No more work

When I went to the doctor yesterday he wrote me a note so I could go on disability so my last official day of work will be next Friday, January 9th. I did not post that yesterday as I had not really told anyone at work, but now they know so you can too. I have mixed feelings about not working any more but hope that I can take my time to get things ready for the babies and rest a lot so I know it is for the best. I am coming up with lots to do in the short period of time that I am allowed out of bed during the day. Remember, I will have to rest for 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon and the rest of the day I just have to take it easy. Provided I behave and take care of myself I could go on this way for awhile, which is my hope. On the other hand, if things do not go well at my doctors visits, I could be put on bed rest and potentially sent to live at the hospital until the babies are born. I am hoping and praying that things go well and that we have healthy babies without long hospital stays!! My next appointment is January 13th and after that I will be seeing a doctor every week (between by regular ob and specialist). Oh, and by the way, for those of you wondering my blood pressure has been really good. 120 over 70 something so they are very pleased with that. My ankles are not swollen yet either so that is another really good sign since they were already noticeably swollen by this time with Caleb.

Smoke detectors

As I'm sure most of you know it is advisable that you check the batteries in your smoke detectors on a regular basis. Most normal families would do this by pressing the little button to make sure it works. I on the other hand like to check the efficiency and sensitivity of the smoke detectors while cooking. What better way to check! So tonight was a test night. I fired up the broiler and waited. Mark was prepared this time. He opened the window downstairs, put a fan in it and propped the front door for circulation. We of course had the useless fan over the stove on that does nothing. I'm not sure why it always happens to me, but low and behold as the steaks were cooking the smoke was barrelling out of the oven anytime I opened it to check on them. I know it is just the juices burning off in the pan, but man are those detectors sensitive. By the time they are done cooking only about 10 or 15 minutes (5 for Marks since he likes to chase his meat down to eat it) we have our routine down. Open the oven, flip the steaks, detectors go off and I head to the hallway with a dish towel to wave away the smoke. Am I the only one this happens to? Mark tells me that when we remodel our kitchen he is going to get me one of those fancy oven vents that actually sends the air outside. I can't wait! Thankfully this time it was only 40 degrees outside. Last time I checked to see if the detectors worked it was 30 below and I could hardly bear to crack the door. I am happy to report that they work!

Belly shot

Bill, Jen and Mya from next door came over this weekend to hang out. Jen's due date is Mary 1st and mine is May 3rd. Jen wanted a belly comparison shot so I thought I would share it with everyone. As you can see I am quite a bit bigger than she is :) I did go to the doctor today and my belly measures at 28 weeks when I am really 22 weeks.

Christmas and more...

I have to say that being off work and all of us being together for the past 5/6 days has been awesome. I know that Caleb has enjoyed being home with us especially since he was albe to enjoy all of his presents after Christmas day. I must say that Santa was very generous to us all this year. The boys (Mark and Caleb) really love their light sabers and guns. These are not just any run of the mill guns, these are battery operated dart guns and you can be assured that if you are planning a visit to our house you are sure to get nailed. Darts are everywhere, I love it-ha :)
My gifts were great as well!!


Caleb was given a karaoke machine for Christmas and he really likes it....and so do we.

At Great Grandma and grandpa Szachnieski's house he really liked a particular box. He even insisted on 'wearing' it home.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!! I hope you are having a wonderful day and I will post photos and more later. We're having a blast and Santa was very good to everyone in our house this year.

Let the fun begin.....

Sunday officially began the Christmas fun. We celebrate with my mom (and her kids) and Bill (and his kids) plus all of the grandkids early so that everyone can be together. Since it has been cold Mark has been getting more emergency calls and of course what happens on Sunday at 12:30...his phone rings. Whenever I ask who it is and he does not know, that is not a good sign. He did have to go work but was able to meet Caleb and I there so I was really happy about that. The thought of him missing Caleb's excitement was quite depressing, but it all worked out. On Friday, Santa Caleb had been busy rearranging everyone's presents and was excited to see that he had the 'biggest present in the whole town' He did have the biggest box, and was excited to find a kitchen/BBQ set when he opened it. He (along with Mark and I) also got lots of other great gifts too and was VERY excited. Emma got a kitchen too so they were both busy cooking things up for us. We enjoyed being with everyone, ate way too much but it was a great day!

