Lauren R

Somebody very close to me just lost her 22 year old grandson in a car accident. I live on the other side of the country, and I can't be with her now. I want to send her something, but I don't want to just send flowers or a gift basket. Does anyone have any ideas of what I can send or maybe something someone sent you after a tragic loss? Thank you.

My 4 year old son had a playdate the other day. My husband and I went too, and we were talking tot he parents while the kids played nearby. When we were driving home, my son took out a $1 bill. I asked him where he got it, and he said his friend's mom gave it to him. I emailed her and asked her, and she said no. I confronted him and he said he found it at the house and put it in his bag. I talked to him about stealing and that it's wrong. I told him he has to return the money and apologize to the parents. I thought it was behind us until I noticed a $10 bill missing. I thought I just misplaced it, but then I found it in my son's bag. I questioned him again and he confessed. I don't understand why he's stealing money and how to get him to stop. He's only 4, so he's obviously not spending it. He just said he likes money.

I am 6 1/2 weeks pregnant and my doctor told me last week that based on my blood work and an empty ultrasound that I definitely lost the pregnancy. They were hoping I started bleeding on my own, but I haven't. I have another appointment on Wednesday and they said I may need medication to start the actual miscarriage. Has anybody taken pills to make them miscarry? If so, what can I expect from it? How long does it take? This is killing me. I hate the waiting. Any help would be appreciated.

I was 6 weeks pregnant and I just found out that I am miscarrying. I had no symptoms- no bleeding or pain. The doctor told me that my hormones are dropping and the ultrasound showed nothing. I am starting to deal with it emotionally, but I can't until I begin to deal with it physically. The doctors are waiting for me to pass it naturally, but I may need medication. I have been getting some really insensitive comments from friends and family. One friend told me that I don't have the right to "fall apart" because I have my 3 year old to take care of. If I spend my time crying, that's my way of saying that this baby/pregnancy was more important to me than my 3 year old son! Other people have said "it wasn't meant to be", "in my day, we wouldn't have even known we were pregnant at this point", "don't worry, you can just have another", "at least it happened early" or "just be thankful for what you already have". And other people are afraid to say anything and have just been ignoring me. I really don't want to be around anyone because everyone seems to be minimizing my situation. I knew I was pregnant for over 2 weeks and fell in love with the idea of having another child. The doctor feels my health is still in jeopardy at this point because it still might be ectopic. I have to wait until next week to get rechecked. I hate the physically part even more than the emotionally part. I have so much to deal with, and I feel like nobody in my family understands. One minute I'm okay, and the next minute I'm hysterical. How do you deal with all the stress/emotions/other people during a miscarriage?

I am about 5 1/2 weeks pregnant. My first hcg test was 40 at 12 dpo. At 16 dpo, it went up to 151, which my doctor said was good. At 23 dpo, it only went up to 600. My doctor is concerned and set me up for an ultrasound this afternoon. She wants to rule out an ectopic pregnancy. I hardly slept last night and I am so upset. I'm not thinking I'm going to get good news. I don't think I will have any answers today because my hormone level isn't high enough to see anything. I am 30 years old with no health problems. I had a healthy pregnancy 3 years ago. Has this happened to anyone else? Any insight would be appreciated.

Can I use 5 $5 gift cards when making a single purchase from amazon.com?

I had a blood test last Thursday afternoon and my hcg level was 40. I had a second test on Monday morning and it was 151 at 16 dpo. Does it sound like good numbers?

Ok, I took 4 pregnancy tests and all had a light second line, but definitely visible. I went to my doctor this afternoon for a blood test. They said they don't consider a woman pregnant until her HcG level is over 25. The sensitivity of the hpt's I took were 20-25. Would they produce a line light at that level or would you get a strong positive at that point? I'm wondering if my HcG level will be at least 25, so I can "officially" be pregnant. I will know tomorrow around lunch time! This is my second pregnancy and when I went in for a blood test with my first child,my level was 25 and they said the test was inconclusive. I hope I don't have to go in for another blood test. BTW, I'm about 11 dpo. Any help would be appreciated!

I am getting the Keratin hair straightening treatment. I'm going to a fancy salon that normally charges $349 for this. I got a deal on groupon for $99. I have very little money and it is even difficult for me to afford the $99, but I made some cut backs and gave up haircuts for a while,so I'd have the money. Groupon said I am supposed to tip on the full value, but that would be $70! I can't afford to pay $70 for a tip! Does anyone else think this is excessive? It's an hour and a half procedure, and most of the money if for the chemicals. I think tipping is getting totally out of hand. Even giving a $20 tip is going to be difficult to afford. What should I do? Would you tip $70?

I am a 30 year old woman with a 3 year old. I always had my period every 4-5 weeks. Never had any fertility problems, I got pregnant right away 4 years ago. Now I haven't had a period in over 10 weeks. I haven't started or stopped any birth control methods, so it's not that. I am not pregnant, I have taken countless pregnancy tests. I haven't stopped or started any new exercise routine or diet. Is this something to worry about? It seems like a symptom of PCOS, but this has never happened before and I didn't have a hard time conceiving. Could it just come out of nowhere? I gained 5-10 lbs. Could that have such a big effect? Should I see my doctor? The only change I made is I stopped taking my anti-anxiety meds. I slowly tapered off of them because I felt I didn't need them. Would that have an effect on my period? I'm starting to get concerned. Any advice would be appreciated.

