Baby Lily is Here!

The beautiful princess has arrived!!! I will write more very soon! The Lord did abundantly more than I could ask or imagine! Thank you all for your prayers - He was SO faithful to answer!

Welp...in about 2 hours we will be heading to the hospital to have a baby. How very UNREAL that is! It was very shocking when we heard the news and it turned out to be quite an emotional day, but we believe this is the Lord's provision and are trusting in His goodness.

The Dr. had been trying to reach us for the last 2 days and we finally got the message today around 1:00pm. Our weekly check up was scheduled for tomorrow (Wed. July 22) but the Dr. wanted us to come in immediately. When we arrived she explained their concerns...the baby has not been growing for the past few weeks and if we don't get her here soon, we may not get her here at all. At first it was disbelief and denile. We had planned for her to come naturally when she is ready. We were trustsing the Lord. I wanted wisdom from God...not man...and did not want to make any impulsive decisions to induce labor! However, after Jenny (our midwife) checked me (3 cm dialated and 80% efaced), we got another ultrasound and talked to Dr. Andrews, I was convinced that this is what we need to do.

For some reason the placenta has aged too quickly and is no longer providing the nutrients Lily needs. She is healthy right now but each day we wait we risk her becoming distressed and possibly not making it to labor or not making it through labor (in which case a C-section would be necessary). Jenny is an awesome midwife and wants us to have the birth we planned for...as natural as possible. Her #1 concern is for a healthy baby and mommy and she communicated that sometimes it is necessary to intervene. So tonight, at midnight, we head to the hospital. Unless the Lord decides to bring on labor before we arrive, they will give me very small doses of pitocin throughout the night (as we try to sleep..yea right.. so we have energy by morning) to get the contractions started. Once things begin to progress, I am hoping we won't need the pitocin anymore and Lily will come on her own. We are still hoping to do this without drugs so please pray that I would be strong and remember that the Lord made my body to be able to give birth!

After riding that emotional rollercoaster today I am finally feeling at peace with everything and trying to comprehend being a mom in one day! Its a very hard thing to wrap my mind around. Please pray for us! Lily is on the way! Thank you Lord!

She is still in there! Tonight has been another night of more contractions than usual...but nothing really alarming or painful. I could use a couple more days to prepare. We still need to get our dryer fixed. My wonderful husband is going to tackle that project in the next day or so. I think I need to go grocery shopping again...we bought all kinds of snacks for the hospital but we ate most of them already! The Gallagher's need to use more self control when it comes to eating:) If you are reading this, please pray for a fast and safe delivery of Lily Bella. I am getting a little nervous and need to remember that God made my body to be able to do this. He tells us not to be anxious for anything, "but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" Phil 4:6-7.

Went to the Dr. today...I am one centimeter dialated! Whoo hoo:) Lily weighs approximately 5.12 pounds and we have 5 days until she is due. Wow! I can't imagine what life will be like in a week or so!

What a handsome daddy Lily will have:)

One week until Lily is due! I am still very content being pregnant but very excited to meet our little one as well! Here are a few pictures that a dear friend recently took of the belly:)