The week before the big day!!

So the past weeks have been a busy but tis the season so that makes it so fun! The weekend before last Caleb, my mom and I went to the zoo to see the lights and it was really nice. Thankfully we went last weekend instead of this past one otherwise we would have all been icicles. Mark had the guys over for poker so we usually try to get out of the house when that is going on for at least a little while. Saturday, Mark put up closet organizers in the babies room. I ran out for an hour and while I was away, Caleb (aka Santa) was busy making snow in his room. Yeah, it is the really fun kind that is made out of Styrofoam that mommies love to clean up. It was everywhere! It was even on the walls! Needless to say, Santa was not happy that I vacuumed up the snow in his 'workshop' but he got over it since Caiden came over to spend the night.
This past weekend we went out to dinner and shopping on Friday. Mark actually spend almost 3 hours at the MALL!!! I think the Starbucks and shopping for himself helped in the painful process. We went to gap and was holding up one of their long sleeve t-shirts comparing the length between the large and x-large. When the sales guy walked by he had a confused look on his face and said, 'you do know we have maternity at the galleria'. Seriously, did he really think I was THAT big :) I am please to say that the large would have fit just fine, but I did go with the x-large taking into consideration growth and shrinkage. Nothing too fancy, but comfortable to wear around the house. Saturday was low key and we went to the 'light jungle' by six flags. Caleb hung out the sunroof the entire time and was frozen when he came back inside. Luckily I had his Santa hat and gloves in the car so at least his head and his hands were covered.

Happy 1st Birthday Logan & Aunt Mary Jo

Happy 1st Birthday Logan and Aunt Mary Jo!!


Logan's birthday party was this past Sunday and we had a great time. Logan says 'boy this singing thing is kind of fun and I really like my Elmo cake!'



'Grandma..I am not so sure about this. Do you really think it is a good idea?'



'I really do not want to eat cake...oh no, it is in my hair now....I am not finding this fun and refuse to put that sweet stuff in my mouth!'


Big sis Emma and Cousin Caleb had a great time and loved the cake on Logan's behalf :)

Happy Birthday (Aunt) Trisha!!!

Caleb went armed to her house this morning with balloons, cupcakes, candles, hot chocolate and ice cream so hopefully she had a great day!! Happy 4th Birthday to Alex Beckerle!!!

20 week appointment

I went for my appointment today and the baby boys are weighing in at 13 oz and baby girl is 12 oz. They said that this is great. Baby A is really low, baby c is really high and baby b is down pretty low on my right side in between a and b. My exam went well so there are still no restrictions other than what I have been doing which is basically listening to my body. As far as work goes, I am going to see how long I can make it. My next appointment is on 1/13 and my guess is that I may get my doctor's note then. It is really up to me and how I am feeling so if something changes between now and then I can make that call. When I do stop working if everyone and everything still looks good at the next appt, I will be required to lay down for 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon but other than that I can do what I want. Basically just a lot of rest, which they say I will not mind at all by that point. I rest a lot now so I can see that I am heading that direction. So, for now it is business as usual! No glamorous pictures to show. Only baby c was facing a direction to get a face shot. We did get a back of the head shot and an ear of the other babies, but nothing too exciting.

Belly Shot 19 1/2 weeks

Check it out!!


I must go...I'm am currently and Elf and Santa is very demanding of his little workers. I can only imagine how hard he will have us working as the big day get closer.

Santa's here

Santa visited me several times tonight and I got a lot of presents. Here are two of the presents I was given. Mark asked if he could sit on Santa's lap but was told that his lap was not big enough, but that he could have everything he wanted and a gingerbread singer. I even got batman underwear 2 times!! This is Santa carrying my most recent present, books.


