blondewithheart

I am 30, regularly running since I was in college, with breaks due to illness and kids. It's been six months since I've run, trying to recoup my body. I've just starting walking but I hate it. I have a rotater cuff injury, shin splints (and a very week spot where I crushed my shin many years ago), IT band syndrome, and Plantar fasciitis. I just love extreme sports and my body pays dearly for it. Running however, is how I keep in shape and I'm afraid I'll have to give it up. I can't seem to stretch or go slow enough to keep from re-injuring myself. I've always run outdoors- previously off-road but now I stick to pavement, or dirt paths. At this point I can't afford a trainer to help me out with starting back up safely. Can anyone recommend a website or a schedule to help pace myself and build up the strength in the places I need it to stay injury free? I feel a little defeated!

Thanks!

I'm trying to narrow down some problems I've been having for some time and I think I may have IBS, as do several of my family members. However I keep reading that most people feel symptoms fairly soon after eating a trigger food whereas I usually feel bad many hours later, such as the morning after eating pizza or red meat for dinner. Is that typical of IBS? Alternatively, I could just have a sudden onset of food allergies because most of my immediate family has them, I was spared for a while I guess. Thanks for any input!

When I was 17 I had one of my ovaries removed along with a large cyst and the docs were able to find and remove some smaller cysts on my other ovary. I've had them come and go on their own since then, but now 12 years later I have another large stubborn one on my remaining ovary, I won't know until I wake up if they will have had to take the entire ovary, but odds indicate I should be prepared for that. I've had two boys (miraculously!!) and I'm happy with our family size as is my husband. I'm more concerned about early menopause and it's effect on my well being...I've read some studies that show all sorts of complications, shorter lifespan etc if you have early menopause. Not to mention I'm so scared of how it will effect my sex life with my husband, which is wonderful, and my moods, since I've been on mild anti-depression medications since the birth of my 2nd son. I just keep having this dream that I wake up next to my husband and then look in the mirror and see this old old woman. Has anyone gone through this at all? I'm totally alone in this. Thanks a bunch :o)

My husband is a good man and a good provider, he loves his kids and he helps around the house when asked, eventually. Perhaps this is why he turns a deaf ear whenever I have a complaint, if we argue, I am always wrong and he will not apologize until he's already said another dozen hurtful things he should apologize for also. During our last argument about him taking our kids to his family's home while my parents were visiting (I was upset because they were waiting around to spend time with the kids and his family always sees them, for any occasion you can think of) he insulted my parents and insinuated that since my mom isn't "around" for the kids as much as his family, then she should just have to wait until he sees fit to bring them back home. This was very, very hurtful to me. Not only because they are loving grandparents but they also let us live in their home for three years while we got on our feet as a couple, bills paid. To insult them in that way was just beyond an apology, which he refused to give until he could see how irate it made me. This is always how it goes...he will apologize but it is only because he wants to end the argument, or to stop me from becoming more upset.

My husband is a good man, as I've said, but I can't go on having arguments with no resolution...it makes each argument progressively worse and making me more and more distant towards him. I try to talk about it calmy, but he only gets annoyed and that's when he starts saying hurtful things, or putting words in my mouth and making me sound like the bad guy, he fights dirty and immaturely and it gets us know where and always leaves me in tears. I've tried better expressing the root of what upsets me, but by the time we are finished "talking" he's said so many other rude/hurtful things the original point is mute. I suppose we could go to counseling, I just thought I'd get some feedback here first, thanks!

My husband works a fairly typical 9-5 in an office. He works hard no doubt and while he is good with the kids and helping when asked, I simply cannot get him to be proactive with his own "home work" until it has become a major problem, which then creates a problem for me and fully corrupts my tight schedule. I take care of our two young kids, work part time from home as well as study to complete my degree. I do everything around the house, including yard work, car repair, finance management etc. But there are some things he simply has to do himself (like renew his license, tell me his car inspection is expired etc). Time and time again I have had to throw out studying or working to cater to a serious problem that could have been avoided by simple forethought and planning. Instead of a planned trip to get the car maintained, I end up having to organize getting a broken down car towed etc. In his defense, he was always like this, I am an active planner and was taught by my father how to do a "man's chores" and tend to take the reins but it's only making his selfish, lackadaisical attitude worse. I feel like he has gotten off so easy having a wife that can make home repairs and fix our own cars as well as do all the 'woman's work'. He occasionally has the cahones to comment that I have not done something correctly or how he would have done it but if he's going to force me to do things myself, I have to do it my way. Please help I'm so frustrated!

