Welcome to the world Reiter Michael

Friday July 29th was a BIG day! After trying the last few weeks to naturally induce labor so as to have Reiter in July nothing seemed to be working, I was discouraged! We had an appointment on Thursday with our midwife where she said I was 4cms dilated still but Rei had dropped a significant amount (GREAT NEWS). She stripped my membranes again in a last effort to naturally induce labor, and we made a final plan to come to Vanderbilt Saturday morning for the induction.
Well PRAISE the LORD no induction was necessary! I cramped on and off from the appointment and on through the night. We took the girls to my in laws house, had dinner, my brother and his lovely wife came in to join in celebrating Reiters birthday with us! We stayed up late with them and by the time we went to bed (around 12) I was definitely having some contractions but was not willing to believe they were legit. I was able to go to sleep and slept on and off until about 430. I finally woke up for good and knew I was having some good contractions although they were still 10 or so minutes apart. At about 530 I jumped in the shower and continued to contract. By 630 my contractions were about 3 to 5 minutes apart and gaining in strength so I called my midwife and she suggested we come on in!
We got to the hospital at 730 and I was 5cms and contracting regularly. After they got us settled in we took a long walk (we being my mother in law, Kevin and my sis in law Lauren...my brother even joined us for a couple laps)... I felt very supported and confident and was really in a good mood between contractions able to laugh and joke with everyone. They had planned to wait 2 hours to check me again but the contractions picked up significantly so they checked me around 930 I was 7cms. I tried to stand in the shower through some contractions and the pressure of Rei moving down got so intense I felt like I was literally going to have to sit on the shower floor so back to the bed we went!
This is where time goes blank for me. I have to say this birthing experience was neat, my contractions tho incredibly strong were always a solid 3 minutes apart and I was really able to breath between them. They had to try some different positions to get Rei to drop and I quickly got to 9cms and was in transition, this was when I really doubted myself and really needed to hear reassurance from Kevin, (who let me say is amazing!He said everything I needed to hear!), my sister in law was also a huge support as her and Kevin shared in encouraging me, my midwife and a student were there the last couple hours and were great at saying all the right things and helping to position me in ways that really sped labor up. My mother in law was also there cheering and supporting, it was the perfect setting to welcome our son into!
My midwife broke my water at 9cms when Rei wasn't seeming to drop despite me feeling an intense urge to push, breaking my water didn't bring me to complete either so she finally had to push the last part of my cervix over his head (LET ME SAY PAINFUL) as soon as she did that I pushed 3 times and out he came at 1124 am (yes 4 hours after getting to the hospital! Gorgeous big boy 8lbs 8 oz 19 and 3/4 inches with a full head of dark hair. I could not be more in love.
I had a few minor complications after including some clotting that was quickly brought under control and a tear that was hard to repair but am doing well now. Reiter is nursing like a champ and is so sweet, his sisters are totally infatuated with him and Kev and I are looking forward to having all our babies home tomorrow! We are praising God for the health of our son and rejoicing in his birth! We know how richly blessed we are to have 3 beautiful children and so many people surrounding us who love us and our children!