My dh has family members with EDS, bipolar, and narcolepsy. He, himself, was born with thrombocytopenia and without radius bones (and with a whole host of related issues) due to a genetic condition for which carrier status cannot be determined. He grew up thinking he would never have children, as no one would find him mate-worthy. My daughter has EDS, ADHD, a moderately life-altering arrhythmia, and is the funniest human I know. I thoroughly enjoy her, as do her grandparents. My son has Asperger's, dyspraxia, and sensory integration disorder. He's quite clever and I'm convinced that the world will be somehow improved on a grand scale someday, and this improvement will have something to do with him. His best friend, another Aspie, has a parent with bipolar disorder. Best friend has not developed this disorder as of yet, and shows no signs of future development. Neither of them have my husband's genetic condition. I think it is too early to say, definitively, that neither will ever have bipolar disorder or narcolepsy, but we've seen no signs of either condition so far. I think I would not encourage nor would I discourage your daughter from beginning a family. You will adore your grandchildren, if and when they arrive. They will bring you heartbreak and joy, just like any grandchildren. There's really no way to tell what, if any, genetic disorders they may have. The mere fact that you're considering this now and debating saying anything about it means you will be there to support your daughter, no matter what. :grouphug:

Hits: Not doing history with my high school student. (After 6 years, it's time for a year off. I don't know any other 9th grader who can tell you about the Defenestration of Prague as clearly as he can, and we're both ready for a break.) He's doing Micro/Macroeconomics and hoping to CLEP out of at least one of them. Dr. Wile's Discovering Design with Chemistry. We are secular homeschoolers, but I could not find anything as challenging yet easy-to-comprehend as this program. Sure enough, it's a huge hit. He just skips the religious bits (there aren't many.) "How to Read Literature like a Professor... for Kids" (for the youngest.) I absolutely love this book. It's super simple but clear and engaging. It mentions s*x a few times (nothing specific, just "___ can be a metaphor for death or s*x," etc.) so pre-read when using with younger students if this may cause offense or confusion in your home. (Sorry, I haven't been on the WTM boards in forever, and I'm not sure if the word is still avoided, hence the asterisk.) Acellus for Science, Social Studies, and Health for my child with minor health and learning differences. Good grief. Just get. it. done. No more tears. Take my money. Memrise & Duolingo, as supplements to foreign language programs. Misses: Adler's "How to Read a Book" (for the eldest.) This book is one of the driest books I've ever read. It contains valuable information, so we will continue slogging through it, but it's a true chore. We read 2 sections a day, and then cleanse our palates with some Poetic Edda.

When you haven't been on the boards in a couple of years and you return to discover that the "Ignore this thread" thread is still going strong :lol: :lol:

My dh washes his own clothes, pays the bills, and cleans his (the basement) bathroom. I do the rest! Dog, kids, school, chores, activities, meals & cleanup, shopping, yard work, scheduling & overseeing car & home maintenance, etc. Fortunately, my kids pitch in now that they're older. We also bought a dishwasher this year! That was a huge help.

If you want to make sure, call the issuing bank and ask about pending transactions.

Perhaps since he went in to pay, his was processed as a debit. Yours, over the phone, was processed as a credit card. CC processing takes a few days to go through, unlike debit processing, which is immediate. I'd call Monday if it hasn't processed by then.

It is hard! When Luna was that size, we wrapped it in one of my sweatshirts. She never did lay on it; she mostly just snuggled her head next to it. Now, she puts her nose under it sometimes or curls up with it at her back.

I don't have any reason to send them to public school.

Yes! We have the Snuggle Safe pad from Amazon and our 60 lb dog loves it. We have a cheap microwave, so I have to heat it for 4.5 minutes, but it does stay warm all night. We've had it 1.5 years and used it 90% of the nights since we've owned it. The cover is washable and you can purchase replacement covers if you need to do so. http://www.amazon.com/Snuggle-Safe-Pet-Microwave-Heating/dp/B00008AJH9

This was our experience as well. My son took it right after he turned 7.

We always give wacky socks on Christmas. Dh got some Abe Lincoln socks last year. Just socks with Abe on them. They're pretty awesome.

That sounds like mine. I have a Brother MFC-9340CDW and I LOVE it. The refills are about $100 per color (black, R, B, Y) each, but they last forever. It was an investment, but I was so tired of dropping $30 a month on ink with my mega-cheapy old Kodak. ETA: You can print a few hundred pages on the toner that comes with this printer, so don't think you have to drop $400 on ink right away.

Difficult people seem to be equally unhelpful to both Dh and me. One time, Dh thought he'd be helpful and take over my end of a long and fruitless discussion with Comcast over a late relative's account. He wasn't able to get any better results than I was getting. I don't think I complain, if that makes a difference. I ask for a specific resolution to a problem. It's not something I feel emotional about. I'm an ENTP and he's an ISFP, so maybe that balances out the gender bias somewhat!

I have done this! We all know, if we don't want Dad to eat something, put it in the crisper. He never looks in there!

