JAH

For the past 12 weeks I have been filling in for a coworker who was on maternity leave. I basically took on her entire caseload and was required to complete all aspects of her job. During her absence I had several weekends where I had to work and rearrange my entire schedule to accommodate the job. I was compensated approximately $50.00 a pay period for her job which was much more intense and more difficult. While I was filling in, I was taken out of my normal position and everyone was told to pick up their own slack. Now that she is back I have found that no one in the department completed any of my "typical tasks" and instead left it for me to complete upon returning, 3 months worth of work! Basically she came back to the job with nothing to take care of, her next report isn't even due for over 6 weeks and now they have started an "on call schedule" for those weekends that I had to figure out on my own. I am feeling completely taken advantage of and am not sure how to handle it. I'm really down on the job and my coworkers. I'm considering looking for work elsewhere. Am I being too sensitive about the situation, if I stay should I just suck it up and let it go?

I recently tried Huggies overnight diapers and and on the first night, completely soaked through them within 4 hours! I finished using the package but it has been hit or miss. He does sleep through the night and I don't like waking him to change him. If anyone has had any luck with another brand I would love to hear about it. Thanks!

She watches my son between 15 and 25 hours per week. I would like to give her a little something extra but want to know what is appropriate.

The past few months I have noticed that when I sit or lay down it is slightly uncomfortable on the lower left side of my back. I had a baby six months ago so thought it may have been my body changing. Last night I was able to feel an egg size mass on the lower left side and am somewhat concerned. It is not painful but uncomfortable/noticeable when sitting and does hurt when pressure is applied. I will be making an appt to see my doc but wondered if anyone had ever experienced anything like this or have an idea of what it might be. Thanks.

It's an inground pool with a liner, not cement. However the deck is all cement and would need to come out as well. Just something we are considering at this point, back yard is sooo ugly in the fall, winter and spring.

My 5 month old has been sick this week and unable to go to his daycare. I also want to keep him home for the remainder of the week because he does not sleep well at daycare and I feel it will be set back. I pay my daycare lady a flat fee each week, although he is rarely ever there for the amount of time I am paying for and often several hours under. Am I obligated to pay her for the week even though she did not provide any service? We never signed a contract and she has not established anything firm, she is new at this so I don't want to take advantage.

I'm still helping mine burp but he often does it on his own as well, just wondered when others stopped. Thanks!

My sister is scheduled to have what I believe is a major dental procedure done at a national dental chain. She is having 5 teeth pulled and partial dentures put in on the top and bottom of her mouth. She is freaking out because they have told her they won't put her under or give her laughing gas, she has to be awake for the entire procedure. They suggested she bring a mp3 player if she doesn't want to hear it. She also asked about pain medication for after the procedure and they stated the only thing they prescribe is 800 mg of ibuprofen. This seems horribly painful to me and I feel like there has to be better options for completing this type of procedure. Does anyone know if this is common place, am I just over reacting?

Also, if she opted to go somewhere else could she take the partials they have already prepared and have another dentist do the procedure?

Since having our son, my mother-in-law insists on coming over on a bi-weekly basis if not weekly (we only saw her only 3-4 months before that so it's huge change and big irritation for me). I understand she loves her grandson but she sits with him for several hours when she visits and refuses to let him sleep because she wants him to be awake so she can interact. I have asked her repeatedly to let him sleep and nap but have learned that as soon as I leave she wakes him or if he falls asleep she wakes him up right away. My baby is already sleeping completely through the night except for the days she visits as he is extremely over tired and remains irritable for a couple days after. Plus he is only 13 weeks old and needs his sleep, I feel like she is being extremely selfish and not thinking of his needs at all and only herself. I have asked my husband to handle it but he has yet to do so. What can I do at this point? There are several other issues I have with her and in an effort to try to maintain the relationship I need some advice and fast.

I have read that it is very common for infants this age to get what's called the "six week rash", but I'm concerned as it seems to be getting worse and spreading. I read that I should not be putting any lotion or creams on it as it will just make it worse but his poor little face looks so dry. I'm starting to get concerned as he has been very irritable the past couple days and is having a hard time sleeping. It may not be connected in any way but can anyone tell me if what I'm describing is normal or should I contact his doctor?

