Happy Birthday Benjamin!

This time a year ago, I was laying in a hospital bed waiting on my precious baby to make his/her entrance into the world. Here is Benjamin's birth story:
I woke up early early (2:30 AM) on Monday morning April 26 having to go to the bathroom again. I got up and started "peeing" on myself before I had gotten to the bathroom. I immediately told Richard that "I think my water may have just broken". He was up & dressed within 5 seconds! Of course, I had never done this before so I didn't really know what it felt like to have your water break. He called the doctor and she told me to make my way to the hospital.
So we got ready and headed out the door. We pulled up to the hospital about 3:30 AM and actually had to wait in line to check-in. There were 4 other girls waiting whose water had also broken. I still had not started contractions yet at this point so I still wasn't sure if my water had actually broken.
We got check-in and the lead us to triage where a nurse came in and checked me for active labor. Sure enough my water had broken, but I was still only 3 cm dilated! I had been that for almost 3 weeks. The nurse told me to sit back and relax cause it might be a long time!
We got moved to the delivery room. About 7:00 my parents arrived. We all waited and waited! I got my epidural around 7:30 which hurt like nothing else I had ever experienced. The technician had to do it 2 times to get it right. Never let an almost completely trained tech do your epidural! After that was all over, I was feeling pretty good. I didn't ever notice any contractions till right before I got my epidural. They weren't that bad yet, thank goodness.
During the rest of the day, I laid in bed waiting around and getting checked about every hour. Richard's family showed up about 2:30 when Diana got out of school. I was still only 6 cm then.
Finally about 7:30, the nurse came in and checked me again because I was having some bad back labor then. Sure enough it was time! Finally 10 cm! The anesthesiologist had to come in to give me an extra pain dose since it had been so long since I had gotten my epidural, it had started wearing off.
My doctor came in a few minutes later and said let's do this. I don't think I had ever worked so hard for anything in my life. At 8:31 PM, Benjamin Clark Weakley was born! Richard got to tell me "It's a boy". We had decided to wait to find out the gender until this time. It was the best decision we made. The surprise was so much fun!As soon as he came out, the doctor put the sweet little boy on my chest and it was love at first sight. That moment is the most memorable moment ever! Richard and I just stared at him forever. We couldn't believe the moment had actually arrived. After they had cleaned Benjamin up and fixed me up. Richard went to the waiting room to announce the arrival. Everyone cheered! No one even new the names we had picked out because we hadn't officially decided till on the way to the hospital. Soon after, the visitors started arriving and we got to show off our precious bundle of joy that God has given us.
Benjamin,
You are an amazing beautiful creation of God. We thank him every day for you and are the luckiest parents ever! Thank you for coming into our lives! We love you so much and can't wait for the many years to come to watch you grow into a young man.
Happy 1st Birthday!
We love you,
Mommy & Daddy