I always thought I handled embarrassing situations rather well; for instance we were at a store once and my 4 year old son asked very loudly (as usual) "mom, why is that lady so tiny? Is she a kid?" referring to a little person shopping in the store. The woman obviously overheard so I smiled quickly at her and then told my son, "She is a lady, and everyone is different. We are all the same on the inside, but everyone is different on the outside. You have red hair and your brother has black hair but you are both my children..." I give him the same speech every time. But the other day we were in line at the store and there was a gentleman with what I think was a "trach" hole, you know from a tracheotomy, on his throat. My son was being so loud, "what is it, what's on his throat, it looks like a pacifier..." I told him once, perhaps it was a band-aide etc but he wouldn't let it go. Since I honestly didn't know what it was I told my son the same, but it didn't cease his questions and I was so embarrassed I couldn't even look at the guy, which I'm sure did not help.

How do you handle it when your child says or does something that may hurt another's feelings or causes an awkward situation? I have friends with special needs children and I know how hurtful it can be sometimes, and I just want to prevent my kids from doing that as well as teaching them the appropriate way to be inquisitive.

My husband and I, along with our 2 sons aged 1 and 4 are in the process of a downsize. We all live in my parent's 2900sqft home, where we have lived since before my son was born. My parents' lent us the house when we married (they live elsewhere) provided we care for it and now that they are reaching retirement age it is time for them to sell and enjoy the profit. My husband and I have chosen that I be a stay at home mom so we are limited on income but can manage to afford a small home nearby.

How can I explain to my 4 year old why we have to move, and why the new house is not as nice, and much smaller? He knows this home is his grandparent's but can't understand why we have to leave now. It's hard for me to comfort him when I myself am very sad to leave- I grew up in this home, then moved back in and brought my own babies home to it. Lots of memories and of course comfort...the kids have a huge playroom and the new house has nearly no space. I'm trying to stress "home is where the heart is" but it's hard to explain that to a child with a bazillion toys and no place to lay them all out.

Thanks so much, this transition is hard as it is, but working and putting the kids in daycare is much harder!

My 4 year old son was recently given a skateboard video game that my brother in law had laying around. It's non-violent and fun so I allowed my son to play in lieu of some of his TV time. He asked to play it today at naptime (he doesn't really sleep but I make him lay down, or we will read a book, just to rest). My resounding "no" started a meltdown of epic proportions. After about an hour of tantrum I lost my cool and threatened to throw the dam* thing in the trash. After finally grasping his attention and calming him down he begged me not to throw it away, so I told him we would talk to his dad when he gets home on what to do (whether we will give the game back to his uncle, or keep him from playing it for a while, or whatever), but I really want to throw that mutha in the big black garbage can! I think I am more upset with myself for allowing it in the first place but perhaps it's a lesson he needs to learn? He's very well behaved and never has any behavior problems at school ever, even in public he is very good. I dread summer break, when he will be competing for more of my time with his 1 year old brother and I feel this power struggle will get worse. Will a more severe punishment show I will heed more words or just hurt his feelings?

My mother would have beat that thing with a hammer, and it always worked, I'm just not sure I want to be that kind of mom :o(

THanks!

I chose to make a photo scrapbook for my grandmother, 79, this year because she loves homemade gifts. In preparing it though I've realized I may be dredging up things we'd all not talked much about, we're not too close or communicative. My grandmother lost a son about 10 years ago to cancer, and her husband a few years after that. We've had a few divorces and private disputes and losses, in viewing all these pictures Ive worked so hard to compile all that pops out at me is saddness and change. We are happy in general, but perhaps this was a poor choice. Should I chunk all the work and make an excuse to all those i requested photos from or is this just my perception after staring at all these smiling faces no longer with us?

