For those who like to hear birth stories :)

Oh what a delight to have our little guy in our arms!  Especially after all the waiting :)  A few ladies  have asked about my birth story so I thought I'd share...
We went in early on the 22nd to be induced.  We were only at the hospital a few minutes when we saw (Keith says we were tackled) Cheryl, a nurse in the mother/baby unit who we know from our church.  She was just getting off her shift but said she'd be back at 7 that night.  A wonderful greeting to begin our day :)
We chose Friday the 22nd for a few reasons, one being my favorite doctor (Dr. Jones) in the practice I go to would be on call that day.  She thought I would just need to have my water broken to get things going.  So after my round of antibiotics (I was positive for strep B) she broke it at 9:30.  Things got going but I was making no progress after a few hours (stuck at 2 cm just like the past almost two weeks), so pitocin was started and the contractions quickly got stronger.
Keith was just wonderful through the whole thing, and I remembering commenting that I'm glad I don't have to watch him do this :)  God is certainly wise in assigning our roles!  Before I started pitocin we had alternated walking 40 minutes and monitoring 20 minutes, so at least we weren't stuck in the room, but after pitocin began I was stuck.  Keith read aloud from a book on Jonathan Edwards, and though I have no idea what he was reading, it was soothing to hear his voice.  And he kept me laughing when I wasn't in pain.  As he shared on facebook, the funniest moment was when he pretended to read the ingredients on my IV bag and said high fructose corn syrup was the first ingredient :)  This after we laughed about the nutritional value of all the Popsicles I'd been downing!

Dr. Jones was such an encouragement, even as I made no progress and the hours dragged on.  She was certain I would just progress all at once, which was exactly what happened.  I got an epidural around 5, when I couldn't take the pain anymore and I was still only 2 cm.  The nurse checked me again around 6:15 and I was still 2 cm.  Dr. Jones came in shortly after that, just before her shift ended, and was stunned to hear I still hadn't progressed.  At this point I'm beginning to think I'm going to end up having a c-section because this kid just doesn't want to come out :) but she encouraged me again that she really thought I would go all at once. 
Around 6:45 the nurse checked me again--8 cm!!  Oh, I was so happy!  And within another 15 minutes the nurse had called  the doctor and he was on his way because I was 10 cm.  The doctor now on call was one I had never met and was completely opposite of Dr. Jones. She's very animated and talkative.  He is a much older, quiet, stoic Jewish man.  But he got the job done well!  After about 10 minutes of pushing, there was our precious little BOY!  It really was fun to not know what they would announce.  Since it was after 8, our friend Cheryl was back on duty and she came in to ask if she could take care of us--I was so glad to have her as our nurse! 
We called the grandparents and then I was able to let him nurse.  Then Keith was off to get me some food!!  A huge burrito from Chipotle wouldn't fit in my stomach when I was pregnant, but it was no match for my hunger at the end of that day!   And a Krispy Kreme doughnut too :)  We won't talk about the nutritional value of that :)
Sometime the next day we were about settled on the name Luke.  When Keith brought the kids up just before dinner and Samy says out of the blue "I love Luke!" in her sweet voice, it sealed the deal!
We were discharged Easter Sunday.  Made it home before 1 pm!

Here we are a week later, and I'm feeling good.  Luke is sleeping well, though we had a few really tough nights.  The kids frequently just stop what they're doing and come give him hugs and kisses.  They love when his eyes are open and they talk to him and wave at him.  My mom arrived Monday night and has been a HUGE help!  Don't know what I'd do without her :)