Best Blessing EVER!!!

I've decided to start blogging for a few reasons:  1. It's a great way to keep track of events in our life! 2. It's an easy way for family to keep track of us, since we are all over the country!  3. It's a great way to show off our little man. :)  Asher Cade is the love of our life, and each day brings more joy than the last.
I'll back up just a minute to do a quick recap of his entry into the world!  Asher was due on October 17th, 2012.  This was an earlier due date than his orginial one, because at the 19 week ultrasound he was measuring "big."  The original due date was October 26th. 
At my 38 week appointment my midwife, Lauren asked if I wanted to be "checked." I agreed because I had nothing to lose!  Turns out I was 3-4cm dilated and about 90% effaced!  In baby terms, that means I was almost halfway through labor!  Craziness!  She told us to pack our bags, that it could be any minute.  Lauren was also surprised that I wasn't feeling more pressure or in pain.  I was grateful to be already on my way to having Asher, but it made life a little challenging!  It was a game of hurry up and wait!  Lauren got us excited, so everyday I'd wait for some sign of actual labor. 
At my 39 week checkup I was a "solid 4cm."  Ridiculous that this baby wasn't on his way!  At this point we put ourselves on the schedule for an induction, just in case, because the hospital was very busy, and it was easier to cancel an induction than try to get on the schedule at the last minute. 
Another week went by, and by my 40 week checkup I was pretty annoyed!  Not that I couldn't wait another few days to meet little man ( after all he was going to be with us for the next 18 years or so), but every day when I walked into work I'd hear 'are you still here??  Haven't you had that baby yet?'  Obviously not!!  
At my 5 days late appointment my midwife Evelyn did a sweep of my membranes to try and get things going.  I felt a lot of pain and cramps but no contractions!  So we'd go ahead with the induction the next morning.  That night I had a slight panic attack.  Was this the right thing to do- evict our baby from his happy cozy place?  I was very worried about him getting too big though.  At my 38 weeks appointment it  was estimated that he was 'a good 7.5-8lbs.'  How big could he get just hanging out in there?!  I took comfort in the fact that my midwives thought we'd just need to break my water and not do a lot of meds because I was already so dilated.  My mom was on her way from Dacula, so onward we pushed!! 
The next morning we left the house at about 6:40am.  Everyone was very friendly and we got all settled into the room.  I'll skip most of the details but the short version is: Lauren broke my water at 7:40am, we walked and were monitored for a few hours, I started pushing at about 12pm, and our little miracle was born at 1:29pm.  I checked and counted his fingers and toes first and told him Happy Birthday.  Jayme was overcome with emotion and we were both relived!  The last 3 months and 2 weeks have been amazing, and I feel like the luckiest mommy in the world!  Take a look at some of the first pics of our sweet baby!