Karen Smith

It is the thin buddha sitting down, and it looks like the medicine buddha, but instead of the hand being open, it is resting on the knee. I've been looking for an hour. Can anyone help me out? Also is it possible that it could be real ivory?

i just got my period this afternoon, should i start it tomorrow morning or wait until the morning after the bleeding stops? Also, do i start with the pills that there are 24 of or the pills there are only 4 of?

I had my baby three weeks ago and my post partum bleeding is still moderate (I'm using about 2-3 pads a day, it's still too heavy for a panty liner but not SUPER heavy, and definitely not as heavy as when I first gave birth), and still bright red. Also, at first it smelled kind of like bleach, but as more time has past, it's starting to have a very foul odor. On a side note, my breast milk still has not dried up and I have been doing everything right (wearing a very tight bra, not letting the water hit them in the shower ect) and I have not breast fed even once, nor have I expressed. I'm still soaking through a nursing pad every 1-2 hours.

Should I consult my OBGYN about the bleeding? I have a post partum check up in a week, but should I call them sooner and/or is it normal? Also, I called them about the breast milk last week, and they told me I should talk to my child's pediatrician about it, which doesn't sound right to me. Who should I consult about that, and does it sound normal?

My milk still hasn't dried up and it's been almost 2 weeks since I've had the baby. I didn't breast feed at all, yet I'm still soaking through a whole nursing pad every hour. I haven't been letting the warm water touch it in the shower, I've been wearing a tight bra. I'm not sure why it's not drying up, advice?

I'm currently 41 weeks 4 days pregnant. As of June 7th my cervix was still closed, but the baby is low. I haven't been having any contractions, however, I'm leaking a lot of colostrum. I've been leaking colostrum since I was about 22 weeks pregnant, but this morning I looked at my nursing pad and the whole thing was completely soaked with colostrum, not just a bit like it usually is. Could this sudden increase mean I could be going into labor soon? If I don't, I'm getting induced on Wednesday, but it would be nice to go before then!

I'm 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant, I'm 0 centimeters dilated and the baby is so high up it's not even funny. I have another appointment on wednesday (my due date) and I'm sure they will say nothing has changed. Nothing seems to be helping. Am I going to have to be induced at 42 weeks? I'm so swollen it's not even funny and my joints are killing me (I have lupus). As a baby, I was born at 43 and 1/2 weeks. Do you think that I'll probably go to the 42 weeks and have to be induced? Please share your experiences.

When I was 8 I got mono. However, I hadn't kissed anyone. Infact, I didn't share drinks, food, straws, toothbrushes, anything, not even with family members. I was very uptight about that as a child. Does anyone know any other possible ways I could have contracted it?

I'll be 37 weeks on wednesday and I'm going for my pelvic exam on monday. It's really hard for me to shave my pubic hair because my belly is so big at this point and I have to use a mirror to do it. I shaved about a week ago, so it's not like I have a forrest but do you think the doctor will care if I don't shave? I really don't feel like going through the frustration of trying to use a mirror to shave and potentially cutting myself or missing a spot, but if the doctor is going to care I'll do it. Also, I had a pelvic exam with my first doctor's office at about 12 weeks, but then switched offices shortly after (I moved) and since they had done one, my new doctor saw no point in doing another. Is it strange that they have not felt the need for a pelvic exam from 12 weeks to 37 weeks?

I'm 36 weeks pregnant. I reached to get something off the back of the kitchen counter and got a sharp pain in my groin. It felt like a sharp stabbing pain going through my vaginal/genital area. Should I be concerned? Has anyone else experienced it? This is not the first time I've experienced it. Does anyone have an explanation? Thanks

I really do not like my fiance's father. He's never been nice to me, and he always talks down to me. Not only that, but he's never been very nice to my fiance, for that matter. The first 4 months of my pregnancy he kept telling me that i "better" get an abortion or give the baby up for adoption. I'm 18, in college, and I think I can decide what I want to do with my baby and my body. My fiance had constant fights with him about it because he doesn't believe in abortion or adoption (he's adopted, it worked out great, right?). The thing about my fiance is that him and his dad have really big fights, which his dad starts, and then after about a week my fiance calls him again, only to have the same thing happen within a few days. I really hate my fiance's father and I do not want him at the hospital when I give birth, or after the baby's born. I think it might hurt my fiance's feelings, though, if he decides he wants his dad to come visit. How do I tell him I absolutely, positively, do not want his father there, without having a huge fight?

My dad's side of the family is really strange when it comes to nicknames. Everyone calls my grandma "mom" except me and my sister, much to the dismay of the family. My mom said that she went through the pregnancy with us and gave birth to us, so why should we call someone else mom? I agree with her. Also, they come up with the most asinine dumbed-down nicknames for their children to use. My cousins' kids call people stuff like "lu-li" for alyssa and they call ryan (one of my cousins kids) "ry-ry", and most of the nicknames are like that, and stick, and at the age of 7 the kid is still using it. I think that those nicknames sound dumbed-down and unintelligent. I'm currently 32 weeks pregnant and I want my child to be intelligent like I was. When I was little, I told my mom I had to go to the bathroom, I didn't have to go "pee-pee" or "to the potty". How can I get my father's family to be respectful and not try and force nicknames like that upon my daughter? They are also very passive aggressive. They did not like the name my mother chose for me and called me "cleo" instead of "chloe" for years, and still refuse to spell it correctly. I'm not saying that she can't use any nicknames. I have no problem with "mike" or "jess" instead of "michael" and "jessica" but most of the nicknames they use sound like baby talk. What should I do?

