloody details and yes, pardon the pun.

Rick and I were so excited. We were finally going to meet our love bug... one way or another.

Our doctor, was not as enthusiastic about a vaginal delivery. He informed us that a c-section was likely if I didn't fully dilate in a few hours. When my water broke and I officially started dilating, Savannah moved into the birth canal. The doctor was a little worried that she was tucked in the canal too long and that my bone structure may not permit a vaginal birth as well. Knowing he had to treat two patients, we took the cards we would be given. But almost two hours on the dot went by, and I was fully dilated!

We had the most amazing experience at our hospital. Our nurses were so wonderful and attentive. We fell in love with Nurse Rita, who made sure to take the pain out of labor. She tucked pillows under all of my appendages and then did the same for Rick. It was called the Rita "fluff and buff" and it made the experience a lot more comfy for us! She held my hands and head during my epidural and encouraged us as we prepared to be new parents. Sadly, Rita's shift was over before we delivered our munchkin.

Let me tell you, I married the best man on the planet. Rick never left my side. My epidural didn't exactly work the whole time. In fact, the pain was so terrible while I was dilating that last couple of centimeters that I was certain that some how, someone messed up! Rick helped me through that like a pro. He whisked me out of the hospital and to our honeymoon in Maui. Instead of feeling the pain of labor, I was visualizing...feeling the sun and the sand. We were swimming with sea turtles and watching the beautiful Hawaiian sunsets. It helped me so much!

Before we knew it, it was time to push!

We were at the point where I was sure that my husband would be sitting in a chair right next to my shoulders. Boy was I wrong. Rick was right there holding my legs and counting down contractions! He was a true coach and just as excited to meet our daughter!

Two hours later and a lot of pushing too, little Savannah Hage was here!

Parenthood begins with love

Rick holds his little girl constantly. I have never seen him more proud of anything. She is a gorgeous baby- complete with thick blond hair and possible blue eyes and we feel she is so in tune with us. She came out of the womb alert and aware of who her parents are.

Over the last several weeks, Savannah has grown in so many ways. She looks like she has doubled in size, she has filled out.Her hair remains blond, but instead of platinum, she is golden. She also has some of the bluest eyes I have ever seen.

Her eyes are always open. She is one of the most alert babies I have ever seen. She loves to look around and she fights going to sleep. Late at night, she defiantly tries to keep her eyes open as if she is afraid to miss anything!

With each passing Monday, she grows a week older. During week 6 we started seeing lots of smiles! ( Although, her first smile came to us around four weeks old). She is cheerful and happy in the mornings, after she is done sleeping in of course.This morning, she was cooing and smiling! She is happiest when we talk to her and smile at her, things I certainly miss experiencing all day now that I am back at work.

Parenthood means a lot of worrying

When Savannah was born, she had some bruising on her little head, which caused her to be a little jaundice. Our pediatrician wanted her to sleep on a Ultra Violet Ray blanket, called a Billi-Blanket. This was the first health related matter that had Rick and I worrying. Never get on WebMD and search out your particular ailment... it is so scary.

So, the worry began early and it wasn't long before we had another big scare. The beautiful thing that many states are doing to better treat congenital defects is newborn screening. The ugly fact of that is... sometimes... something pops up. In our case, it was the gene for Cystic Fibrosis. We were so scared that our little beautiful baby was not going to live a full, healthy life filled with sports, outdoor activities and the possibility of children of her own. The mere thought of all of the struggles she could endure broke our hearts. We were required to undergo some testing. It was called a sweat test, that basically examines the salt in her sweat to determine if she has the disease. When we received that call, the newborn ether that we had been on suddenly faded and the concern and fear of the fragility of our perfect blond baby.

We woke up long before the sun was up to make our 5:45 am appointment at Phoenix Children's Hospital to learn our fate. The test required Savannah to have her arms wrapped in cellophane, so, that she could sweat onto a round ph paper. Savannah did great during the test, she took it all in with little fuss. We patiently waited for the results of her test for 24 long hours. In those hours we came to peace with the idea that she "could" be sick. We prayed very loudly as we went through all of the emotions and started planning for the worse case scenario. When the phone rang the next morning, we were on pins and needles. Happily, we took the news that our golden nugget did not have cystic fibrosis. We were so relieved, our baby is healthy.

Savannah Banana

Savannah continues to amaze us. Just today she was sitting in her little chair by herself and began squealing and laughing. She is happy and that's something that Rick and I feel extremely blessed about. We have heard horror stories about early parenthood, but I guess we dodge a bullet on that. She has only four cries... Hungry, tired, wet/poopy, and if she has gas. She only melts down when she is way past tired. We are also blessed to get between 5 and 7 hours straight of sleep a night. It seems Savannah enjoys her sleep as much as we do. I am sure she will make up for this later on in life as a teenager trying to sneak in after missing her curfew. Until that time though, we will continue to kiss her little cheeks as she sleeps soundly and appreciate our little blessing who gives these new parents more sleep than we expected... I am going to go ahead and knock on wood now.