One week old

Ireland Faith is one week old today! Crazy to think what was going on with us one week ago!

Things (as usual with a newborn) have been really busy so I haven't been able to update. As was written earlier Ireland has jaunice and we' ve had to take her to the dr. a few times for that. The highest was 17.6 so we started a bellirubin (?sp) blanket. She is in it all the time except to feed. We will go again to get it checked tomorrow. Pray that it has lowered to the safe zone and she can get off the blanket. Will write more later and have more pics later too.

More pics

Dad and Mom Ice came down on Friday afternoon. What a blesssing they have been. but sadly they have to leave on Sunday morning to go back to Indiana. I (Dayna) have a little more pain and recovery coming b/c of the birth. But, hey, I'm able to stand up and walk into my kitchen etc. Isabelle loves her baby sister and likes to mimic her when she makes noises and cries. Here are some pics of Ireland Faith. What an amazing blessing from God it is to have her home and healthy with us. She does have jaundice and we have to take her to Greenville tomorrow am for a check. Pray that it goes down. Enjoy the pics. Thanks for your prayers. God is good!

Baby Video

Ireland Faith Ice

Dayna came off her meds at 9:00 AM yesterday. She went to the doctor and was checked. They said it would take 6 hours for her meds to wear off. Sure enough, we went in the hospital at 12:00, they sent us home around 2:00 PM because her contractions were only 6 minutes apart and she was only 4 cm dilated :). So we went home. But around 3:00 PM her contractions picked up and she began to have them every 2 min, and they were a lot stronger and painful. We got the hospital around 4:45 and she was in extreme pain. They were full. By the time the doc saw her she was 9 cm and he said Let’s have this baby! She started labor at 7:00 and ended when baby Ireland was born at 7:56.

Ireland Faith Ice was 6 lb 6 oz and 19 ½ inches long. Dayna is still recovering and has more pain than she expected. Ireland slept through the night but she didn’t. Ireland had low blood sugar at first but the Lord allowed that to quickly rise in the next couple of hours.

Praise the Lord for 36 weeks. We were praying specifically the Lord would allow Dayna to go to 36 weeks and the Lord showed His grace on the very day. Ireland was more 36 wks and 0 days.

Here are some pictures and a video. Sorry I couldn’t load all of them up. I had some trouble. We will definitely put more up later.

To the Hospital

We went to the doctor and dayna stopped her medicine at 9:00 AM. She was 4 cm dialated and completely thinned (which she has been since 27 weeks). She is having a lot more contractions now (8 to 9 from 11:00 to 12:00). Thanks for your prayers. The Lord is good. Praise His name.
Ben

36 Weeks!

Can't hardly believe that I'm finally able to write a blog for being 36 weeks (officially tomorrow) along!! One of the verses that I read today was from Psalm 83:18, "That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth." And as I thought on this verse I thought, "yes!" this is the desire for my life during this trial and during every coming day in my life. For those who I'm around (our children included) may know that God is LORD and that He is ordaining and over all our life and all things. And that this would cause me to love and adore Him more and those in my sphere of influence to love and adore Him more.

We praise God that in His mercy He has given us 36 weeks and answered this prayer of ours (and yours). At times it was hard to pray for the date of Aug.15th esp. in May when we were uncertain of many things. But Ben and I would talk and he would ask me, "Do you trust that God knows what is best?" "Do you think God can do this if He wants to?" And I would take a second, think, and reply with, "Yes." Well then, he would say, we need to be asking God IN FAITH, BELIEVING that He will do this and leave the rest to Him. So, that is what we sought to do. No, I wasn't always perfect at it, but by God's grace He helped us to call upon Him daily in faith, believing that He could do what at times (w/lots of contractions and things changing each week) seemed impossible.

What now? I will go to the dr. tomorrow morning (9:30am). She will check to see if I'm dialated and we'll go from there. I will probably stop my pump medication at the dr or soon after. The phone nurse told me today that the medication gets completly out of my body w/in 6 hours. I'm having pretty consistent contractions now w/ the meds so I sure they will quickly increase in frequency w/o meds. We will try to post when we know something tomorrow.

Videos

Here are a few videos of Isabelle. The one is her taking a ride on Daddy's shoulders. She loves to do this! The others are of Isabelle begging for food from her Mommy's plate; which she does quite often. And yes, now you have a not so lovely view of my bedrest eating style. Nope, I never sit up, not even to eat! Looking forward to eating at the table like a normal person very soon!

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Dr. Update

Isabelle seems to have gotten a cold and fever. Please pray that she gets better FAST so that she's not sick when the baby comes. This also makes things extra hard on Ben being able to work and get things done. Pray for him as well.

Well, I went to the dr. for my checkup today and all went well - praise to the Lord!! I had an ultrasound and the baby is measuring to be 5lbs 12oz (measuring 3 days ahead). She is also head down. They are going to keep me on my meds. til 36 weeks (next Wed.). I'll see the dr. next Wed. for a checkup and to check my cervix. Then, time will tell when Ireland Faith will arrive!