My eight month old boy has been mobile for a while and has perfected his army crawl. I can no longer keep him happy in his room with a baby gate. He immediately crawls to it and cries to be let out. I work from home and for a few months I was able to get a few hours work in by rotating him from room to room (always within eyesight) and giving him various toys and very occasionally with a Baby Einstein short movie- all of course with some mommy time in between. But now he's clinging to me or desperate to roam around the entire house (can't let him do that, we have a big dog and hard floors that I can never seem to keep clean). He's growing tired of his rolling walker which used to keep him occupied for 20 or 30 minutes. I guess he's just outgrown the novelty of it all. I should be grateful, I could never put my oldest down when he was a baby but now that I work from home I MUST have some time! What do you do to keep your squirmy crawler busy??

My son just turned four and has always had bedtime issues. He does not nap at home, after checking with his doctor we confirmed he just didn't need to. Now he is going to preschool and they take a 1 hour nap. His teacher says he will sleep around 30 mins or so.

He wakes up with me at 6:45a (he wakes up on his own). But (especially if he has had a nap at school) I can't get him to settle down for bedtime until about 9pm. If I'm lucky he'll fall asleep around 10, with the help of a movie or me or his dad laying down with him. I'm exhausted by this time, I'm ready to crash out at 9 if I'm lucky enough to do so.

Last night we started a cold-turkey lay-down-in-your-own-bed-and-go-to-sleep-or-else type routine. It was so bloody awful I don't know if we can keep it up. His naptime at school is required....but how can a four year old survive on 9- hours of sleep? His doc says just cut out the nap but even that doesn't always work. Should I just keep at the go-to-bed-or-else thing or what? I'm so fed up with coddling and nightlights and glasses of water and everything. What has worked for you?

I saw several recommendations of a few teaspoons of baby food a day, but my 6 month started eating baby food since 4 months and now eats about 2 or 3 jars a day + four 6oz bottles. I go off his cues, but it does seem to be a lot. Is this normal? thx!

I recently attempted to return to running after a 4 year sabbatical following the birth of my first son. I started slow and followed all my old training when getting back in the swing of it. I knew I had gained about 30 pounds and after having past issues with shin splints because of not giving myself enough time to adjust (I push myself way too hard and have gotten all sorts of injuries from it) I made sure I took it easy. But about only five little piddly walk/jogs in, I got that bad pain in my shins. I went down to only walking, eventually stopping altogether. I took about a month off and purchased some special shoes (I like to go barefoot) to wear around the house. I then took up biking as alternative exercise & lost most of the weight but for the last 3 months I've tried to go back to running and even a few fast walks with the dog has my shins aching, and even if they don't hurt when I walk they are so tender and sore; my three year old ran into me the other day and I nearly collapsed in agony. Obviously I need to see a doctor and have made an appt, but I would like to hear from other athletes about this problem. I love biking now but I can go 12 miles and it still isn't the workout that running is and I would like to combine the two. I've never heard of shin splints staying around for so long...I researched that biking hasn't been known to aggravate shin splints and I do several stretching & strength building exercises....these suckers won't budge.

This was the same with my first son, which makes me think its something I'm doing. My 3 month old will go to sleep for the night from 9 or 10pm till 7 or 8am, with about 3 feedings in between and, if I'm lucky, he'll wake up once or twice in between those times and need help getting to sleep. In the day he'll take about 4 naps at just 30 mins (and very occasionally a full hour) each. I've tried letting him cry a bit before I get him, and many other "self soothing" techniques I've read about. I put him to sleep when he is very sleepy, but awake.

Obviously I'm exhausted, as I have a three year old as well who STILL gets up in the night at least once a week. What I really want to know is, is this normal? Do other mothers have this issue? I seem to read all the time how many babies sleep all night. I was just starting to get a full nights sleep when we decided to get pregnant again and now I'm wondering how many years it will be before I can get just 6 straight hours of sleep!!!!

Any advice would be great, but I'm burnt out on the self soothing stuff, it's not working.

My 8 week old hasn't slept well since he was about 5 days old. He has bad gas problems/colic; I give him medication the doc prescribed and they work very well, as well as switching his formula to Enfamil Gentlease and he seems to digest it better....(having tons of issues trying to get him to eat it though, guess it tastes worse than similac).

So now at least he goes to sleep without hours of crying but I'm lucky if he stays asleep for an hour. Generally around 45 minutes he'll wake up and need to be rocked back to sleep or comforted. Sometimes a quick few rocks will do the job but other times it takes 15 minutes or so. This is killing me slowly and it feels like torture to lay down just long enough to get to sleep just to be woken again. I feel like I;m going crazy!

