breathe just breathe

I write articles for a website called Triond. I know my URL is http://triond.com/users/MelanieT and I am under the name MelanieT. I have been writing for them for a few months but not really getting paid as people keep saying you have to share your articles and advertise yourself. My question is how do I do that? I already share them with Facebook, Stumbleupon and Digg as well as Google Buzz. Are there any other places out there I can put them so I can get more views?

Okay, so my husband decided over the summer to trim down the bushes in front of our house. Unfortunately he trimmed them down from about 5 feet tall to about 2 feet! We were left with 7 horrible looking stumps that didn't grow back so this weekend we had all the stumps removed. Now I have about 4ft x 7ft of open dirt and then my grass starts! It looks horrible but I don't want any more bushes, I really want a little garden but I am completely clueless as to how to do it!

As I mentioned, all that is there now is dirt so I need to know what to do from here. My idea is to plant some pretty flowers that go maybe a foot out and put a little fence or some pretty bricks around it and make the rest of the area grass. Can someone tell me what I need to buy and do to make this happen. Do I need to buy soil?

Thanks in advance

I was driving home from running errands with my kids shortly after school ended yesterday and a boy was trying to cross the street. I stopped so he could go in front of me but I see his hands by his waist waving me on to go ahead and underneath the waving hand I see a bottle of liquor! I slowly pass (20 mph as I was on block with school) and as I look into my rear-view mirror I see the kid open the bottle and take a large gulp! I was in complete shock, but my daughter (who will be attending that same school in the fall) sarcastically says "nice, real nice, what an idiot"!

I am so glad that my daughter didn't find this kid cool but now I don't know what to do. I didn't think I'd have to worry about kids drinking alcohol in 7th grade! I want to call the school but seeing as it happened yesterday and my daughter isn't even in that school yet I am not sure if they would do anything. What would you do?

I have been getting more down as the holiday nears and as a little pick me up I thought of a little rhyme that goes like this:

"All I want for Christmas is a BFP on my HPT that would work for me. Gee if I could only get a BFP then I would have a VERY Merry Christmas".

Anyone else out there in their 2 week wait and due around Christmas time? I feel so alone right now and getting so depressed. And today I turned 36! AAAAHH.

Anyone got a cute little jingle to make us TTC'ers smile?

Okay, First I have to say that my AF is due on the 30th of November so I am aware that I am testing too early. However, I saw my fertility doctor on the 6th and after doing an internal ultrasound he said I would be ovulating on the 9th (which would be CD 11 for me). Now I am at CD 25 and 14 DPO. I have become a POAS addict so I cannot help but test early (no Rude comments please)! Anyway, this morning I took a cheapy internet test (I save the FRER's for when AF is closer). When I looked at it I saw the one dark red line I always see but to the side of it there was a second pink faint line. I looked at it for a few and thought it was an evap line so I threw it out. But about 20 minutes later I went back to see it again but the line disappeared. Was this an evap line? I have taken so many tests over the last year but this is the first time I have seen anything resembling a second line. Again it was not red but a light pink and it appeared at the same time as the other line but then it disappeared. What do you think? Has this happened to anyone else and then got a positive afterward?

My daughter is 11 years old and one of the quieter kids. She's not anti-social but definitely not one of the "popular kids". Over the past 2 years since we moved to New York and my daughter has started going to her current school there have been a few trouble makers but none of them have actually hurt her, until now! This monday one of the "popular girls" pushed my daughter off the monkey bars during recess and my daughter (who for some reason was sitting on top) fell off and hit her head and slammed her knee into one of the metal bars.

Thankfully a few hours later the ER doctor said that nothing was broken but she will be sore for a few days and need to use crutches and an ace bandage. Well, originally she had told me and the ER doctor that she had fallen while playing tag and then last night I overheard her telling a friend on the phone what had really happened. When I confronted her about it she said that she didn't want to rat on the girl because this girl was part of the "popular crowd" and she could make it so my daughter would have NO friends!

I am really worried for my daughter that she would think that having friends was more important then her safety. As a parent, what would you do? I have already spoken to the school psychologist and the nurse (who now tells me that when my daughter got hurt she never went in to see her so she was shocked to see my daughter in crutches yesterday). I am not trying to get anyone in trouble but if this girl purposely pushed my daughter I am afraid she might do it again or to someone else's child. I just want to do the right thing. Any suggestions?

Okay, so hubby and I have been TTC for a little while and because I have not fallen pregnant and I had a tubal ligation reversal over a year and a half ago I made an appointment to see my fertility doctor last Friday November 6th. He was a little upset that I hadn't come in sooner but I explained that I have been going through a lot of things being that my dad just passed away a few months ago. Anyway, he did an internal (transvaginal?) ultrasound and said that everything looked good and that he could see an egg and that I should be ovulating on Monday November 9th and that we should BD on the 8th and 9th.

