Sunday, November 1, 2009

Halloween 2009

I generally like to make my own costumes, but for obvious reasons, it just seemed like a good year to set aside such ambitions. Despite that, I think that the kids' were still incredibly cute! Maybe, they are just cute kids, regardless of what they are wearing!



Noah was Indiana Jones


Hannah was Tinkerbell


Zak was Yoda


Maggy was Cinderella


Just a little bit of neighborhood trick-or-treating with Daddy still resulted in a massive 2 1/2 pounds of candy per kid! We are cautiously trying to slowly ration the sugar intake!


Mom stayed home to great the trick-or-treaters, and feed the boys, who will probably fit into their costumes in a couple more weeks!


Happy Halloween!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Twins Slide Show

video
Produced by Shane

Friday, October 23, 2009

Nathan David and Micah Robert - born October 15, 2009

Introducing the new, bigger and better Vertner family!

On Thursday, October 15, 2009 we were joined by Nathan David Vertner at 8:11 am, weighing in at 6 pounds and 4 ounces, measuring 19 inches long, head circumference of 13 1/4 inches, and a chest circumference of 12 1/2 inches. Nathan has a scant fuzz of blonde hair and looks alot like his brothers, and thus also, like Grandpa Dedrick.

One minute later, followed his brother, Micah Robert Vertner: born at 8:12 am, weighing 7 pounds even, measuring 18 1/2 inches, head circumference of 14 inches, and a chest circumference of 13 1/2 inches. Micah was born with quite a bit of darker brown hair and looks JUST LIKE his dad did as a baby.

So happy together!

I will return as soon as I can to share more pictures and our birth story.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Needles and fire

from wikipedia:

Moxibustion
(Chinese: ; pinyin: jiǔ) is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy using moxa, or mugwort herb. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia. Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a stick that resembles a (non-smokable) cigar. They can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or sometimes burn it on a patient's skin.


This is a picture of my feet and Kathy, an acupunturist with WCA - Working Class Acupuncture. Three days last week, I visited their new Westside office, paid a total of $45 (without insurance), chose one of the comfy recliners, kicked up my feet, and said a prayer. From what I undersand, this moxabustion technique reports a 50-70% success rate in turning breech babies. Apparently, the moxa, which is burned on a pressure point on the pinky toes, causes an increase in estrogen levels which can encourage fetal motility (baby movement, hopefully in the head-down direction). After burning the moxa cones - about 20 small cones - down low enough that I felt the heat, and then they'd be flicked off. Kathy then applied about 2 dozen needles to random places on my hands, feet, legs, arms, scalp and to finish it off - one right between the eyes! I have NO IDEA how they know where to put them.


double click on the picture to better see some of the needles on my hands and between the eyes!
Then I would push back the recliner and close my eyes and sleep for about an hour. It is really hard to say how successful my experience was until we get to see for certain at the ultrasound tomorrow. After the first treatment, I was out for dinner with my friend Julie, and a very decident coffee at Moonstruck

... and I felt a movement that was something like someone taking my gut and ringing it out like a wet towel. I can't say for certain that Nathan flipped, but since then, his movements have definetly been deeper and lower. Micah continues to float near the top of my belly, I wouldn't be surprised if he has moved to a transverse position (horizontal). This would be OK, as it would mean that he would be allowing for more room for Nathan to prepare for birth and we can worry about moving him, manually if necessary, after Nathan is born.

If Nathan is still breech after this next ultrasound, I can get moxa sticks from the acupunturist and still continue the treatments at home. Thanks for your prayers, I know God has this whole pregnancy in his hands. Keep praying for the right positions.

**For anyone who wonders, I do not buy into any of the mystical implications of Chinese Medicine, as much of it implies more power in "self", and really, the only power comes from God. I do believe that God created our bodies with so many amazing intricacies. Using pressure point in our bodies to find healing, gives glory to God as it acknowledges His amazing creation.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Experienced Mom in Nesting

As much as I have those nagging compulsive urges to clean and organize, physically, I am finding myself unable. Maybe I am just more aware of my body and it's limitations. Maybe I have been taking it easy and have no stamina.

Regardless of why, I am not nesting quite like I have in other pregnancies. For example:

When my in-laws were visiting and keeping the kids occupied, I decided to discard topless and dried out markers....which then let into disposing of broken and non-functional crayons, which then morphed into sharpening all the colored pencils; sorting out the twistable crayons; and before I knew it, I had a coloring book in front of me, completing a master piece. How do you think I did? I think I managed to stay in all the lines!

Despite my lack of energy to devote to household chores, there are certain things that don't need to be neglected.


Many wonder how I could manage, needing to keep my feet up for the health of the pregnancy and still care for the 4 other kids. Here's a secret.... it's actually easier with the other kids. I have someone to fetch things for me. They not only keep each other occupied, but also report on each other's poor behavior in need of parental correction. Tonight I even watched Hannah helping Maggy scoop up the last few bites of her dinner, get her plate to the kitchen, and getting her out of the high chair.

I don't want to assume that having twins would be easy, but no doubt, the Lord has provided for us every thing we'd need, including the extra hands. Thanks be to God!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Not Lucky - just really blessed

Shane's Mom and Step Dad came into town to see yesterday's ultrasound. They stuck around for lunch and some play time.

These kids LOVE their Grandma and Grandpa!

It was a fantastic day. After getting to see the twins, I got to sit back and just watch the beautiful and joy-filled relationships.

There was wrestling and tossing with Grandpa, building with legos, coloring, board games, reading books and LOTS of smiles.

A great day!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

32 week babies update

Up to this point, the boys have been showing signs of healthy growth. The only area of concern is the position of baby A - Nathan. He has been in a breech position - head up, since the 20 week ultrasound. General policy for most OB/GYNs and hospitals is to schedule moms with a breech baby for a c-section. With singleton babies, doctors will attempt a physical inversion, basically pushing the mom's belly, really hard, to try to get the baby to flip. There is much too much risk involved in attempting this with twins.

So going into today's ultrasound, I had hoped that I had felt a change in position. I can feel a hard 'something' near the left side of my belly button... I was sure it could only be his bottom... he HAD to have flipped....


well... a baby sure did flip - just the wrong one! Micah - baby B is now in a breech position - head up, bottom down. That hard part I felt was actually Micah's head. That little stinker! Look at the bottom picture, he's smiling!

On a good note, they continue to grow well. Nathan is the smaller of the two for now, weighing 3 pounds and 11 ounces. Micah is at 4 pounds and 5 ounces. I will see my doctor on Friday and see what all of this will mean. I still anticipate at least another 4-6 weeks before seeing these boys face to face.