What's on my Mind and Diamonds in the Rough

What's on my Mind - Twins and Vanishing Twins

   

Did you know I'm a twin?  Yes, I am.  I am a fraternal twin.  My brother and I are as different as night and day, yet somehow we remain connected in a way that siblings don't.

Anyone who is a parent will tell you that birth is a miracle, that there are so many things that can go wrong.  Thanks to modern medicine, birthing is a much more enjoyable experience.

We all know there are two main types of twins:  monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (fraternal).  We all know that all male and female combos are fraternal, that identical come from one egg that divides, and fraternal are two separate eggs.  There is no genetic link to identical twins, but it is now known that fraternal does run in families.

When my mother found out she was pregnant, she had no idea she was carrying twins.  She didn't find out until she came out of the anesthetic.  And what a miracle.  She had a healthy son - over 6 lbs and a very lucky daughter - barely over 4 lbs.  That was me.

Adorable, aren't we?

What are the odds of having twins or multiple fetuses?  It's more common than you think.  Conservatively, today, the odds are 21-30%  Oh, you don't see that many?  That's true.  You don't, because only 1 in 70 are born twins.

VANISHING TWIN SYNDROME
This is a topic I'm very much interested in and I have been doing a lot of reading about this.   Vanishing Twin Syndrome  happens when one of a set of twin/multiple fetuses disappears in the uterus during pregnacy, resulting in the miscarriage of that fetus.  If it is very early (within the first 8 weeks), the fetal tissue is absorped by the other twin/multiple, the placenta, and/or the mother (known as fetal resorption).

Thanks to current ultrasounds, twins or multiples can be detected during the first trimester.  Sometimes the doctor will request a second ultrasound, especially if only one heartbeat is heard.  The second may show the loss of one fetus.

In this very early stage, without that first ultrasound, a woman would never know she miscarried.  Some women might experience cramps or bleeding, but often there is no physical sign and she will carry the other baby/babies to full term and have a normal delivery.   Sometimes, she grows quickly in the first trimester and her uterus is larger than normal, and sometimes delivery can take many hours of intensive labor.  These are possible signs of vanishing twin syndrome.

The part I'm interested in is the effect on the surviving infant(s).  You see, they are now researching this deeper and there is a wealth of information on this.  Researchers are now discovering the emotional trauma of the survivor - the twinless twin.  It is now known that any time - any time - a twin or multiples suffer the loss of one, the effects are devastating.

First, let's check some facts in case you're wondering if that beautiful child you're carrying was supposed to be a twin.

Women over 30, women who have had other children, fast and early weight gain in the 1st trimester, and a history of fraternal twins in the family line.  It is no longer believed that twins skip a generation.  Now they are thinking it is vanishing twin syndrome.

The most important sign is if you, yourself, feel strongly you were meant to have twins or you have an 'empty' feeling after giving birth.

But the effects on the surviving child is the key.  Here are many of the indications:

Psychic/intuitiveness
The child feels like they should be a twin
The child is unusually drawn to twins
Sometimes haunted feelings that they're a 'parasite'
Depression
Mental illness diagnoses such as BiPolar, Schizophrenia, Borderline Personality
Troubling, recurring dreams of their twins
Fear of sleeping alone or in the dark
Fear of sudden loss or abandonment
Profound loneliness
Possible eating disorders, often over-weight issues
"Hearing voices"
Extreme emotional sensitivity
Feeling obliged to live for two, often wanting two of everything
Trouble with relationships, co-dependent relationships
Control issues
They don't want to compete against others
They don't feel deserving of anything good
Money issues
Low self-esteem
They think alot about death and dying/suicide
They are busy often
They have a strong imaginary inner life
They see the world differently from others
It is hard for them to let go
Feelings of longing
Guilt
Grief
Sexual identity confusion
They have a deep longing for some undefined, missing part of them.
They have named their missing twin
They have an imaginary playmate that they talk to.
Possibly misplaced organs
auto-immune disorders


Unless the surviving twin is a Chimera, there is rarely any physical way to know, although a few
have been identified by Teratoma or dermoid cysts somewhere on their bodies.  These cysts are "by-products" of the twinning process, such as hair, bone, nails.

Why talk about this subject?  My heart goes out to these children and adults who can never resolve their issues.  So if you have a child with many of these symptoms or know someone who has these issues, then it's important for them to get help through therapy.  And the mother too.

Dec 21st is Womb Twin Day.  I think this is a great idea.  As doctors and researchers continue to discover more and more on this subject, it can only bring peace and relief to those affected.

Ok.  This is pretty serious and sad stuff, so let's move on to something more cheery.

DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH

Today is Gioachino Rossini's 220th birthday, born of course in a Leap Year.  Rossini was one of the world's greatest composers, with such works as 'The Barber of Seville' and 'Guilleme Tell Overture'.  No matter on many people have populated our earth, there are always - always - those diamonds in the rough like Gioachino Rossini.  Our world is a better place because of his music.




LHR my dear friends, and PAWS for Success.

I've Been Tagged

I've Been Tagged - but not just by one blogger friend - by two!  I am doubly thrilled with this honor.

Here are the rules:

The Tag rules;

1. You must post the rules!

2. Answer the questions and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.

3. Tag eleven people and link to them.

4. Let them know you’ve tagged them.

Barbara from March House Books tagged me first, so let's get to her questions.

1.  Do you use a book mark or will any old bit of paper do?  I prefer bookmarks, but if I can't find one I'll use anything that's flat enough.  I actually do have a stack of bookmarks somewhere...

2.  What new books are you most excited to read this year?  Honestly, I am really into books written by my author friends.  E-books have become my favorite way to read.  

3.  Favorite season?  Summer, definitely.  I love the dry heat of the desert and am most happy in 90 degrees temperatures.  

4.  If money were not an issue, what present would you give yourself?  The best present for me would be to have enough money to share with all my relatives and friends, but that is a lot of money.  My next choice would be to pay to move to a warmer climate.

5.  Do you buy second-hand books, new books or both?  I buy any kind of book!  I could hang out in bookstores all day.  

6.  Early bird or night owl?  Believe me, you don't want to come near me in the morning so I'm definitely not an early bird.  Night owl is more like me.

7.  Do you like to read a specific genre?  If so, what is it?  I love scifi or paranormal or a good mystery.

8.  Who is your favourite literary character of all time?  Boy, that's a toughie because there are so many.  I favor moody/temperamental/intelligent men with more determination to succeed than any other character in that book.  So Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Edward Cullens, Jorick, Odysseus son of Laertes, Sir Lancelot - well, you get the picture.

9.  Physical books, e-books or audio books?  Nowadays, I prefer e-books as long as I don't have to read them on my computer.  But never, ever audio books.  I can read quickly, so I find audio books to be boring.

10. If your life were made into a movie, who would you like to play you?  Whoopi Goldberg because she's so dynamic and funny, and a great actor.  In reality, it would probably be Kristen Stewart because she's already played a moody, brooding, serious person.

11. Cat person or dog person?  Most definitely dog person.

If you haven't visited March House books, you really should.  Barbara has such a fun site:

March House Books

Kelly Hashway is a sweet person and published author.  She tagged me too, so here are her questions and my answers:

1.  If you could live in a fictional world, where would that be?  I'd pick the world of 'Fablehaven' because of all the mythological creatures.

2.  Do you read in noisy or quiet places?  It must be quiet - no sound at all.  

3.  What was the first book you ever read?   'A Child's Garden of Verses'   I'll never forget how much fun I had reading it.

4.  If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?  Scary thought - to only have one book.  I'd probably choose the 'Harry Potter' series since I still read them all once every year.

5.  Favourite author?  Edgar Allan Poe, without a doubt.  Talk about moody, broody...

6.  Do reviews influence your choice of reads?  Not very often.  I like to discover books on my own.  However, sometimes if I'm not sure of a book I'll read reviews.

7.  Fiction or Non-Fiction?  Both - always has been both.

8.  Have you ever met your favourite author?  Now, that would be very scary indeed.  Nope, never have met Edgar Allan Poe that I recall.

9.  Audio books or paperbacks?  Never audio books, unless I can't sleep.

10. Classic or modern novels?  Both, any, all.  I'm an avid reader of most genres except horror.

11. Book groups or solitary reading?  I prefer solitary reading.  When I'm done, a nice book group for discussion is enjoyable.

If you've never visited Kelly's blog, you should.  

Kelly Hashway

Now, I'm to pick 11 bloggers and give them 11 questions.

Here we go.  PK Hrezo

                     Florence Fois

                     Angie Bailey

                     The Blog Entourage

                     Everything Itntales

                     Pearldrops on the Page

                     The Life of a Novice Writer

                     The Sporty Mummy

                     Sally K Witt

                     unconventional librarian

                     Melinda Mcguire Writes

Several of these are new blogs I've been discovering and have had such fun with.

Ok.  Now for my questions:

1.  What book have you read more often than any other?

2.  Which childhood story affected you the most?

3.  What book would you like to see made into a movie?

4.  Do you prefer one genre or do you like variety?

5.  Which character from a book do you think is most like you?

6.  You get sucked into the current book you're reading.  What is that book and what is your emotion - happy, sad, scared?

7.  Which book author created your favorite world?

8.  E-books, physical books, or audio books?

9.  How many books do you read in a year?

10. Describe your favorite character's personality and tell us who that character is.

11. Do you prefer reading in a cafe, library or home?

I can't wait to read all of your answers!

