still waiting

I hate to say it, but my 3 year old is out of control. He throws fits, tells us "no" constantly, has an attitude, and is rude to everyone. I've tried spankings, time-outs, being "consistent", being more laid back, nothing seems to work. It's to the point now that my husband lays beside his bed at night just so he won't break things and get into things and ends up laying there until 1am or later just to make sure he goes to sleep. Neither one of us is getting any quality sleep, we're arguing over him, and we're so spent just trying to keep him in line that we're not spending ANY time together. I don't know what to do anymore.

It seems like every application I fill out for a payday loan ends in me receiving tons of spam phone calls and text messages, not to mention emails. I just want a reputable payday loan company that accepts installment payments, and won't spam the crap out of me. Any ideas?

I'll try to make this as short as possible...

My ex-husband and I have joint custody of our two daughters. About a year ago I was having some serious financial troubles, and he took over as the primary custodian to help me out. I still get them on weekends, but of course I don't feel like it's enough.

On Sunday he dropped them back off at my home for a cookout, and my three year old had a bruise that took up the entire inside of her arm. When I asked the girls about it, they both told me that my ex's mentally handicapped sister (who watches the children along with my ex-MIL while he's at work) yanked her by the arm because she wouldn't put her pajamas on, and she was, as my 3 year old put it, "being bad".

When I asked my ex about it later that day, he got really defensive and lied about it, saying that he had yanked her by the arm because she was about to run into the street. When I confronted him saying that the girls' story was different, he changed his tune and said that yes, his sister had done it, but again, it was to prevent her from running into the street. When I told him exactly what the girls had said, he admitted that he wasn't there and couldn't be exactly sure what happened, but assured me that his sister would never hurt the children.

I know his sister pretty well, and I know she's a good person. But she doesn't realize how strong she is sometimes, and it really bothers me that she spends so much time with my youngest girl unsupervised. I've even made mention of the fact that her speech development is starting to be affected because she's mimicking my ex-SIL and not enunciating properly.

My ex made the comment that, "you know they aren't being abused", and while I know that's true, I wonder how many other times something like this has happened and I haven't been told. They're very protective of his sister, and I don't blame them - but where is the line? And is a call to child protective services warranted? He's not the one doing this, but it's under his care that it's occurring. I just don't know what to do here. Any suggestions?

I had a miscarriage on May 12th (well, that's when it was picked up on an ultrasound that the heartbeat was no longer there). The baby had stopped developing at five weeks, and I should have been closer to eight. Now I'm getting some of the same symptoms from before - sore breasts, moodiness, etc. and I took a pregnancy test this morning on the way to work. It's definitely positive.

Now I know you can have risidual hormones to cause a false positive, but I also took two others on Monday - the first was positive with my first morning urine, and the second was negative later in the day. I assumed that meant my hormone levels were dropping low enough that within a day or two a pregnancy test wouldn't be able to pick them up. The line on the test this morning was definitely positive, and much darker.

Could I really be pregnant again this soon? I know I should schedule an appointment for a blood draw, but I don't want to let my husband know and get his hopes up again. Is there another way to strategically take the hpt's so that I know for sure one way or the other?

Okay, so here's the deal. My last menstrual period was around March 18th, so that would make me about five weeks pregnant. On Sunday I had some bleeding, so I went to the ER. They told me that I had a blighted ovum, and they couldn't see anything on the ultrasound, so I was miscarrying. My HCG levels were in the 5,000's range.

My bleeding stopped after a couple of hours, and I haven't bled since.

I had my beta levels redone yesterday, and it turns out they've doubled in two days. That would make them around 11,000. So...I wasn't miscarrying they don't think. But are these levels too high for them to have not been able to see anything? My doctor thinks that perhaps I'm not as far along as we originally thought, but if that's the case, why are my HCG levels so high? Could it be twins?

I have an ultrasound scheduled for Monday, but I'm going to be in agony until then.

Has this happened to anyone else - you think you might be miscarrying, but it turned out to be twins instead? Help!

Okay, so here's the deal. My last menstrual period was around March 18th, so that would make me about five weeks pregnant. On Sunday I had some bleeding, so I went to the ER. They told me that I had a blighted ovum, and they couldn't see anything on the ultrasound, so I was miscarrying. My HCG levels were in the 5,000's range.

My bleeding stopped after a couple of hours, and I haven't bled since.

I had my beta levels redone yesterday, and it turns out they've doubled in two days. That would make them around 11,000. So...I wasn't miscarrying they don't think. But are these levels too high for them to have not been able to see anything? My doctor thinks that perhaps I'm not as far along as we originally thought, but if that's the case, why are my HCG levels so high? Could it be twins?

I have an ultrasound scheduled for Monday, but I'm going to be in agony until then.

Has this happened to anyone else - you think you might be miscarrying, but it turned out to be twins instead? Help!

I have a 16 month old son who wakes up in the morning around 9am. I love him to death, but his cry in the morning is enough to make you want to pull your hair out, and is definitely an effective "alarm clock".

At noon, my husband came home from his lunch break and yelled at me from the bedroom doorway that he had been calling for two hours and that our son was screaming in his crib. This means that if he woke up at his usual time, he had been awake and crying for close to three hours.