When I went on bed rest on May 17th, August 15th sounded so far away yet God gave us that specific date to pray for and He has so wondrously been answering! We know that it's not us who did anything to merit His abundant goodness toward us, but His righteousness and mercy. "The Lord is good to ALL, and His tender mercies are over all His works."

Thank you for all of your faithful (continued) prayers. Praying that a healthy baby will be born and able to come home with us with no NICU stay! Will put up a 35 week picture later today or tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 4th anniversary!! I'm so thankful to be married to the best man ever and my best friend! Ben does so much for me and he always thinks of special things to surprise me with. He loves me more than I even know and is so sacrificial toward me. I love him more today and more with each day that passes. We praise God for how He has brought us together and given us 4 years of growing in our love for each other and in our love for our Saviour! (the pics are a scanned that's why they look kinda bad)

34 Weeks!!

Yay, for 34 weeks!
"Hi baby sister"
We're at 34 weeks today!!! We continue praise God for His goodness, faithfulness, and mercy to us and to this baby over these 11 weeks on bedrest. I went to the dr. yesterday and no real news to share. I'll go again next week and have an ultrasound to check the baby's size and position. Some of you have known that the dr.s were planning on taking me off all my contraction meds at 35 weeks. This would most likely mean I would have the baby very soon there after. Thankfully though, they told us yesterday that I'd stay on the meds til 36 weeks. What date is that???? August 15th! The date we've been praying for and will continue to pray toward. We sure are grateful for all of you who have been so faithful in uplifting us in prayer all these weeks.

The last few nights have been rough going for me. I've had 7 contractions in 1 hour in the evenings lately with more lower back pain. 7 is a few too many to have. Pray that the contractions will decrease and the baby will stay inside to keep cooking and growing!! Above are some pics we took yesterday.

News from the couch!

* Above are a few pictures of Isabelle. She loves to climb up on things these days esp. this chair. Sometimes she can get down and other time it's..."Daddy, hep (help)!" Many ask how Isabelle is doing w/ all of this and she has become her own little person the past 2+months. She does really well. Though we hate to have to send her to house after house, day after day we are thankful that she enjoys going and for those who have kept her-free of charge! :) Her vocabulary seems to grow each day and it so fun to hear her trying new words. Though she doesn't quite have Ireland down yet, just "I..." She tries! :)

*33 1/2 weeks!! Yay!! 10 weeks on bedrest...not so yay! Yes, 10 weeks of complete bedrest is becoming harder by the day sometimes. Today I was actually getting even a little weapy about the whole thing. But it was amazing how as Ben and I took time to read the Bible together and pray together the peace, comfort, and encouragement from God's Word we received. To keep the right perspective - heavenly is key to pressing on through a hard time. God continues to shower us w/ His goodness and mercy daily!

*The evenings have been more active in the contraction area the last few days. 5-7 in an hour! A few more than is liked and not the most comfortable thing. Please continue to pray that the contractions will lessen and my cervix won't dialate.

33 Weeks!!!

The news that you've all been waiting for --the name!!! We are 98% sure this is going to be her name... Ireland Faith Ice

We chose Ireland because we heard the name, thought it was pretty, and went well w/Isabelle. Faith because God is always faithful and He has increased our faith throughout this pregnancy. And Ice because that's the only "cool" last name to have!

"The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works!" We praise God for 33weeks today. I had a pretty rough past couple of days - lots of extra contractions, lower back pain, having several extra doses of medicine, and more monitoring than normal. Yesterday I had 5 contractions in one hour and a heightened level all day. The phone nurse last night said that it could be that my uterus is trying to grow more and it doesn't like to. I'm feeling better so far today so that's a blessing! Still praying for 2-3 more weeks!!!

Little Update

JUST IN...BABY GIRL ICE NAME RELEASE TOMORROW!!!

Isabelle?... Looks like but...it's Ben!


I'm 33 weeks on Wednesday and we're thrilled. No dr. visit this week, just get to stay in bed. Oh, and get my weekly progestrone shot in the hip...yippee!! Please pray as I've been having some lower back pain the last couple of days and some contractions that are more uncomfortable than usual. We would love not to have this baby til at least 35 weeks and we're crying out to the Lord to continue answering in
this way. Please keep praying w/ us.

New pics & video

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Isabelle LOVES seeing herself on video! Here is a video of some words that Isabelle can say. I was having a hard time thinking of all her words so that's why some are repeated. :)

32 weeks!!

32 weeks

isabelle grace in her pretty dress
fun with daddyShout it from the roof tops...I'm still at HOME!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The dr. appt went well today. We had a growth check on the baby and she looks GREAT --Praise to the Lord!! She is 4lbs 5oz. w/everything measuring right on target or a little ahead. Her head is DOWN--WAY DOWN!!!! The nurse had to tilt the bed nack in order to try and get the little girl to come up a little. We asked the dr. if this was okay and he said yes b/c of all that has progressed already and she's been real low the whole time. Thr dr. decided not to check me for dialation again so as to not start anything. I was glad for that! He'll see me back in 2 weeks.

We have a sweet girl helping us til Friday. She's been a super great help w/ isabelle, cleaning, and making goodies to try and get me fat!! :) It's a blessing to see such a young life with such a servants heart. (Not everyone would enjoy watching a beached whale (maybe dolphin :)) lay on a couch all day..ha) We know their family from WI and they were very gracious to send her here for 10 days. Thanks Megan!

Keep up all the praying--God is answering!!! All praise to HIM! Enjoy the new pics. ;)

31 1/2 weeks

Since we haven't updated since Tuesday I thought I put a quick update up. The last couple of days I've had a few more contractions than we'd like. Last night I had 6 in one hour. Thought we might have to go to the hospital but after a dose of the brethyne med. I slowed down to 3 the next hour. Praise God for each day at home and each day with the baby in!

Yesterday I was a little sad after seeing some pics of someone we know who is around the same gestation as I am and seeing that they are able to wear such cute clothes and do all the fun summer things. But God was so gracious to turn my mind to Him and to prayer and His Word. I was reminded of what I should be thinking on from Psalm 145:5 "I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wonderous works." Sure, I could lay here all day and think anout all the things I'm "missing out on" and on what a bummer it is to have to be like this but that gets me no where but sad and depressed. Yet, when I decide to think on how glorious my God is and what wonderful things He has done and is continuing to do then I can have peace, joy, and contentment in the midst of a "hard" time. verse 9 says "the LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works." What a comfort to knows that God is good even when things don't go exactly the way I may have planned. Will I end up in the hospital or end up having this baby early - maybe, but God will still be good and His mercies will still be great toward me! ?Though these things may happen we continue earnestly asking God by faith to keep her in until 36 weeks. He is able!! Please continue to pray by faith with us.

We'll go to the dr. on Tuesday for another check-up, ect..

AAAAAHHHHHH!!! & the doctor update & 31 Weeks

In seconds, our house was turned from peaceful-cloudyday...to trapped-in-a house-with-a-big -tree-in-the-front-yard-with-a girl-under-it day. Everything turned out OK but listen to the video for the details.

Update:

Dayna thought she might be going to the Hospital today but praise the Lord she didn't. She started feeling better so the doctor didn't check her. She is 31 weeks tomorrow! Exciting! We also saw someone at the doctor today. We won't tell you who so you don't get any "ideas." But they were encouraging to see. Dayna's first persons to meet outside the house in 7 weeks. Thank you for your prayers. God has been merciful to us!

Ben

The Belly

Well, this is about as decent of a picture we're going to get these days. No sense getting "dressed up" and lookin' pretty when you just lay on the couch/bed all day, right!? This is the baby belly at 30 1/2 weeks. I still think the baby is breech and I've felt some slight changes this past week. We're praying that my cervix doesn't dilate and of course for...36 weeks! I go to the dr. tomorrow and will give an update sometime after the appt. Please pray that it goes well and I'm sent back home.


I don't get to put Isabelle to bed anymore or watch her sleep so Ben took some cute sleeping pics for me to be able to see how cute she is!! :) She loves her bear, baby, and her blanket and snuggles with them. She will still take 2 naps per day many days but doesn't always "need" the a.m. nap but does well with at least some time resting in her bed. She's growing so much and changing so much lately! 22 months old. We love her more and more each day!

Pictures!!

Well, I finally got my hands on the camera this morning so i was able to snap a few shots. If you're wondering about Ben's face...he decided to grow it out until the baby comes. He's hoping for a "sage" type look by 36 weeks! I on the other hand am not so sure about no trimming til then but we'll see! :) I'll try to post a new pic of the growing belly when I look halfway decent. :)

I'm doing pretty good. The last couple of nights have been kinda rough; sleeping wise and contraction activity. But we continue to praise God for each day this little girl is kept inside. 30 1/2 weeks!!!!! All glory to God! Please keep praying with us that God would allow 36 weeks.

Last night our friends Ben & April came by with some dessert and fellowship. We had a great time---thanks for coming!

another dr. update

Well, home again from the dr.!!! He decided not to check my cervix to make sure we didn't stir anything up that didn't need to be. I got my weekly progetrone shot and he'll see me back in 2 weeks. Next week I'll see my regular OB. I was reminded today of the verse in Phil. 4:11 "...I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content" as I was waiting in the car to be called in and watched several other pregos "frolic" unassisted into the office. In the mean time the nurse come strolling out w/ the wheelchair. :O I guess I can use a dose of humble pie every so often!

God is so good! We praise Him for 30 weeks tomorrow w/ baby still cooking inside!! ;) We'll try to post some new pics later tonight or tomorrow. Isabelle is having a blast today w/ her friends Maggie & Callie (thanks Amy) while Ben took me to the dr. and is now at work. Ben said as soon as he pulled into the neighborhood to drop isabelle off this morning she started screaming w/ excitement. She ran straight into their house and didn't even turn back! We're grateful to have such an easy going, fun loving little girl!

Happy 4th to ya'll!!! :) (ps...is it ok to light sparklers for the "spirit of the 4th" while you lay on the couch on bedrest???? haha! happy fireworks!)