LHR my friends, and PAWS for Success.

Happy Valentines Day Wishing You Lots of Love

Remember the song 'Love makes the world go round'?  Love makes many things move.  Love is key to our existence, isn't it?  Today shouldn't just be about you and your partner.  Today should remind us that everyone - everyone - needs to feel loved.  That includes all children of Mother Earth and you yourself.

To learn to love another, you must first love yourself    The Way of the Wizard by Deepak Chopra

Everything flows from your own heart    Fa-Yen




Every action, every word tells the world our feelings and our thoughts.  Thoughts are energy patterns and energy is alive.  Can you imagine if we spend just this entire day thinking loving thoughts?  Sending loving, caring thoughts to the Universe?  To Mother Earth?  To the guy who cuts you off when driving?  To the woman who cuts in line?  To anyone and everything that comes your way this day?

May today fill you with love for our world, the Universe, and all who share our earth.

I love each and every one of you for the gifts you give to me of kindness and thoughtfulness.  Enjoy this day of love.  Pass it forward to everyone you meet.

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge. 
Thomas Carlyle

Love is the energizing elixir of the universe, the cause and effect of all harmonies.  Djalal ad-Din Rum.

People are very tender, very sensitive inside.  I don’t believe age or experience makes much difference.  Inside, even within the most toughened and calloused exteriors, are the tender feelings and emotions of the heart.  That’s why in relationships, the little things are the big things.  Steven Covey.

To the late great Diva, Whitney Houston, whose fans loved her and always will, performing my favorite love song:  Whitney, rest in peace and love in God's arms.
 


LHR, my friends - LOVE, honor and respect sent to all.

'Three Hoodies' a fun read by Roger Lawrence

I love my online friends, so many are writers, poets, crafters.  Isn't it something to meet all these wonderful friends from all over the world, and get to know them?

I am thrilled to count as my friends so many authors and poets, both published and not yet published.  My friend Roger Lawrence is in this group.  Although he's not published yet, I can see the day when he will be and definitely should be.  The world could use more books like this.

Roger honored me by allowing me the opportunity to read his entire novel, 'Three Hoodies.'  Roger writes Young Adult fiction (YA), and this novel is a YA for boys. 

I can't give the plot or storyline away, as Roger is hoping to be published, but I will tell you this.  I read the entire book with a smile on my face, sometimes with uncontrolled bursts of laughter.  Did I like the book?  I loved it!  Roger is quite the writer with a great sense of humor.

My favorite part?  I really like the way he builds his characters' personalities and their interactions with each other and with strangers.  I felt like I was standing there with these 3 boys, listening to their conversations and their teenage actions.  And that's where a lot of the humor came in.

Was there anything I disliked?  Nope.  Roger is quite imaginative and I never knew what was going to happen next.  I never once was able to guess ahead where this story was going.  I will tell you this.  The trouble the boys get into is not like the common mistakes young men get into.  They are drawn into this problem not by choice, but survive it and come out having grown up some.  It was a unique experience most young men wouldn't have to face at their ages.

How would I describe this book?  Delightful, entertaining, intriguing, humorous, and a fun fun read.

I enjoy saying I personally know great authors, and Roger is one of those.  The world is ready for his stories.  Kudos to Roger for writing this book.

I give him 5 hoodies out of 5:

     

LHR, my friends and remember to PAWS to support each other.

Ever After PR Book Review Easter's Lilly

'Easter's Lilly' is book filled with excitement, intrigue, and romance.  Written by Judy Serrano http://www.judyserrano.com/judyserrano.com and published by Black Rose Writing
http://www.blackrosewriting.com/, it is classified in the Romance Action Genre, but it is much more than that.

'Easter's Lilly' is a book that catches the reader right from the start.  I found myself drawn into the story immediately.  Each chapter held something new and often a surprise that I wasn't expecting.  The characters are so well written that I felt as if I knew them personally.  The emotions that the characters felt, I felt too; everything from love to fear to hate to jealousy, and more.  Lilly O'Hara is the main character of this story, written in the 1st person, and I couldn't help but like her.

Lilly is a young adult, ready to live and discover her own life, but nothing could prepare her for what lay ahead.  Lilly falls in love with a rogue, Johnny.  Her father is angered about this, and she feels there's much more to Johnny than what her father admits.  

She learns that Johnny is involved with crime that reaches across the globe.  To keep Lilly alive, Johnny takes Lilly to Vegas where he thinks she'll be safe.  When Johnny disappears,  Lilly's life changes dramatically, and she finds herself the wife of a high-level drug dealer.  Pulled into a dark world that she knows nothing about, she learns to survive day by day, thanks to Hector who is assigned to guard her.

I was honestly glued to the book, watching Lilly's life unfold through the years and her discovery of her true love, a love deeper than she ever had for Johnny.

