Reilly's Mom- Nov 23rd, 2010

His birthday isn't until September 9th but we're celebrating this weekend because his dad will be home. I don't have much of a budget, but I'd like something memorable.

Also, his mom asked me to make the cake and he wants either bbq or cheeseburger themed.

When I lay on my stomach, it feels like I'm soaring up or down really fast (like in an elevator). It only happens when I'm on my stomach, and the doctor said it was positional vertigo. He gave me benadryl.

I'm concerned this may be a heart issue. Lately my blood pressure has varied between 90/60 and 130/70. My RESTING heart rate is never under 90, and has been as high as 120.

Yes, I am overweight, but I am also very healthy. I eat like a rabbit, walk a minimum of 2 miles a day (not including the time I spend chasing my 9 month old around all day) and do yoga and lift small weights as well.

I have a family history of heart murmurs and holes in the heart.

Okay, this is going to be long. Sorry in advance. I would appreciate any good answers though. Thanks!

For months now I have been feeling exhausted all the time. No matter how much sleep I get, it just never seems to be enough. I had a baby 9 months ago by c-section. For the record, this isn't everyday mom exhaustion.

Along with that, recently when I lay on my belly, I get incredibly light-headed. I'm talking almost-passing-out kind of light headed. It feels like an elevator is taking my head up very fast, and leaving the rest of me in place.

My doctor says I have "benign positional vertigo" and gave me an antihistamine to treat it. No better.

At that same appointment, he had a nurse do a EKG and took my standing-siting-lying down blood pressure. Unfortunately, the nurse did the bp test wrong (had me stand for several minutes before taking my blood pressure, instead of having me stay seated, then standing and taking it immediately) and I believe the normal results were wrong because of it.

My blood pressure tends to be between 90/60 and 110/70. My heart rate is almost never under 90, even resting.

All this leads me to the conclusion that something is going on with my heart, but I don't know what. That, plus the fact that my doctor says I'm perfectly fine....leaves me frustrated. I don' t know what to do. My insurance doesn't allow me to see any other doctors.

Help!

Okay, I feel stupid asking this, because it really does seem simplistic...but I just can't figure this stupid this out.

I downloaded the .exe I need for Second Life. A window pops up and says "click Install"...the problem is that the Install button is lower down on the window, and I can't scroll down to get to it!

I have a netbook, so my screen is smaller. There has to be another way around this, right?

Is there a way to..I don't know...zoom out on my screen?

It's about the size of my palm, and sits on the inside of my elbow. It comes and goes, and usually shows up when I am warm (after a shower or a bath, or when I've been in the car for a while).

Sometimes it itches like crazy, and sometimes I don't feel it at all.

Any explanation for this?

My daughter has been really grumpy since last night. For the first time in several weeks, the only way she will sleep is if I swaddle her really tightly. Even then, it's been a struggle to put her down every time.

She has been grabbing her ears, but I don't know if she's doing it because she's in pain, or just because she recently discovered her ears.

She doesn't have a fever.

She had her 2 month checkup on Monday, and he looked in her ears then. She also had her vaccinations then.

So...what do you think?

I'm trying not to be overly dramatic here, but the possibility of a blood clot was raised today by my father, and I'm wondering if I should get it looked at.

I have had pain in my left leg pretty much since the day I came home from having my daughter, 2 months ago. It's non-specific, in that it's not like my knee hurts, or my thigh hurts...the whole dang thing hurts.

It's worse when I've been sitting, or laying down, and gets a little better when I'm up and walking around.

Sometimes it hurts so bad I can barely stand to put any weight on it. This is most often in the middle of the night, when I've been sleeping for a while.

I do have two tender spots; right under my knee and around my ankle. Other than that, it's more of a general pain and weakness.

I do have a history of blood clots. I had two of them in my left arm 2 years ago. They were caused by an incompetent IV stick (the hospital's words, not mine!).

So...what do I do? It's too late tonight to call my doctor, but it would be nice to be armed with some info for tomorrow. Or is this something I should consider going to Urgent Care for in the morning?

Edited to add: I had my daughter by emergency c-section after 2 hours of hard pushing.)

I just got my pap smear results back and they said "non-specific reactive changes". What does this mean? I can't seem to find much online about it.

My doctor is repeating my pap a month from now.

(I'm postpartum 2 months, in case that matters)

Okay, my daughter receives WIC checks for formula. They only allow Similac or Enfamil, and only the 12.4 oz size cans.

These cans cost $14.99 each. I'm not complaining about the price, because I don't actually pay for them, but they are spendy.

Now, I have seen non-brand name formula (with the exact same ingredients, I checked) priced at $11 for 25 oz.

Why doesn't WIC use that formula instead? It seems like it would save the government a lot of money...

Just curious if anybody knows the reasoning behind this. I'm guessing Similac and Enfamil pay to be the only formulas offered by WIC, but that's just my guess.

My mother watches my daughter once a week, on Saturday nights. It started out as a way for me to get a whole night of sleep once a week (single mom) but now she really just loves her Grandma Time.

I always pack a can of formula and several bags of breast milk when she babysits. Almost every time, when I get my daughter back, she has used all the breast milk and most of the formula can. Now, I use a can every 4-5 days, so how does she go through most of one in less than 24 hours?

I know she measures the formula out correctly because I've seen her do it. I guess I'm just trying to figure out how she uses so much so quickly.

