Ultrasound Video of Identical Twins

Filed as General with no replies

We went to the doctor today and found out that our twins are diamniotic monochorionic.  That means each twin has an individual amniotic sack but they share a placenta.  It also means the twins are almost certainly identical twins.

We also got our first twin video!

13 Week Ultrasound

(You can select one of the buttons on the bottom of the video to watch it full screen.)

Pregnant with Twins (Embarazada de Mellizos)

Filed as Classical Fencing, Destreza (Spanish swordplay), Fencing, General, Historical Fencing, Italian Rapier with no replies

My lovely wife is pregnant with twins and the first trimester officially ends on Thursday, February 25, 2010.  Of course, you want to see the pictures and I won’t deny you.

Baby Pictures

Here is the latest Ultrasound from this last Thursday:

Our twins at Week 11. (Click for High Resolution.)

Things seemed to be going fine with the Ultrasound when the doctor noticed some strange behavior.

Twin A turned to face Twin B so as to minimize his profile.

Fortunately, I was there and was able to interpret what was happening inside Mary’s tummy.

From Twin A's invitation in 4th, Twin B attempted to find the sword on the outside line in 3rd with his hand in 2nd. Twin A, executed a cavazione di tempo, but executed it as a feint. Twin B counterattacked in 4th only to be parried by Twin A in 4th who responded with a riversa to the outside cheek. Twin B eluded the cut to the outside cheek by lifting his hilt into Italian sabre parry of 7th and then in a sudden transition Twin B attempted to pass and seize the off hand of Twin A with a Spanish Movement of Conclusion. Perfectly in synch with Ettenhard's theory, Twin A eluded the circular footwork with circular footwork of his own and the phrase ended.

Seriously Now…

When Mary and I got back from Spain, we got our lives back into a semblance of order and then gave it our best shot.  We got pregnant almost immediately and had a bit of a scare at 7 weeks when we thought we were out of the game for awhile.

We were scheduled for an emergency ultrasound and that’s when we discovered not only was Mary still pregnant, but that there were two little hearts beating in there.  We’re incredibly happy and things are going very well for us now.

Because of the earlier scare, we have been keeping this quiet but with the first trimester ending next week we’re lifting the veil of secrecy.  My blog has been remarkably quiet of late and that’s because a good deal of our effort has been consolidated into writing up our experiences as we go through the pregnancy on Mary’s blog.  Until today, these entries have been password protected with only immediate family having access.

The due date for a typical pregnancy would be about September 9, 2010.  With our twin pregnancy, we expect the twins to arrive sooner, sometime in mid August.

Mary’s Baby Blog

We’ve been blogging about the whole thing since we found out and you can read about it here:

• Mary’s Blog
• The First Pregnancy Post
• The First Ultrasound
• Mary’s Twin-Bump
• The Second Ultrasound:
• Mary’s Twin-Bump Part 2
• Puck’s First Twin Post

If you want to read all the posts (which is not required by any stretch of the imagination), start on January 1, and use the calendar on the right to select the different dates.

We’re having a wonderful time working our way through the process.

Fencing Criticism and Feedback for Dummies…

Filed as Classical Fencing, Destreza (Spanish swordplay), Fencing, Historical Fencing, Italian Rapier, Opinion with no replies

Fencers?  Cocky?  Never!

William provides Italian sabre feedback at WMAW 2009

I recently witnessed an Internet discussion on fencing that rapidly degenerated into bad blood.  Using my best sarcastic voice, I hereby state, “It may surprise the world to learn that fencers are notoriously cocky and prone to confrontation.”

Any fencing teacher can watch a fencing match and provide valid criticism and feedback. Regardless of the quality of the fencing in question, how your criticism is delivered tells the world what kind of person you are.  More specifically, they get a window into how you might treat your own student.

If your goal is to humiliate and punish the student you are certainly welcome to say whatever you like, but I have a three-point system for delivering feedback based on my experiences training for the fencing master’s program.

Puck’s 3 Rules for Corrective Feedback

• Precise – Feedback should not be vague.  “Fix your arm” is not an acceptable correction from a fencing teacher.  That could mean anything.  You do not want the student trying to guess what they should correct. “Extend your weapon arm first during the lunge;” “In the guard create a straight line from elbow to weapon tip;” “Close the line when striking.”  These are all specific corrections tightly focused on the problem.
• Concise – Nothing breaks up the tempo of a fencing lesson like veering off into an extended discussion of tangential theory.  There is a place for extended discussion, but on the floor a short and precise explanation preserves the flow of the lesson.  Don’t let your fencer’s legs cool off while you wax poetic about the joys of striking in countertime.  Importantly, don’t lecture while the student is on guard.  If you are going to provide anything more than short feedback, put them into a resting posture like first position.  Don’t spend sweat and energy having your student hold a guard as you prattle when you could spend that energy on fencing actions.
• Nice – This seems obvious, but it bears repeating.  Don’t be a jerk when you deliver your correction.  As a fencing teacher, you are engaged in the process of creating a skilled fencer.  Like any person responsible for creation there will be challenges in the process.  It is a poor artist that wrecks his own canvas.  There is often a natural and friendly antagonism between the fencing master and the student, but the goal of the teacher should always be to build the student and not to destroy them.

Both fencing and teaching are very rewarding.  Nothing worth doing is easy all the time, but if we can take a bit of time to treat each other with respect and focus on building better fencers we will all benefit.

~P.