All of these presents came 'wrapped' in the envelope.


All of these were 'wrapped' in Mark's shoe. Of course the box of stationary was sitting on top since it would not fit inside. The card was placed on top and the card (according to Caleb) said 'Merry Christmas'. The card is a torn piece of the Glass' Christmas card (Sorry Megan, but we still have the photo :)



I can't wait until the real Santa comes. The boys are adding yet more decorations to the house. This time they are putting lights up in Calebs room. I can hear the screams of excitement from downstairs. Not sure who is going to take down all of these decorations, but it is sure a whole lot of fun putting them up!! Knowing Caleb we will have to take them down while he is sleeping :)

Frosty and Santa

Here is a pic of Caleb with Frosty last night.


Tonight Caiden came with us to see Santa and they both had long heart to heart conversations with him. I'm sure he is going to bring them everything on thier list :)

I finally did it!

I broke down a bought a coat, yes a coat from the maternity store. My lovely husband and mother have been telling me that I really needed to get one however I was resistant. I realized over the weekend when I could barely 'suck it in' enough to zip my coat that it might be time to give it up. It still fits (or at least as of yesterday it did) depending what I am wearing and the pockets had to be unzipped which allowed for extra stretch. One too many layers or too many things in the pockets were not a good idea. Oh yeah and bending over was no longer possible for risk of splitting the zipper (I did do this twice). It is a cute coat, but did I really need it??? Funny thing is that my friend in MOMS club that is prego with 3 as well just broke down and got a coat as well. Her husband apparently threatened her as he was concerned that she might catch a cold. It was surprising with there being so many options to choose from (ha ha) that we both bought the same coat! Angie is doing well with her BBB combo and at 20 weeks is measuring 29 weeks (which her doc said was normal at this point to be measuring 10 weeks ahead). I can't wait to see what I measure next! While I was as my moms club meeting the boys went and saw Frosty the Snowman at the Bean House (for those of you that do not know this is Marks parents restaurant). Mark described it that he was star struck so we will see how he is when we visit Santa!

Sciatic what?

Yeah, that is what I say! I had always heard the women I work with complaining about this pain and boy oh boy do I know what they are talking about now. Apparently one or more of the babies likes to hang out in what I like to call the uncomfortable zone and reek pain upon their mother. Yesterday I could barely walk and it was not fun. As long as I stood still, was lying down or sitting all was well, but if I decided to walk, wow was I in pain. Later in the day whomever it was decided to give me some relief and move so last night and today I can walk with a little less pain. It is there, but not excruciating. Someone else is trying to take residency under my rib cage. Caleb used to do that and I was able to push him out, but I'm not sure these little ones have anywhere to go so I will try to be nice :) I'm sure my sciatic pain will come back along with the pain in my tail bone from sitting however for now I can still physically walk and move so I guess that is good, right

Baby Evan

While Mark was trying to burn down the house with the turkey (ha ha) I was actually at the hospital checking on the Yu's. Baby Evan was admitted for a fever late Thursday night early Friday morning morning. All seemed well at first however the test results later showed e-coli in his blood. He is doing much better now after a couple days of antibiotics however it sounds like he will be there for the next week or two for iv antibiotics. Please keep the Yu's in your thoughts and prayers.

Trying to kill Mark?