This is important to me because I don't want my daughter to be overfed, but also because those cans of formula are $15 each and I don't have a big budget.

My mom can be really sensitive about stuff like this, which is why I guess I'm asking you guys and not her. If I ask her why she's using so much formula, I have a feeling it'll turn into her thinking I'm accusing her of something.

I just noticed it when I was taking her out of her bassinet after a nap. It kind of looks like cradle cap skin, that scaly, dry skin, except it's right in the crease behind her ear. It doesn't look red or inflamed or infected, and she doesn't seem to mind me touching it.

I have baby lotion that I use on her arms and legs...would it be good for behind her ear too? I also have a tube of zinc oxide (butt paste) and I've heard that it's good for healing...

What would you recommend?

I'm nearly 8 weeks postpartum, and being accused by family of having postpartum depression. I'm not really sure if I agree with them or not, because it seems like they have just been waiting for a chance to accuse me of it. I do have a history of depression, which is why I'm on antidepressants, and have been throughout the pregnancy and postpartum period.

The reason they say I'm depressed is because some days I don't really feel like going out, and sometimes after I eat a meal I leave the dishes in the sink to do later.

I'm exhausted (my daughter is nowhere near sleeping through the night) and still really sore from my c-section. I really don't see anything wrong with spending the day with my daughter in our pajamas, or leaving some dishes in the sink overnight.

Honestly, I think my family does more damage accusing me of this crap, because I am still pretty hormonal and when they basically tell me I'm doing a bad job as a mom, I have a hard time letting it go. This leads to even less sleep, and upset stomachs.

So...does it sound like postpartum depression? Or just paranoid overstepping family members?

Last night my 7 week old daughter was screaming, and absolutely nothing made her feel better. It wasn't her hunger scream, or her wet diaper scream. It wasn't even her "I need cuddle time" scream. It sounded like a pain scream, like some invisible person was yanking her legs or something.

After a few hours of this, I gave her some baby Tylenol. I gave her the correct dose for her age/weight (I actually gave her slightly less than they say to). Almost right away, she calmed down and slept for several hours.

I mentioned this on the phone with my dad this morning and he is now threatening to call CPS on me because "it's wrong to medicate your child to shut them up."

That isn't what I was doing though! I had run out of ideas for what was upsetting her, and thought maybe she might be in pain. She was hot, although not running a fever. When she woke up afterward, she wasn't hot at all.

I guess I'd like to know what you would have done in my situation, and what I should do if my dad really does call CPS. It's one of his favorite threats though, so I really don't think he'll do it.

Thanks.

I have mine in...3 hours and I'm curious. I had an emergency c-section, but everything has healed pretty well. I do get a sharp pain in my left side every once in a while, but it's not where the stitches were, it's a little higher and further to the left.

Someone told me they do a cervical check at the 6 week appointment, but do they do that if you didn't have a vaginal birth?

Oh, and I'm also having my birth control (Implanon) put in today as well. Big day!

Thank you for your help.

So, here goes. My daughter was born almost 7 weeks ago, and so I've started getting the support order paperwork recently.

In previous paperwork, they listed my ex as the Possible Father. Today I got a letter that referred to him as the Noncustodial Parent.

What I'm wondering is: Does this mean he's already taken the paternity test? He told me previously that he would fight the paternity order for years if he could (yeah, he's a jerk).

Before you ask, no we're not currently in contact. We haven't been since she was born and I let him know. He has zero interest in seeing her, or knowing her, and in fact is STILL trying to get me to give her up for adoption so that he doesn't have to pay child support.

I have an idea for a small concierge business, but I'm completely in the dark about what needs to be done to start it. Is there anywhere online that provides information and/or advice on this?

Also: Do all the sites with information about business grants charge you for the info? That just screams scam to me, but I haven't been able to find any free info, so I don't know.

Thank you!

....Or, rather, the lack of hair growth.

I'm going on 7 weeks postpartum, and I've noticed recently that my body hair does not appear to be growing anymore. For example, I haven't needed to shave my underarms for nearly 2 weeks. That's a little strange to me!

I'm going to assume it's all hormonal, since apparently everything pregnancy and postpartum related is hormones.

I am 26 years old and have a 6 week old daughter. I have no desire to have another child anytime soon (in fact I'm actually not even sexually active at the moment) so my OB/GYN said that Implanon would be a good fit for me.

In the past I have had problems with estrogen-based birth controls like the pill and the patch (they give me migraines) and had some depression issues with Depo.

What were your experiences with Implanon? Anything would be useful. Thanks!

As I said, I'm postpartum a little over 5 weeks. Since Monday, I have had horrible stomach cramps and diarrhea. Not bad enough to keep me hovering over a toilet or anything, but certainly nothing fun, attractive, or good-smelling.

I've tried pretty much everything. Children's pepto (safe for nursing, unlike the grown-up version) as well as Imodium. I've even tried eating more cheese than usual. Being plugged up would be better than this at this point.

Do you have any ideas on how to rid myself of this diarrhea and stomach cramps? I'm getting to the point that no matter how much water I drink, I'm getting dehydrated, and it's affecting my milk production.

Plus, well, I feel like crap.

My daughter is 5 weeks old, and at a recent appointment her doctor mentioned that she was in the 25th percentile for height, the 50th percentile for weight, and the 50th percentile for head size.

I'm pretty sure I understand what that all means (she's taller than 25% of babies, heavier than 50% and has a bigger head than 50%) but is there any more to it?