I am really curious to know if he really can predict exactly what day I am ovulating. Also, I had gotten my AF on 10/30 so that means if the doctor is right then I am ovulating on cd11, this is the second time in the last few months that a doctor has told me that I am ovulating earlier than I thought. I was always told normal ovulation is around cd14, should I be worried. I am now at 4 dpo and feeling really really weird, my breasts hurt more than ever and I am trying not to read too much into it as I was hoping to fall pregnant this month or next month I will be going for a HSG test. HELP! I wanna know if the doctor was right and since I did BD on the days he told me to what are my chances?

I went to my GYN on the 16th due to some light pink discharge and lower stomach pains the night before. She told me that I had ruptured a cyst and it probably happened when I ovulated. The thing is that I started my period on the 5th so I shouldn't have ovulated until about the 19th give or take a day (but certainly not a week I should think).

I was fine for the next few days but then on the 21st I couldn't sleep and my pelvic area was uncomfortable so I went back to the GYN on the 22nd for another ultrasound and to make sure it wasn't the start of BV as I had just gotten over that recently. She said that the fluid from the ruptured cyst was gone and everything looked good but she did see a "spot" on the ultrasound. She showed it to me and said that it was possible it could be the start of pregnancy as we were trying and I have already ovulated (plus we had unknowingly baby danced on the right days). She said not to get my hopes up but it looked good.

My question is, is it possible to ovulate only 8 to 12 days after the start of your period and would she really be able to see the start of a pregnancy this soon? Also, where does this put me as far as DPO (days past ovulation) if I don't know exactly when I ovulated.

Okay, my husband and I are TTC and my last period was July 8th so I am due any day now. Well, 2 days ago (August 5th) I had a small amount of really light, almost tan colored discharge on a tampon. I was almost sure I was getting my period as my lower back was killing me. Well, I got nothing for the rest of the day. Now 2 days later I am at work wearing a pad and got a little more of that same colored discharge and nothing else all day.

I don't want to get my hopes up (especially since I have taken a few tests that all came out negative) but I feel like this month there are so many symptoms that I don't normally have including: waking up in the middle of the night every night, lower back aches for at least a week, sore boobs, tingly boobs, lower stomach aches but not cramping, really tired and feeling off (I was also achy "down there" one night but that went away). So what do you think? I won't consider myself to be late until I miss my period tomorrow. However I have not been late on my period in at least a year and for the last few months I have been anywhere from 2 to 5 days early. Please tell me I am not going crazy!!

Okay, so my husband and I have been trying to clean up our backyard of all the bushes that must have grown like wildfire over the winter as I don't remember them being this out of control last summer. About a month ago my husband ended up with a really bad case of poison ivy. Neither of us knew that's what it was as we've never had it before. After a week or so of him scratching it like crazy we could tell it was getting worse so he made an appointment and got the shot and some prednisone. Since then we did some more yardwork and he got it back again.

All this time I was fine but on Friday I was clearing up the bushes in front of my house and I noticed a few marks on my left wrist. My husband swears that it is poison ivy so I keep washing it down with Alcohol but I wonder if it really is poison ivy since It hasnt itched at all. It is now about 96 hours since I could've possibly come into contact with poison ivy so wouldn't I be itchy by now? And if it doesn't itch could it still be poison ivy?

My daughter fell pretty hard on the ground while playing at her grandmother's house on Sunday. From what I was told she was jumping into a baby pool and smacked the top part of her foot on the concrete. Unfortunately I wasn't there as my kids have been with their dad (we're divorced) for the last week or so (summer visitation, he gets them for the first 2 weeks of summer every year). He called me to tell me what happened and he took her to the hospital. I tried to get the info so I could meet them at the hospital but I was told not to come as there would be too many people there (I think his mother and possibly girlfriend were there). So, I sat and waited for him to call and tell me what the xray showed.

He finally called me back a few hours later and said it wasn't broken just bruised and that she needed to ice it and stay off it for a few days. After fighting with him I was able to convince him to take her to a pediatric orthopedist yesterday and they said it was a "bone bruise". I don't get my kids back until Sunday but I was wondering how long if anyone knew how long this will take to heal. My ex seems to think she'll be fine by this weekend but I am inclined not to think so. For some reason I think it will take at least a few weeks. My kids were supposed to start daycare on Monday for the rest of the summer but I already called them and said that I will keep her with me until she can walk on her own. By the way, she is 10 years old if that makes a difference as far as healing time. Any answers would be greatly appreciated (and/or any advice). Thanks.

My dad has been sick for a while and about a year ago we found out it was liver cancer. We all thought he was doing well and he was going to Mt Sinai and on chemo and the liver donor list. Well, 4 months ago we found out that he was taken off the list as the latest catscan showed that the cancer has grown out of the liver and my dad wouldn't survive the surgery. He doesn't want to die but he has accepted that there's really nothing else that can be done for him.

