My Prayer for Hannah

As Hannah's due date quickly approaches, I am filled with many different emotions.

I am excited to be a mother - something I have been wanting to be since I was a child.
I am scared to be a mother - that is a lot of responsibility and it's a 24 hour/7 day a week job!
I am excited to have her out of my tummy - ready to have my body back!!
I am scared to have her out of my tummy - it's a lot more work once she's out. ;-)
I am excited to add her to our family - it's been a long time coming!
I am scared to add her to our family - we have a good thing going here...why mess with it?

You can see that my emotions about this upcoming event are back and forth!  I have these mixed emotions throughout the day and have been dealing with these ups and downs for a few weeks now.  Brian, on the other hand, is thrilled about everything!  He can't wait for her to be here and makes sure to let me know that all the time. :-)  It really is precious to see how excited he is!!  I am SO thankful for his joy and excitment!  The Lord has truly blessed me with a husband who will be an AMAZING father!  I so look forward to seeing him hold her for the first time.  It will be a moment I will never forget.

So, in this time of emotional ups and downs, I have been spending a lot of time in prayer for Hannah and her birth.  I thought it would a good idea to write down some of my specific prayers for her birth and life.  That way, I can look back and see how the Lord has answered my prayers.  Also, I wanted to share these prayers so that you could pray too!  We appreciate so much the prayers of our family and friends during these past few years.  First the prayers were for us to get pregnant...the Lord answered our prayers!  Then you have been praying for a healthy pregnancy...so far, the Lord has blessed this pregnancy and it has been very uneventful!  Now, we would love for you to pray with us for Hannah's birth and life.

Here are the specific prayers we have:

• That Hannah would continue to grow healthy and strong in the remaining weeks before her birth.
• That the remainder of my pregnancy would be uneventful and as pain-free as possible (that the heartburn would subside, that my fingers wouldn't be as sore and swollen, that the nausea would remain limited, etc.)
• That Hannah would arrive a little bit early (maybe a week or so) - We have been praying for a birthday of Feb. 28th for some time now.
• That we would be able to have a med-free delivery and be able to do the majority of the laboring at home.  Also, that I would have a pain-free labor and that recovery would be easy.
• That Hannah would be perfectly healthy and not a "big" baby (remember, we are trying to do this med-free!) :)
• That Hannah would be a happy baby and pleasant to be around!
• That breastfeeding would come naturally and easy for both myself and Hannah and that she would be a good sleeper!
• That Hannah would come to know the Lord at a young age!
• That Hannah would have a heart for the things of the Lord and His people and that the Lord would use her in a special way!

Thank you so much for your prayers!  We know that the Lord has Hannah's life and my own in His hands, and we are so thankful for that!  We trust that He will work everything out perfectly!