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We did however dinner tonight could have been tragic. Mark and I had been talking about that by not hosting Thanksgiving there were no leftovers to enjoy. We in the past have bought turkeys, but something always happens and we have to get rid or them or they just get old and we toss them. So today I decided that we were going to make a turkey for dinner. Caleb and I went shopping and bought a turkey breast and everything that you would have at a normal turkey day dinner. I got everything ready and ran out for a little while. Mark put the turkey in about 30 minutes after I left and all was well. On my way home I was talking to my sister-in-law Sarah and Mark beeped in. Normally I would have ignored it and called him back but something told me to answer. When I did, Mark was on the other end saying "Are you trying to kill me???" He proceeded to tell me that the smoke detectors were going off and when he opened the oven to check on the turkey the Pyrex dish the turkey was in exploded. So I asked if the turkey was ok:) Thank goodness the turkey was OK so dinner was not ruined. The turkey was in a cooking bag and it had fallen over (since it was the breast only it was an odd shape) and the drippings were what was causing the smoke, however I have no idea why a Pyrex baking dish would just shatter. By the time I got home Mark had most of the glass and mess cleaned up off the bottom of the oven. I found a new pan (non-glass) and we put the turkey back in without a cooking bag covered in foil. We were so close to not having our feast but it turned out wonderful. Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, cauliflower with cheese sauce, candied yams and salad. I think the only things we were missing were cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. It was good, but we have a lot of left overs!!! Mark of course was only kidding when he asked if I was trying to kill him but does he really think I would get rid of him? Is he crazy? I need him now more than ever!!!

Is it real yet?

So I have been asked a couple of times lately if it is really sinking in yet that we are having triplets. Honestly, I don't know that it is. I am definitely in full swing with planning for their arrival however I don't really know what to expect. It is sort of like being pregnant for the first time again, since there are so many things unknown. For instance, my due date is May 3rd, but the average delivery time is 32 weeks, which is March 7th however that is just the average so their arrival could move in either direction. Mark says that these babies are going to be born at 36 weeks (April 4) and are going to be big (big for triplets is probably 5lbs) and healthy. So, this gives me a pretty good window of arrival time which brings me to the next obstacle. How healthy and big will they really be? If they are 3lbs or 5lbs that could make a huge difference. Even if they are on the larger side they may have to spend time in the hospital which is another unknown. When they come home what size clothes will they be wearing, probably preemie, but for how long...plus it will be right around the change of seasons! So, needless to say I am getting only sleepers and onesies out for them to wear and I guess I will have to deal with the rest later. I find it to be overwhelming right now so maybe as time gets closer I will focus more on the clothes situation but for now I guess they will be wearing jammies all the time. Whew...can you tell I am a planner?? I also get asked if I am feeling them and I really don't think that I am, at least not like a singleton. At some point in the middle of the night last night I think I had a dream that I could really feel all 3 of them and they were fighting for space in my belly. My stomach was clearly being jolted around so maybe feeling them all move will not be such a great thing, at least not all at the same time. When I woke up I thought it was real and thought about waking up Mark to feel the babies, but then realized that it must have been a dream. I do think I am feeling things more now than before, but not the little flutters or anything. More like someone kicking or punching at someone saying get the heck out of my way I am trying to get comfortable!

Back to the grind

Back to work today :( I think my fingers forgot how to type as they were not into participating this morning. Maybe they were just protesting the return, who knows. They loosened up over time and were firing out e-mails left and right before long. So I wanted to provide an update on the Christmas decoration situation. The tree is still up and looking great. Caleb still loves the tree and of course his train. I think every time I look at the tree there is a new treasure in it. He had to get all of his animals out of the bath tub to ride in the train but unfortunately all of them would not fit. They certainly could not be left out so where do you think they went? In the tree! of course. We have dinosaurs, lizards, geese, ducks and frogs in the tree. In addition, there is a coffee mug that was at one time holding candy canes in there but I did go ahead and remove my slippers. Mark installed the piece of track that allows the train to dump its coal and boy and I excited about that. We have coal everywhere! I love getting down on my hands and knees to pick up tiny little pieces of coal...I think it is going to start disappearing soon :) All is well on the home front and Mark continues to put up lights here and there to make the house more festive. He mentioned last night that we should have a Christmas party so who knows, maybe we will.

Growing....Growing

Let's do a quick comparison. This is me one month ago, November 2nd.