For the last 4 months I have gone to see him a couple of times (I live in New York and he is in New Jersey, plus I have had quite a few colds and sinus infections and he can't be around anyone that is sick). Every time I see or talk to him I can tell he is getting weaker. I just spoke to him yesterday and he said that a few days ago the hospital pumped his stomach and he didn't know why but he didn't think it helped. He also told me that over the last 48 hours he had slept 43 away. Does this mean that it's almost time? I know that he has been in a lot of pain and I know it's coming but is there anyone that can tell me what to expect as it gets closer? The hospital has been doing great with painkillers and he goes in to get fluids every couple of days but no one has told him what to expect or how long they think he has (they just say it's a matter of time).

Also, is it true that he will just slip into a coma? I don't want him to have a really painful death. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated. I love my dad and I want to be able to help with with anything he needs (even if I can't physically be there).

Ok, so I used to be really fit and lately have dealt with a lot of things that caused me to kind of forget about taking care of myself (bad I know). I had become addicted to drinking coffee and tea all day long and nothing else. And though I don't eat huge amounts of food a lot of what I was eating during the day was junk (lots of little snacks). I always made a healthy dinner but would end up having a snack like ice cream late at night.

So, I just got married in March and in a few weeks my husband and I are going on our honeymoon. I just went to try on a bathing suit at a store the other day and was totally disgusted when I saw the "bulge" in my lower stomach. So, I decided then and then to get rid of it before my honeymoon which is now 3 weeks away!

Since yesterday all I have drank is water. I went on a picnic yesterday and made sandwiches and took watermelon, strawberries and grapes (along with a little bit of macaroni and potato salad). Today I had 2 pieces of toast and a banana, and during the day will eat 2 hard boiled eggs and an apple and yogurt (I'm at work). What I really want to know is if this is going to help me? I am going to try to work in a workout schedule too but is it ok to work out at night? I really don't have time in the morning. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I am 35 and have 2 beautiful kids. Just got remarried a few months ago and me and my new hubby have been talking about starting to try to conceive after we come back from Mexico in October.

When my son was born almost 6 years ago I had my tubes tied because things were not going well with my ex and I was afraid of getting pregnant again by him; we divorced years ago. However shortly after I got engaged over a year ago I had it reversed, so I know that I "should" be able to get pregnant. However, when I had the reversal surgery done the doctor told me that he had found and removed some Endometriosis. I had kind of suspected something was wrong with me before I had the surgery as my periods were getting a bit heavier but I didn't know what it was.

Anyway, since having the surgery we haven't tried to get pregnant (as I mentioned we were waiting til we returned from Mexico), but now I worry that maybe I may be too old to try or that my body may not handle it well. Am I being rediculous? Or is this just me being scared? It was been almost 6 years since I had my last child. I also worry about starting over, and whether my 10 and 5 1/2 year old will take a new baby well. Over the last few days I have been re-thinking wanting to get pregnant again and even considering getting on the pill but I don't know if this is just from fear or stress. I do know that I have been completely overwhelmed by the news that my father is dying from Cancer so I wonder if that has anything to do with what I am feeling lately. Is it possible that what I am feeling will just blow over?

Last summer I found out that my dad was sick and had cancer of the liver (he did a lot of smoking and drinking over the years). Thing is he was on the list for a liver and I thought things were going well until a few weeks ago when I spoke to my stepmother and she told me she thought the doctors were going to take him off the list. Well, he just confirmed it yesterday and said that there is nothing more that Mt. Sinai can do for him. He said he's accepted it and is just hoping to make it to the summer so he can sit on in the sun a few times.

I just don't know what to do, I sat there on the phone and couldn't speak. He said he is going to a different doctor on Friday and maybe they can give him something to help him last a few months. I know he didn't want to tell me because I am getting married in a few weeks but I needed to know, and now I can't help but be sad and I feel like the feeling of losing my father for good is taking over. I wasn't able to talk to him for years over a huge family misunderstanding and we just started talking again right as I found out he was sick.

What I'd like to know is: Is it possible that he will have a few months left? How do I cope? And how do I tell my children that their grandfather is dying?

Ok, so last night I got a surprise, my 5 month old bunny gave birth to 7 babies. I had no idea she was pregnant because she has been caged alone since she was 9 weeks old (I adopted her and her brother and they were in the same cage until I was able to sex them). For the last couple of months I have not had them together but last night after she had the babies my fiance confessed that his father was over one night and felt bad for them and put them in the same cage for a few minutes (he must have walked away and not seen them...). Anyway, last night (at about 8pm) she had these babies and I am clueless about how to care for them. I was a vet tech for a few years but I never came into contact with infant bunnies. I read that I should make them a nest so I put a box inside the cage and lined it with a towel , I then used a small hand towel to transport the babies onto the towel and made sure they stayed together to keep warm (making sure not to touch them with my hand; I know that most people say that the mother won't be upset if you handle the babies but my bunny has been a bit on the fresh side since I got her so I didn't want to take the chance).