Judy Serrano does an excellent job painting the scenes and characters involved in this modern day story.  Right to the end, I stayed attached to several, and when the book ended, I knew I would be reading the next in the series.

This is a well-written book that will hold you in suspense.  I recommend it as a 5 star story.  Check out the websites above and 'like' Judy on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/JudySerranoAuthor

'Easter's Lilly' can be purchased on Amazon in Kindle form for $4.99 and in paperback form for $14.78 http://www.amazon.com/Easters-Lilly-Judy-Serrano/dp/1935605909/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328752751&sr=1-1, or you can purchase it at Black Rose Writing.

Add this book to your list of wanna reads, friends.  I know you won't be disappointed.

LHR and PAWS for Success

Charles Dickens

Today marks the 200th year since the birth of Charles Dickens, born Feb 7, 1812 in England and passed over to the Other Side June 9, 1870.  Considered the greatest of the Victorian authors, Mr. Dickens was one of many authors who at that time wrote stories for serialization, and to keep the readers interested he had to write in cliffhangers.  This would bring the readers back the next time.  Thus, he became quite accomplished in this art.

Charles Dickens also wrote poetry.  One of his poems can be found at the end of this article.  He was buried in Poet's Corner of Westminister Abbey.  What an honor for a man who truly deserved it.

Charles Dickens was a master at creating unique characters.  To say his stories are realistic is to understate his writings.  Just read 'A Tale of Two Cities' and try to forget the many horrendous scenes he paints in that book.  He wrote about the upheaval in France when the population had had enough and overthrew the government, resulting in the beheading of 16,000 to 40,000 by use of the guillotine while crowds of people cheered.  He painted the hatred and the anger of citizens better than any other author could.

In 1842, Charles Dickens and his wife made a trip to the U.S. where he gave lectures, raising support for copyright laws and taking a stand on the abolishment of slavery, documenting the atrocities.  In his work 'Martin Chuzzlewit,' he includes notes of his condemnation of slavery.

In 1846 Mr. Dickens set up a home for woman (Urania Cottage) for the redemption of fallen women.  Up until then the women were put into homes that were harsh with cruel punishments.  The idea of Urania Cottage was to teach these women basic skills like reading and writing and domestic household chores so they could be re-integrated into society.  He even scoured prisons looking for women he thought could succeed in his program.  It is estimated that at least 100 women graduated from this program.  Many of his female characters developed from the women he met while interviewing them.

His great works include:  A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, The Old Curiosity Shop, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and The Pickwick Papers, among others.

Dickens was truly a humanitarian with a deeper understanding of our mortal minds and the world around him than the majority of do-gooders.

Here are a few of my favorite Charles Dickens quotes:

Noone is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known - from 'A Tale of Two Cities'

We need never be ashamed of our tears - from 'Great Expectations'

Grief never mended no broken bones - from 'Sketches by Boz'

There is a passion for hunting deeply implanted in the human breast - from 'Oliver Twist'

Marley was dead, to begin with - A Christmas Carol


A passage from 'A Tale of Two Cities:'

-In a city dominated by the axe, alone at night, with natural sorrow rising in him for the sixty-three who that day had been put to death, and for tomorrow's victims then awaiting their doom in the prisons, and still of tomorrow's and tomorrow's, the chain of association that brought the words home, like a rusty old ship's anchor from the deep, might have been easily found.  He did not seek it but repeated them and went on.-

Lucy's Song by Charles Dickens:

How beautiful at eventide
To see the twilight shadows pale,
Steal o'er the landscape, far and wide,
O'er stream and meadow, mound and dale!

How soft is Nature's calm repose
When ev'ning skies their cool dews weep:
The gentlest wind more gently blows,
As if to soothe her in her sleep!

The gay morn breaks,
Mists roll away,
All Nature awakes
To glorious day.
In my breast alone
Dark shadows remain;
The peace it has known
It can never regain.

Now, you know I can't end this without a youtube video or two, so first we have a scene from that marvelous musical, Oliver.

The next youtube is my absoulte favorite movie scene ever, from the musical Camelot with the brilliant actor Richard Harris as King Arthur, who himself sparkles through our Universe.

From the musical Camelot came this line:

PELLINORE: Who is that, Arthur?
ARTHUR: One of what we all are, Pelly. Less than a drop in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea. (He smiles. There is jubilance in his voice) But it seems some of the drops sparkle, Pelly. Some of them do sparkle!

Indeed, is there anyone who would refute that Charles Dickens did and does sparkle through the motion of our Universe for now and for eternity.

And you know what, my dear friends?  Each and every one of us do sparkle too.  Each and every one of us.

Celebrate Charles Dickens' 200th year by reading one of his great stories.

LHR, friends.  PAWS for Success, and sparkle as brightly as you can.