My mom was a elementary school teacher, so, yes! I think she read to me any time I asked until I learned to read chapter books in second grade. After that, she read the Anne of Green Gables & Little House series to me, which took a few years. I always joke that my grandfather was the "book whisperer." He'd see a bored child, spouse, or friend at a family gathering (always held at his house) and wander off, returning shortly with an article or book that perfectly suited the bored/gloomy/otherwise disinterested individual. He'd say, "Have you seen this? I think you'll really like it." He's always right. Whether it's a recent article about theoretical time travel, a National Geographic from 1957, a classic book, or a toy catalog, he always finds something perfectly appropriate for the audience. I took it for granted when I was younger, but now it's probably the thing I find most fascinating about him. He was a farmer; he never went to college. His mother and his daughter (my mom) both taught elementary school. In other words, I come from a long line of book hoarders! :D

Milk thistle & taurine together keep my liver enzyme levels reasonable. They occasionally become elevated for some reason. (I had HELLP 12 yrs ago and they've been wacky ever since.)

Fun! I haven't asked mine in a while, so I just did. Ds12- Carpenter and/or architect Dd10- Author of books about Minecraft

This would bother me. In our neighborhood, we all have long (3-4 car) single-width driveways, and enough room for 1-2 cars to be parked along the road in front of each home. Most people (including us) have one car in the long driveway and the second car on the road, in order to not block the person in the driveway. When we have guests, they pull into our driveway or park in our second spot in the road before parking in front of someone else's house. It's not illegal to park in front of someone else's house, but it's just frowned upon when you have available space in/near your own driveway/property. I wouldn't take any action, but I do understand your frustration. It's one of those, "Really? Who does that?" things!

I agree that you need a taller fence. You can build a fence down a steep hill. You just have to build it stick by stick rather than using pre-built panels. Perhaps the neighbor would split the cost with you? Probably not, but you could ask.

Thank you! She was in for 3 hours and they did a full MRI/MRA under general anesthesia. She's glad it's over!

Edited to remove medical information.

AngieW, I just realized you didn't mention anything about checking for Chiari in your OP. One of the first things our ped ordered was a CT scan to check for Chiari malformation. If your dd has pain at the base of her skull, please mention this to her GP/ped. Chiari is somewhat common with EDS.

Surprisingly, it is not only not POTS, but her EP thinks it has nothing at all to do with her EDS. She is having several instances of ventricular tachycardia daily, according to her EP. Her EKGs/Echos have always been fine; this didn't show up until she wore a 24 hour Holter after complaints of her heart being "really annoying." It presents as adenosine-sensitive VT (she's been cardioverted twice in the ER with adenosine,) but it could also be SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) with an aberrant conduction (extra electrical pathway in her heart.) She has a MRA this Wednesday and, as long as the MRA looks good, hopefully EP study with ablation(s) after that.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: I'm glad you finally have a dx from a geneticist. My dd (now 10) was dx'd about 4 years ago and I remember being in the same boat: "Okay, now what do I *do* with this information??" For us, the best thing in the world has been having a pediatrician who is familiar with EDS. He doesn't treat her, but he orders all the right tests and sends us all the right places. I can't say enough good things about him. I don't know if you would want to spend time looking for a pediatric GP familiar with EDS since she's so close to 18 at this point. Maybe you should just focus on finding an all-ages GP for her. It doesn't even have to be an EDS expert; it just needs to be someone who (1) has HEARD of EDS, and (2) is willing to spend 30 minutes reading about it to help your dd in the future. As far as pain management goes, what I've heard they generally try to do for pediatric EDS patients at a pain management clinic is help the child work through the pain. (Along the lines of "Pain is your body telling you that it is potentially in danger. However, sometimes it tells you that even when we know that you are safe. Some things are painful, like when an athlete is training for a marathon. The goal is to find the happy medium in which you are still getting needed physical activity and gaining strength, but not pushing your body too far and causing harm.") That's with younger kids, though. I know with adults, pain management is largely medication-based. I'm not sure what they will do to help your dd. Her ped/GP should be able to help you find a pain management clinic or similar service. One of the neatest things we've found for pain management is a horse riding therapy place where dd can have fun while pushing through the discomfort and working on core strength. It's HARD to get a kid in pain moving at all. So we try to find things (they have to be ped/GP approved) that she can do to increase her strength and tolerance. This could be riding therapy or swimming at the Y, maybe cycling (dd has a great bike by Specialized with shocks in all the right places.) Right now, she is completely activity-restricted due to a heart thing that just came up this summer, but these things have been great for her in the past and we hope she can get back into them once we get the heart situation under control. I have a hundred more things I could say, but I'm not sure what would be helpful and what would be just me, rambling about my own dc's personal experience with EDS, so I'll stop there. Let me know know if you have further questions.

Same here, thanks to Mirena. Before the IUD, I only used O.B. ETA: Oh, cool. My 1500th post is about feminine products. :laugh: