wow, it's been long!!

Well, our apologies to anyone who followed the link from our Christmas Card/Baby Announcement and came to find the most recent post two weeks before Micah even arrived!! Silly Mommy thought she updated it sooner...
(side note: in an effort not to confuse our son with too many pronouns, we refer to everyone including ourselves by their name to him. like Bob Dole used to do. ;)

So, the quick update: Micah was born November 2, 2007, three days before his due date, by c-section, since he was still breech. He screamed extremely loud in the delivery room, so no one had to tell Nicole that he had arrived!! I think he scored a 9 or 10 on his Apgars (very good, very lively, healthy baby.) He was 6 lbs. 7 oz at birth, and 5 lbs 11 oz when we left the hospital (totally normal weight loss).

Mommy, Daddy and Micah stayed in the hospital until Monday midafternoon. Momalla (Andy's mom), Papa Jon and Bret (stepdad and stepbrother) came to visit Friday night when Micah had been with us just a few hours!! They visited again on Saturday too. Amy and James N came to visit on Saturday.



some pics from the hospital:

No baby yet

Micah is still hanging out breech in the belly. 13 days until the due date!! Hopefully soon, he will decide to flip. I am trying a few "home remedies" to encourage him to turn, but nothing too drastic. More soon!!

and Micah's got the hiccups right now. I think that's his way of saying Hi!

deluged by generosity

Friday, I went and checked in with my co-workers and planned to have lunch - they surprised me with a baby shower and very generous gifts!! So sweet. :) I love my girls!! (and the boys too ;)

Saturday I was blessed to have a non-surprise baby shower - my Momalla (mother in law) threw a fantastic party, with the help of my sisters and others I'm sure. It was SO GREAT!! fun games, great food, and no cake. :) I hate cake. We enjoyed cheesecake and brownies instead. Again, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my family, Andy's family on his mom's side and his dad's side, and my one friend Amy who was able to make it!! Very fun and what a BLESSING!! We are stocked with baby stuff! The gift I am most excited about is the infant car seat, since that relieves the most anxiety - if this little guy comes early, I want to make sure we can take him home!! But I loved (almost) EVERYTHING that we got!! so much cute stuff. :)

Almost unbelievably, I have one more shower to go!! the church http://www.welcometothechurch.com/ that we came from in Lombard is throwing another shower next weekend!! I can hardly believe how blessed Andy and I are. We are so thankful for all of this generosity!! We've been blessed to be a blessing. :) I am excited to be able to pass that on to other moms and people in need in the area. Once our munchkins are finished with this stuff, it will be such a joy to pass it along to another new family!!

Wow!!

bun to stay in oven (as long as possible)

a little pregnancy update... I had some contractions earlier this week and my cervix is partially effaced (thinned) (that's not good) but not dilated (opened) at all (that is good). My doc put me on meds to stop the contractions and did a test for fetal fibronectin (a baby-is-ready-to-come-out protein), which came out negative, which is good. That means there is very little chance I would deliver in the next two weeks. But just to be safe, he put me on the meds to stop the contractions and ordered "couch potato activity," which is much more lenient than bedrest, but I'm still supposed to take it easy, so the doctor ordered no more work. I'm pretty glad about that since my job has been getting extremely boring since they tightened our lending guidelines and outsourced my job overseas! We were pretty scared there for a while when the doctor sent me to the birthing center for monitoring and the FFN test, but very relieved that there is a simple solution!! Praise the Lord!!

I will be going to the doctor Tuesdays and Fridays for twice weekly checkups and contraction monitoring. I am 32 weeks along (almost 33 now), so if Micah was born today, he would be just fine in the NICU, but we wouldn't be able to take him home right away. If he can make it to 34 weeks, his lungs will be more well developed, and he would have a better time all around. If he makes it to 37 weeks or more, he would be considered full term, and would probably come home with us after the typical 2 day hospital stay, maybe with a little jaundice. So, please pray that this little bun stays in the oven until he's fully baked!!

sadness... and yet, strength

My (Nicole's) dad passed away unexpectedly on August 23rd. I had thought he would live forever, and on the other hand, he always seemed so fragile. The coroner declared it a heart attack, he died in his sleep at home. I think he would be happy about that, he wouldn't have wanted to be in a hospital for a long time. We did not request an autopsy, it doesn't really matter how he died. Only that he died. His wishes were carried out to have his body donated to the UW Madison Med School for research. He had the worst case of rheumatoid arthritis many people had ever seen, so he hoped that his body would be of value for researchers. We held a "happy hour" instead of a funeral, at Dad's request, at the Eagles' Club in my hometown. So many friends and family came to show their support, and I'm so thankful for all the cards and emails as well.

I think my Dad was the most excited of all the family about Micah, so it is tough to know that he won't be here when the little guy is born. We had planned on naming him Micah Edmund, following Andy's family tradition of a boy with the middle name Edmund, but we have now decided on Micah David to honor my dad. I don't know where my dad stood spiritually, so it is hard to think about not having another chance to share Jesus with him... but I know that God is just, and I know that He cares, and so I rest in the knowledge that my Dad is exactly where he belongs according to God's perfect judgment. The joy of the Lord is my strength!!

new job, new baby on the way, new place...

Whew!! This is pretty exciting - Andy got a job at Northbridge Church http://www.northbridgechurch.com/ starting September 4th as the pastor of administration. Yay!!


If you've been living under a "Sudhoffs news" rock, we are having a baby boy on or around November 5th - here're the latest pics of Nicole's belly to prove it.

And in other news, we found a townhouse to rent in Round Lake Beach:
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=r1ttwd7nqc3c&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=11301651&encType=1

WHOO-HOO!!!
We are floating on a seemingly endless stream of God's blessings. How awesome!!

love to y'all in blog land,
the Sudhoffs

two trendy internet things in one day

Catching up to the rest of the world (especially people my age) on these things I guess...
check out my myspace (not that there's anything to see).

http://www.myspace.com/nicolelovesjesusinchicago

Just getting started...

Hey there! Well, we're just getting started on this whole "blogging" thing... watch for updates soon as we continue to pursue what God has for us next.