I am currently using playtex ventaire bottles and it takes my son forever to eat 4 ounces, it turns it to quite a workout and lasts on average from 30 minutes to an hour to finish. Noone else can even get him to finish a bottle. I am using the standard nipple in slow flow. In an effort to speed things up I have tried graduating him to the fast flow nipple but it's just too much fluid for him right now. I'm not sure if the actual bottle is causing the problem or if it's just the way he eats but I would like to give another bottle a try with a standard nipple. Does anyone have suggestions? I don't want to use Dr. Browns as there are too many parts to clean and I haven't heard good things. Please let me know if you have had similiar problems and if you found success with another bottle. Thanks!

I'm 37 weeks pregnant (almost there!) and while I'm very excited I'm starting to stress about relatives coming and staying after I give birth. I live 2 hours away from all of my family, they never come to visit but now all of the sudden several of them want to come up and stay. My Mom will be staying for a couple days which I'm fine with, my Dad also wants to come for a couple days. They are divorced and I fear it will be awkward, now my Grandma left me a v/m stating she is staying. I haven't invited any of these people to actually stay over as our house is small, there is family tension at times and we can't afford to provide food and beverages for everyone. There will also be several others that will be visiting as well. I feel like I won't be able to bond with my baby and I also feel like I'll have to worry about entertaining everyone instead of taking care of my baby and myself. I know I am blessed to have family that wants to be around but they never wanted to be around much before. How do I deal without hurting peoples feelings?

Having serious trouble sleeping and breathing at night. My spouse says I choke all night long in my sleep, any tips or safe medications that will help with this?

I'm currently 35 weeks pregnant and working part-time. I supervise visitation for kids in foster care and often transport the children or biological parents to the visitation site, some are over an hour and a half away. At first I thought I would go on maternity leave on April 2 as I did not want to put anyone at risk should I go into labor during a transport. However I would like to work right up until I go into labor with the local cases which my employer has a agreed to. Now I'm reconsidering as I feel they are taking advantage of me and have not made any plans for someone to take over my cases. I'm very hormonal, uncomfortable and also suffering from horrible allergies which makes it even harder to sleep at night. Any advice on what I should do? Stay until my delivery date and just suck it up or go on leave completely by 4/2/10?

Sorry to complain, I'm extremely excited about my baby just very ready for him to be here.

Over the weekend I met my Mother-in-Law and her daughter for a girls day. At the end of the day she asked me to call her to let her know I made it home alright as I had a 45 minute drive back home. On the way home an old friend called and we ended up talking for 2 hours until the police practically banged down my door at 10:00pm. My mother-in-Law was so upset that I didn't call immediately after getting home and was concerned something happened to me that she became extremely upset and called the police crying asking them to check on me. I was scared to death when they came knocking on my door. It had only been two hours and she was that frantic! I know she did this out of concern but I'm somewhat irritated. I'm in my thirties and have a baby on the way, I don't feel I need to check in with her like a child. How do I handle her as I have a feeling she is going to get worse after the baby comes? I told her not to call the police again but I'm not convinced she took me serious. Am I wrong to be upset? Help!

I have a pretty good idea of things I want to put on my registry but don't want to waste the money of friends and family on items that may not be useful. Does anyone have any thoughts on items that turned out to be a complete waste? Thanks for the input!

I'm 26 weeks pregnant and when I first learned I was pregnant I was slightly over weight. So far I am on track in terms of the weight I have gained but as I get further along I am horrified by the number on the scale. I'm not sure if it's that paired with the winter blahs but I'm feeling quite depressed and unmotivated. I'm curious to know how many others out there were able to drop the weight and how quickly it came off after giving birth.

I'm currently 22 weeks pregnant and have only recently really started showing. Of course sleep is getting more uncomfortable but through the night I experience pain in my hips and belly when moving or switching sleep positions. Is this normal and is there anything I can do to alleviate the pain, is it hurting my baby?

Just had my ultrasound at 20 weeks and was told the baby is 10 inches long and weighs 14 ounces. Everything I have been reading says my baby should measure around 6 inches. Is this normal? Could I be further along than I was originally told? My first ultrasound was done at around 7 weeks and my doctor had told me the earlier an ultrasound takes place the more accurate it is at determining the due date. Please offer any advice.

I'm 15 weeks pregnant and had to apply for medicaid in Michigan due to a change in employment. The online application stated it looks like I qualify but I will get an official decision in 45 days. I will be switching doctors due to this but my doctor would like me to schedule an ultrasound in the next few weeks. How does that work? Am I to tell my new doctor that my medicaid is pending and hope that it goes through? I can't afford to pay for that up front. This is very new to me and I hate not knowing. If anyone could offer advice I would appreciate it!