He doesn't sleep in his bassinet anymore, it slowly tapered off after we discovered he sleeps better in this little bouncy/vibration chair. It was the same for my 1st son so I don't think there is any harm in letting him sleep in it all the time...if it weren't for that vibration I doubt he'd sleep at all. This happens during daytime naps as well, but he is awake most of the day, I'd say around 3 hours at a time.

I know I need help because last night I closely eyed my 3 year olds cough medicine and was like...."maybe I should just give a little to the baby..." in hopes of getting him to sleep. Oy. What can I do??

I had my son 18 days ago and had a pretty bad tear (I had an old scar from an episotomy with my 1st son 3 years ago). But with my 1st I felt fine after a few weeks and I'm still in pretty intense pain from this one...especially after I attempt to have a bowel movement which is still painful and nearly impossible regardless of the Metamucil and stool softeners I take on a daily basis. The tear looks alright when I check with a mirror but it appears to me the edges where I was stitched don't quite close up totally, there are gaps that look like will never heal closed. Is this normal for a tear? I can't take this crap much longer, I'm so done with the process of childbirth already. This delivery went so much more smoothly and he weighed 3 pounds less than my first (which was 10 ilbs!) so why is the pain so much worse?

My baby is now 1 week old. I had some severe pain when breastfeeding but nursed as often as I could tolerate it and pumped/formula fed when I just couldn't take it anymore. Engorgement came and went and I tolerated nursing & pumping through that as well. I thought things were improving...as engorgement was decreasing I was pumping about 1/2 ounce in two pumping sessions and baby was "snacking" but still required a bottle or would cry and cry from hunger.

2 days later I'm seeing a steady decrease in supply. Over a 24 hour period I've barley pumped 1/2 ounce...I am pumping like crazy, at least every 2 hours or more often. I tried to nurse but he's getting more and more frustrated and keeps unlatching as if he's not getting anything. I'm so disappointed...this happened with my 1st born as well (right after engorgement I dried up practically overnight) but I've kept up on feeding and pumping as often and long as possible to prevent a dry-up...I've gone through so much pain and frustration now just to have my supply end? What is going on??

My newborn is 5 days old, I've had engorgement the past 2 days, doing the icepack thing and pumping mostly instead of direct breastfeeding because of the pain. It's easing up but my milk is coming SO slowly...just a few drips and then I wait a few seconds and another few drips. On only one breast from only one duct I have a GREAT flow, I might as well be milking a cow. I don't believe I have clogged ducts since I don't feel lumps, however under all the swelling that could be hard to tell.

Shouldn't all my ducts flow nicely like that? Could I have a clog? I'm worried because I had the same problem with my 1st son, and after the engorgement passed I plain stopped producing milk, I'm afraid the same will happen so I'm pumping and hand expressing very often to ensure there is still milk production. I have no choice but to use formula or my son would be starving, he's at 3 oz every two hours and I barely produce 1 oz in a 24 hour period of pumping every 20 minutes. Please help, I want to be successful this time around!!

I already have a 3 year old but was unable to breastfeed because of some issues with my milk. At the time I saw 2 lactation consultants and read countless books. I now have a 3 day old, saw the lactation consultant at the hospital and 'passed' with flying colors...baby likes to latch, stays on a while and is fairly patient. But despite the majority of good latches the pain is nearly unbearable after a few minutes. I re-adjust and there are times when he just likes to gum me, but the constant repositioning combined with his biting habit is leaving hickies around my areola as well as some very sore and tender nipples. This plus extremely painful cramps (i know this is normal) is making this experience so unworth it to me. I so wanted it to work this time, but honestly I want to give up so bad...obviously breastfeeding takes more effort but the pain and frustration is putting me in tears. Is this really necessary?

I have a dark blond natural color which I dye every 5-6 weeks at home to a lighter blonde color. I've noticed when I comb my hair (which I dye at home myself) I have "rings" of varying color towards my scalp. They aren't too noticeable but I obviously don't want them and they appear to be from the last few times I've dyed may hair, as if the roots and the longer portions of my hair were dyed different colors. I've tried leaving the color longer on the roots and then putting on the rest of my hair with the same effect. I really don't want to go to a salon to get nice even color because I know It'll become a $60 a month habit.

Should I buy color at an actual beauty supply store rather than the boxed walmart versions or what methods can I use so all my hair comes out the same color?