I've recently had some concerns about my 3 year old son's pediatrician. I've been going to her since he was born, but lately I'm not happy with her. She is very laid back, which can be good, but she's missed a few things recently.This has been an ongoing problem, which I've tried to overlook because I didn't want to be superficial, but she is very overweight and just doesn't look healthy. She often has dirty hair and her nails don't look properly groomed. I've been trying to look past all of this,but last week she diagnosed my son with something and when I spoke to his ENT about it, he told me that what she said was factually incorrect and that he was wrongly diagnosed (nothing serious). It just made me question whether or not she really knows her stuff. All this said, I think I need to switch doctors. I just don't know how to go about it. I don't want to have an awkward conversation with her. I can't tell her that I don't want to take my son to her because she doesn't look healthy and isn't a good doctor. She's a nice lady, but I need someone else to care for my son's health. How do I get my son's charts if I don't tell them I'm switching doctors? I want to make this as painless as possible, but I think it's going to be awkward. Any advice?

This is the first month I've been using an OPK (the Wondfo brand from ebay). For about five days, I had a second line which was about a shade lighter than the control line (it was progressively darker, but never quite as dark as the control line). I've been having wet cm, but no EWCM,although I usually don't. Today I still have wet CM, but the second line is almost gone on my OPK. My husband says this is probably because I'm using a cheap test strip, but I'm not sure. Does it sound like I ovulated, or does it sound like I didn't ovulate at all this month? Last night the test line was pretty dark, but still very slightly lighter. Today the line is almost gone. Does it sound like I had my surge last night? We BD-ed last night and used Pre-seed, and I'm wondering if we should again tonight. Any ideas? This is all so confusing! Thanks!

My almost 3 year old son just threw my photo printer on the floor and a little round piece of plastic broke off. He put it in his mouth and swallowed it before I could take it away from him. He said he ate it and the last time I saw it, it was in his mouth. He didn't choke (it was pretty small), and he's acting perfectly fine. Should I worry or will it just pass?

I just started using OPK strips. For the past few days, the second line has almost been non existent. Today it was darker than usual,but still a negative. Does this mean that my surge is likely to happen in the next few days? Does the second line get progressively darker until my surge? Any help would be great!

I am new to charting my CM, as this is the first month I am doing so. My husband and I are TTC. My cycles are usually long, last month was 41 days, which is unusual. I did notice EWCM 12 days before my period last month, which is obviously when I ovulated. This month I noticed I was very wet, almost like water, for a few days. This was about 2 1/2 weeks after my period. I definitely didn't have EWCM, it was just very watery for a few days. We definitely BD-ed at that time. I really didn't think I ovulated then, but then my CM went to creamy for a few days and now I feel very dry. If I try to get a cm sample now (tmi, sorry!), it's slightly creamy inside, but dry on the outside. Does it sound like a already ovulated, even without the EWCM? If it was just watery, does that still mean I could have gotten pregnant? It's way too early for a pregnancy test at this point, but I was just wondering what your opinions were. Like I said, I'm totally new to this and this is the first month we are actively TTC for #2. I just turned 30, and conceived after two cycles when I was 26. I hope it's easy this time around.

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My son just started pre-school. By the time the holidays come, he will have attended for 3 1/2 weeks. Am I obligated to get the teacher a gift? I don't mind getting the teacher something, but they also have 5 assistants, some working 4 days a week and some 2 days a week. Do I have to get a gift for everybody? If so, what should I get? I don't have much money to spend. Any suggestions?

I am getting the keratin straightening treatment tomorrow. My hair is a little longer than shoulder length and it is very curly, but not thick. How long will it take and what is the process? I'd love to hear from anyone who had this treatment. What were the results like? Thanks!

In my area, people are always selling new release DVD's (not bootlegs) for several dollars. They are just the single DVD, with no bonus materials and they come without their original case. Is it illegal to sell these on ebay and will I get in trouble for doing so? I ask this because I've seen many people doing this on ebay and wondered if I could do the same.

My husband and I have been married for 4 years and my relationship with my mother in law is strained at best. My inlaws didn't come to our wedding and things were really bad for several years. Things began to improve after our son was born 2 1/2 years ago. Every time I think we're starting to get along, she says something insulting or insensitive to me. Part of the problem is a language barrier. She is fluent in English, but it's not her first language, and sometimes things get lost in translation. I would really like to improve our relationship, but I don't know how to go about it. She's a very selfish person, and she doesn't even look out for her son's best interest at times and that frustrates me. She's not the type of person I can have a deep meaningful talk with. I'm wondering if I should get her a book about mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws. I've looked at some good books, but I'm worried that she will take it as an insult if I give her a book like that. I really don't know what to do, and any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I got a Brazilian blow out the other day and was told to wait a few days before washing it. My hair was so greasy, so I washed it after 2 1/2 days. I was reading online and some articles said you can wash it immediately after the treatment, and others said it wait 3 or 4 days. If I only waited 2 1/2 days, do you think this will be a problem for me?