This is me today wearing the same shirt however it doesn't exactly cover my belly :)

Let's be honest, I am expected to get huge and I'm sure everyone is anxious to see how big I really get, but this is crazy!! I have noticed that my face is getting fuller along with my butt and my sides are starting to fill in to. Oh, the things I have to look forward to:)

Working away

Well, at least a little bit. Yesterday Caleb and I met up with Grandma, Emma and Logan for some McDonalds and of course we went to the one with the playground. Before that though we went to Target and picked out the bed skirts for the babies beds. I had seen them online so I knew what I was going for. Nothing too exciting. They are striped and the girl one has pink and green and the boys have blue and tan/browns. The walls are a chocolate milk shake color and the chair rail and crown moulding is white so it all looks good together. That afternoon I cut my nap a little short and decided to attempt to put baby bed #2 together. It was actually a success! I am on my way to clearing out our dining room full of baby stuff!! Mind you there are still 4 car seats, a corner of Christmas gift (shh don't tell Caleb) and another corner of Caleb's old clothes I have to go though, but I am on a roll. Baby bed #3 is currently awaiting a fresh coat of paint and as soon as it is ready we will move it in as well. I feel better about the room now that I can envision how the space will be taken up. Basically every inch of wall will be used but there is some space in the center of the room to at least walk :) I stress about this stuff, but was reading about someone in the St. Louis area that is pregnant with quadruplets, has a two year old son and they are trying to sell their 2, yes I said TWO bedroom condo so they can try and move. Makes me appreciate the space we do have. As far as decorations go, so much of the wall space is covered I don't think it will be as bad as we originally thought. Now, all that needs to happen is for Mark and I to agree what we are going to put up :) Today I was not so ambitious. I dropped Caleb off at school and went to walmart. I agreed to do a conference call too so by the time I did that it was time to pick him up. Taco bell for lunch and of course nap time for mommy and Caleb. Oh, I almost totally forgot to mention Caleb's homework/family project that we worked on last night. Since all or most of you know my hubby you will appreciate this. Caleb was very excited about it he even had to sleep with it next to his bed (as a night light of course).

Backtracking

So the weekend was great! Thursday we went to Columbia as planned for the Kopsky family Thanksgiving. Tons of great food to eat and lots of time to visit and play. We got to meet Cousin Matt and Megan's new baby Jackson for the first time and he is a cutie! We stayed in a hotel that night and Caleb was really excited because the last time he has stayed there was 2 years ago so of course he did not remember. When we woke up on Black Friday we did not go shopping, we went swimming! The hotel had an indoor/outdoor pool however we only ventured over to look outside and did not actually go through the flaps (it was REALLY cold). WE decided to stay inside where it was nice and warm. So we made it back and realized that our furnace was not working. Mark made some calls and luckily they were able to determine what was wrong and had the part available so they were even able to fix it. We were both happy to not have to manually start the pilot all weekend long to keep warm! So far the holidays have been a success, but we still have to make it through Christmas. Two years ago when we went to Columbia, Caleb had been ill with a really high fever all week, but no other symptoms. By the time Thursday/Friday rolled around we could hardly control his temperature by rotating Tylenol and ibuprofen. Needless to say from Columbia we went to Cardinal Glennon where 9 hours later they finally figured out that he had pneumonia by doing a chest x-ray on a whim-and he never even had a cough! 4 days later we were able to go home. Last year on Christmas Eve Caleb decided to do a dive into the wooden couch at Grandma and Grandpa Gardner's house and it was a bloody mess. He had a fat lip and a nasty looking mouth for awhile. Needless to say we were at the dentist the day after Christmas. He still has his front teeth, but we still think, even a year later that one of the front ones in on its way out. Once more holiday to go! Friday we went ahead and decorated inside and Caleb loves 'his tree'. We had just bought new lights for the tree last year and used them of course, but none of the strands worked this year. Being married to an electrician, he had to try a fix them. It really was mind boggling! The highlight of it is that Caleb also got to get his train out. We have never seen him so calm, he sat and watched it go around for over 30 minutes. Saturday the boys worked on the outside lights while I cleaned inside. Mark let Caleb get on the roof, but I did not venture outside to witness that! The lights look great! Mark made a tree out of lights as a compromise to putting lights in the big trees in our front yard.