I'm 32 weeks pregnant and let me start off by saying that the baby has NOT been kicking me in the ribs. From time to time (before I was pregnant) I would have some mild rib pain in the top left rib right below my breast (even when I didn't wear a bra). Starting at around 24 weeks pregnant I started having excruciating pain in the rib again, the skin around it even turned red. Now I'm at 32 weeks and I haven't even worn a bra since around 22 weeks to cut down on the pain, but the pain is worse than ever. When I go to get up from sitting I get a sharp pain and it's unbearable.

I'm a very clumsy person and pre-pregnancy I'd had many falls outside, down hills and down stairs, among other places. I'm wondering if maybe one time I broke the rib and it never healed properly, and now that I'm pregnant and the baby is expanding inside my ribcage it's irritating it? Obviously I can't get any xrays because I'm pregnant, but I just want an opinion.

I've heard stories of women who don't know that they are pregnant and think that they are constipated and go to the bathroom only to have pushed out a baby, instead of poop. Now, I'm 31 weeks pregnant, and I know I'm pregnant but now i'm worried. What I don't realize I'm going into labor and I think that I'm constipated and I push my baby into the toilet?! I've been so nervous about this. Everytime I've taken a crap since I've been pregnant, I always check before I flush because I'm paraniod about giving birth and not realizing it. Can someone please put my mind to rest? What are the chances of that happening? What would I do if it did?

I want to go see Insidious with my boyfriend, but I know I tend to get really freaked out by horror films about haunted houses/possessions. I get really freaked out and jumpy and sometimes I cry. I won't sleep for a week after seeing that type of horror film. The only problem is I'm 31 weeks pregnant, and I'm wondering if it would be too stressful for my baby if I go to see it. Opinions? What have you heard about going to see a scary movie while pregnant?

A good friend of my fiance passed away and my fiance would like me to go to the wake/funeral with him. The only problem is that I'm 31 weeks pregnant! Literally the only things that fit me are sweatpants, pajama pants and one pair of dark Charcoal capris. I feel like the capris would be the best choice, but it's supposed to be 42 degrees and raining tomorrow. I'm really not sure what to do. I don't have any dresses/skirts that fit, and it's really short notice. Would it be disrespectful to wear the capris with a white and black striped maternity shirt? Any advice would be appreciated.

I had a debt collection agency call my cell phone this morning looking for my fiance. They wouldn't tell me anything other than their company is Escallate (i had to look them up to find out they were even a debt collection agency) and to have joe give them a call back. When I asked what it was regarding, they told me it was "personal". I'm pretty sure that he doesn't have any debt that needs collecting. He's been going through court proceedings lately, and has a lawyer he's been using, should I just have his lawyer call them?

Before I was pregnant I weighed 110 pounds at 5'9". Now I'm 30 weeks pregnant and I weigh 152 pounds. At my last OBGYN prenatal visit, my midwife told me I was gaining too much weight and that I had to stop eating carbs completely, or "if you really HAVE to have them, make sure it's in the morning". I told her I mostly eat fruits and veggies but she told me that those have carbs too. I'm really upset about this and she made me feel really bad about it and I'm terrified about gaining more weight by my next visit. I realized after I left that I was gaining so much weight due to the levalbuterol inhaler that I had recently been put on which has steroids in it. It has always caused me to gain at least 10 pounds in the past. Should I really stop eating carbs or what? What can I do so I don't weigh more at my next prenatal visit? Is she being unreasonable?

Also, I have lupus which makes exercise pretty difficult for me, especially because the pregnancy is taking a serious toll on my back and other joints.

This is going to sound silly, but I just bought some and for the life of me I can't get it open. What do I do to make the pump work? I tried twisting it, and that didn't work neither did pushing down on it. I feel like an idiot but any help would be appreciated!

Let me first start off by saying that it is definitely NOT an STD (I am pregnant, I have a urinalysis done every two weeks and I haven't had sex in about a month). I started wearing a panty liner for the excessive discharge I have been getting due to pregnancy. I think that it might be what caused it. The outer lips of my vagina got extremely irritated. It was itchy and dried out and sore, so I shaved to see if that would help, which it did. After I shaved I could see that the skin was red and irritated. I didn't use a panty liner after my shower and have not since. I put lotion on it and by the end of the day yesterday it was feeling much better. Today, however, when I went to the bathroom i noticed something crusty looking, so I went to try and clean it off, and it came off as a light scab? It is feeling much better and I think that it might have just been irritated and now it is healing. Is there any explaination or does anyone have any insight? Thank you.

I'm 29 weeks pregnant and I can't sleep. I wake up every 1-2 hours and sometimes cannot get back to sleep at all. It's not because I have to pee or I'm having back pain, if it were I would know why I can't sleep. I just don't understand it. I'm carrying fairly small, sleeping on my left side, back, right side, I've tried everything! Can someone give me some insight?