It doesn't appear as if she has fed them yet and I am worried that she may not. She has torn some of the box I put in there (I thought to create a nest for them), but then abandoned it and pulled the towel I put in there over the babies. I checked them this morning and they all seem fine, but again I don't think she has fed them yet. I called the local vet a few times and he said that if she does not feed the babies by tonight I can intervene and feed them KMR or Goats milk but I read that they will almost definitely die if not fed from the mothers milk. I am also worried because it is Christmas Eve and I am supposed to be visiting family tonight over an hour away and sleeping over and now I don't know if it is safe to leave them alone.

If there are any vets or breeders out there please let me know what I can/should do.

Also, I think the mother scratched the head of one of the kits, it is not bleeding or anything but appears to be like a thumb-nail sized cut around the top of it's head, should I be worried that she will kill it because it is injured? It is moving around like the others and she hasn't messed with it yet. I did see her like all the bunnies too so I am hoping her maternal instincts kick in soon.

In April I had a laparoscopy and when I woke up the doctor told me that he had found and removed a "small amount of Endometriosis". Which I guess explains why my periods were getting heavier. Since then I had an abnormal pap and was told I had high risk HPV. I had cryotherapy to remove inflammation to the cervix in July and since then I have gotten a few infections but have been okay otherwise. The thing is that I do often feel like my stomach is bloated after I eat and I feel this like nagging feeling "down there", kinda like throbbing but not painful (I do work in an office and sit for most of the day though). I also get random pains in my stomach and feel off, and I get very irritated and very tired and somewhat gassy lately (and I stopped drinking coffee and barely drink tea anymore). I even had a night where I bled after sex, that a different doctor said was cervicitis. I just had another pap a few weeks ago and was told by my doctor that it was "slightly abnormal"; probably due to me having a bacterial infection at the time that she had given me a script for after doing the pap, and my HPV came back negative). I guess I am just wondering if all these things happening to me could be because of the Endometriosis coming back. If there is anyone out there that knows about this I would really appreciate any info you can give.

Okay, so I recently went to a urologist with my fiance so they could do an exam on him to see if he is the reason why I keep getting infections. First of all, the doctor was completely rude to me and didn't want to listen to a word I said (and I was the one doing the talking as I had the info), he kept interrupting and telling me to slow down like I was talking a mile a minute when I was simply trying to explain why we were there. Then he did an exam on my fiance (completely ignoring my info and not doing the test we requested as it would've shown if my fiance had anything on him). Well, while they were in the middle of the exam (which is in the room right next to the left of where I am sitting and the door is open), the door at the end of that room opens and I can see a receptionist come in. She proceeds to talk to the doctor then walk all the way through the room to where I am sitting at the desk of the next room and then exits from the door behind me. I later find out that there was no curtain in the room and this woman was standing there staring at my fiance while he was on the table naked. It's a good thing I didn't know at the time but it was embarressing for my fiance and I am now really upset. What kind of doctors office does that? I want to report them but I don't know if I can. Am I over-reacting?

Okay, I haven't been to a wedding in years and these are some of my fiances best friends so I really wanna look good. I know that her bridesmaids are going to be wearing apple red so I don't want to make the mistake of wearing the same color as them, and obviously white is out of the question but what about brown or black? And does it have to be a cocktail dress or evening dress? Also, my fiance is my height so I don't want to wear heels (not even wearing them for my wedding in March), should I wear heels for their wedding? I am 5'6 and weigh appromiately 115 lbs (and I'm pretty flat chested), any suggestions for what might look good on me?

Ok, so on 8/16 I got my period, on 8/30 my fiance and I had sex (unprotected), I fell asleep and did not go to the bathroom. 4 days later I woke up to a small amount of brown discharge (doctor's office said it was probably ovulation), that night after my fiance and I had sex I went to the bathroom and found bright red blood when I wiped. The next morning I called my doctor and he said I had cervicitis and gave me a 5 day script for Metronidazole Vaginal Gel. 9/4, (3 nights later) I had a 1 hour episode of bleeding. Saw my doctor the next day and she did an exam, she said she didn't see any signs of cysts or polyps or anything wrong (but she did not do an ultrasound). She said that the bleeding may have been from cryotherapy I had on 7/30 for inflammation on my cervix and if it happens again I may have to repeat the cryo. 9/12 got my period. I have had lower back pain on and off for the last week or more, headaches, bloated stomach.

I am going to a new doctor tomorrow and getting an ultrasound but I was hoping someone on here could help me with this.