What bothers me is that I never heard him cry, never heard the phone ring - nothing. It's not like I heard any of this and went back to sleep; I never heard a thing. This has never happened to me before, although I can be one of those people who sleeps in every chance they get and takes a nap almost every day.

I don't have health insurance, and I don't want to pay out of pocket to see a doctor if this is just a matter of being a little overly tired. And honestly, I don't want to have a doctor look at me like a moron when I tell him I'm there just because I slept so hard I didn't hear my son crying one morning.

Also, aside from maybe being over-tired, I don't know what else could possibly cause me to sleep that sound. Are there any conditions that I should be concerned about? There is a small possibility that I could be pregnant - we have been trying for almost 8 months now - but I haven't taken a pregnancy test yet since I haven't had any other symptoms.

This is really, really bothering me. This has never happened before. Any suggestions?

I think I had implantation bleeding yesterday. How soon before I should test?

I'm starting up a boutique, and I'm looking for names. Any good ideas?

Info that might help: my name is jacqueline, the city is virginia beach, and the clothes are trendy and affordable.

My husband and I aren't trying to get pregnant, but we aren't trying to prevent it, either. Today I bled for about three hours and then it went away. It was dark brown and light. Now it's gone. I explained implantation bleeding to him, but he insists what I experienced was just my period coming a little early and he thinks it will start back up any time now. Any opinions?

My brother and sister in law can't have a baby because she has a heart condition that doesn't allow her to. I offered to be a surrogate for them, but I don't know how much IVF costs. Of course, they would pay for it, but I'm just wondering how much something like this costs, and what a surrogate typically gets out of the surrogacy, like what is paid for and so forth. I want this to be as financially bearable as possible for them, so I'm curious.

A friend of ours gave my daughter a computer, an old one, so she can play little games on it. Upon startup it says it's a 2003 lynux system. It asks for a password, and the guy who gave it to us says he thinks the password he gave us works, but when we type it in (and we've tried different ways) it keeps saying incorrect password. I've tried pressing f2 before this screen, but it still asks for a password. How do I reset this computer so my daughter can use it?

I had baby #3 almost eight months ago, and initially in the first month or two, I lost about twelve pounds. Since then, the scale hasn't moved an inch. I've been doing yoga for thirty minutes a day, every day, and I run on the treadmill for two miles two or three times a week. I watch what I eat, and seldom eat fast food or anything fried. I'm so aggravated! This is six months now, and although I could tell a little difference in the way my body looked, I can't anymore, and it seems like I may actually be GAINING weight! What can I do?

The dimensions of the bench are as follows:

4' long, 2' high, and 18" across. I want to use 3/4'' plywood, with 2'x4's to frame the bottom. So going by this, I'm assuming I need a 2'x4'x12' for the bottom frame, although I'll only use 11'. How much plywood do I need? I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly how much I'll need to buy without having too much left over. I'm also wanting to add a scalloped edge to the back of the top piece, so that I can place a cushion on top. How do I go about attaching it? Also, I know I'll need two piano hinges and a latch, finishing screws and wood glue. Am I leaving out anything? A little help here, fellas.

For those of you who haven't seen my earlier question, I do not know when I ovulated, nor do I know when my last period was. (I got an IUD in January and have had constant bleeding and several cycles per month.) Five days ago all the bleeding stopped and I've been having pregnancy symptoms.

The test I have measures 25 mIU, and I tested today. There was a faint line, but I couldn't tell if it was a control line or a positive. I don't really have the money to buy another test, and I only have one left. When is the best time to re-test? At how many days of pregnancy should your hcg levels be at least 25 or higher?

I have three children. The youngest is seven months old, and he was an "oops" baby. After he was born, I decided I was going to get an IUD, since my ob/gyn pretty much assured me they were fool-proof.

I got the IUD in January, and I bled heavily and without a single day's break until April. For the last two months, I have had three menstrual cycles per month, with two or three days in between them. I have been constantly cramping and been bloated. I have been unable to lose any weight from my pregnancy, even after working out three times a week and eating small portions.

All of a sudden, four days ago, the bleeding, cramping, and bloating went away. I've had a very, very small amount of spotting, but I've been feeling nauseous throughout the day and my cigarettes are tasting awful (which allowed me to quit throughout my other three pregnancies).

I know it's too early to test, but has anyone here ever gotten pregnant with an IUD? I know, I hate those "can I be pregnant" questions, but I'm kind of freaking out here. I had my doctor do a blood test today, but I won't get the results until Monday. Anybody?

When I try to wax my legs, the wax sticks to my skin and not the strip, and it's so painful to get the wax off. Any ideas as to why this would happen? I wax my eyebrows all the time with no problem like this...

I do not want my child custody arrangements to be included in my divorce. The state is requiring it. What type of motion is best suited for this? Motion in limine? Motion to supress? I don't know. Any advice?

I have been seperated from my husband for almost three years now. I got engaged at the beginning of this year, and we started planning a wedding for May 2nd. I figured it wouldn't take but a few months for the divorce to be finalized, and we could get married as planned. The courts are taking forever, and it looks like I won't be legally divorced by May 2nd. Is there anything in the law that states I can't have a ceremony and exchanging of vows while still being married to someone else? We would have the ceremony, exchange vows, then file for marriage as soon as my divorce became final. Is this legal? Would we get into any trouble?