Expectations and the best laid plans - my birth story part 1

I thought I was going into this whole pregnancy thing with a pretty realistic attitude. Gain whatever info you can, filter through the junk, and make the best decisions you can for you and your baby. Even with my 'plan' for labor, I realized things could change at a moments notice so I needed to be flexible. I wanted to go natural in a hospital because I know things can go wrong. I also was open to pain meds because I knew I had no idea what labor was going to be like for me, but holding off is best for baby so I was going to give it my best shot. I thought I had a pretty good plan that would make sure my babe would have his best chance making it into this world and adjusting to it through bonding and breast-feeding. I didn't know how it would go exactly, but I thought I had a good idea. So the due date comes and goes, but we don't stress it, this is normal for first timers. What I am stressing is the amount of weight I've gained and that my babe has always seemed to measure large. I was told by quite a few folks that those measurements are usually off and babies are smaller than they estimate. Regardless, my expanding girth had me on edge. I wanted a healthy baby, but I also didn't want to have a difficult recovery. I went in at 40 weeks and 3 days for an ultrasound, he's measuring 8lbs 7oz based off his head circumference, that of his abdomen and the length of his femur. This is and estimate that could be off by a whole pound either direction, but the tech doesn't think he's a 9-pounder. So Chris and I talk about the pros and cons. We had originally set up to induce the following day if things weren't looking right, but fluid was fine and a few days wasn't going to change the babe's weight by more than a few ounces. We agreed that trying to wait through the weekend wasn't a good idea however. Though I'd have another checkup on Friday, we'd have to be ready to turn on a dime if things looked bad. Plus, the longer you wait, the older the placenta gets and you risk a greater chance of a still birth. We agreed the best thing to do was to give it until Friday and if he hadn't come by then, to go ahead and induce. Come Thurs afternoon and I was still having doubts about our decision. What if it really was too soon? Was I just doing it because I was scared of having a big baby? Was this decision saying we didn't trust God and His timing? Ultimately I didn't want to labor for hours only to find out that my baby wasn't going to come out or was distressed and have to do an emergency C-section. So with all my doubts and fears and best intentions, we pressed with the plan. I rested (or tried to, but our power went out shortly after getting home) Thurs evening while Chris did our normal family events by himself. We finally got power back around 10PM, got the A/C going and tried to nap before our midnight show time. We probably didn't actually pull out until midnight, but our bags were in the car with pillows and blanket and we were on our way.