There were a bunch of people recently scammed about a skincare thing. I don't ever watch it, but saw a snippet with his wife talking (who does have a skincare line) that it was a scam and she sent a lot the scammed people a set of her skincare for free.

I had mine out as a 23 year old nurse. My husband took great care of me, and we thought it would be much worse. I had two weeks off of work for recovery and was eating out at restaurants the next day. The worst day was day ten when the "scabs" very obviously came off- I was feeling very sore and raw. It wasn't bad at all though and after having strep and viral tonsillitis 5-10 times a year since I became a nurse at 19 (so, four years of the issue) and I haven't had a single sore throat or case of strep since. Miracle operation for me! It's been 6 years. Eta: we did it in our ENT's large surgery center and it cost me about 2k with our insurance. It was worth every penny.

Yep! I checked that in the store when we purchased. Both of ours were manufactured just one month prior to purchase- they will both not expire as a HBB until our children are 12.

Each response to you (there were three that I counted) all referenced their child's height or their seat's height limit. Unless there are any that I cannot see, we were all relaying our own children and our own seat in response to your disbelief that a child could actually fit in a 5 point harness that long. I purposely bought a seat with a long expiration date and a great range of heights/weights for rear facing, FF and HBB use. We spent $400 on each seat, so it better last us until they don't need a seat at all! :) ETA: My tallest isn't even 40" yet so we have a lonnnnnnng way to go.

I was going to reply thoroughly, but see that a few people already have. We have a diono seat that may be used as a harnessed seat until 90 pounds and a high backed booster to 120. I didn't weigh 90 pounds until high school and barely weighed more than that when I was married. I believe the Max height is 60" for the five point harness. I wasn't 60" until after 7th grade. Of course, when it's to appropriate for them to wear an adult belt, they will. They won't be in high school. But I will max out all limits as much as possible.

exactly this. My husband is a police officer, I'm a pediatric nurse. We've seen things (yes, relating to winter coat use too) that nobody should ever have to see. And internal decapitation is a thing, even if a child isn't ejected (and yes, they are- way too often). We extended rear face our littles, and they will both be in a 5 point hardness until they're over 80 pounds. They will probably be 11 at that point! It's not the STATISTICAL odds, it's the stakes. These are my children and they are my most precious investment. I have seen too many parents lose theirs over STUPID things relating to their car seats. And to respond to an earlier comment- someone said that others were getting a car seat check because they "weren't sure how to use their carseat." I think the stats on that are something like 80-90% of parents do not use their carseat in a safe manner. People who read their manuals and go get their seat checked are the SMART ones. They hopefully won't be the parents who I've seen who look back after losing their child and say "if only I'd known!"

My husband is right handed and also writes bottom to top. His writing isn't the neatest, but he is a fully functioning adult, too. I try to encourage my (right handed) son to go top to bottom as well, but I don't think it's a hill to die on either.

I am a leftie and teaching my "righties" how to write. The only tip I have is to definitely get left handed scissors- I remember cutting things used to be a pain in school- they never had leftie scissors! 75% of my family members were lefties growing up (only my mom was right-handed). My dad was a leftie and went to Catholic school- they also tried to make him switch to writing right handed. He got smacked in the hand with a ruler MANY times daily by the nuns. Poor guy! Anyway, I don't remember having any difficulty learning to write, even though I was taught by teachers who were likely right handed.

All four times. I felt implantation each time and got a positive at 7-8 DPO each time. So I knew about a week before a positive HPT and about 5-6 days before there was any HCG in my system at all.

http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/home/eng/e-newsletter/igg_vs_ige.pdf Here is a great link comparing the two. The problem with IgG reactions is that the symptoms last for weeks. You expose your allergic baby to milk (or a random milk or soy protein that you didn't even know was On the ingredient list) and they react for weeks before it leaves their system. While IgE reactions can be more severe in the intensity, once they're treated, they resolve quickly. Typical milk/soy protein allergic babies act exactly like OP described her son. They are freaking miserable, poor babes! My youngest was allergic to both and finally outgrew them at 9 months. It was a hell-ish 9 months for me breastfeeding and watching both of our diets.

Sorry. I wasn't specific enough. The babies who are dairy AND soy allergic are allergic to the proteins and they cause a reaction in the gut. The type of allergy to dairy you're referring to that shows up on a serum blood test or a skin prick test is a cell-mediated IgE (less common type of allergy to dairy) versus the non-cell mediated IgG response that is insanely common in infants. The latter is common to grow out of by 8-10 months, the IgE responses aren't usually outgrown. If a baby has a dairy AND soy allergy (as the OPs son was, since she stated he needed nutramigen), it's not likely that it is an IgE response. They are IgG and those don't show up on skin tests. My response was to let her know that not all allergies show up on a skin prick test and apparently I failed at that. :)

Make sure it isn't one of the "for-profit" schools. The tuition is INCREDIBLY expensive (20-30k a year) and the income you make is not at all worth it. Possibly look into a nursing program. You can take two years to complete your medical assisting degree and earn 12-13 dollars an hour when you graduate where I am (Charlotte, NC) or a nursing degree in the same amount of time, and make 20+ an hour at an office (or 25-35 starting off in the hospital). I have a friend who is a CMA who has been working as a CMA for 20 years and now earns $16 an hour after raises. She does the same thing in the office as our nurses and you truly wouldn't know she isn't a nurse- but she makes about ten dollars less an hour than our nurses and works just as hard doing the same tasks. Not fair! Here, the online degree places set up practicals at the offices. There are certain weeks when we spend the entire week (at my peds office) with these students. Some weeks they have 40 hours of practicals near the end of their degree.

I second a possible ASD screening, but all of his early "problems" can be 100% normal in kids. My kids didn't even begin to sleep through the night (EVER!) until well after 2. Both of mine woke up every 1.5-2 hours until about 13-14 months. It wasn't fun, but I just saw it as a relatively normal sleep/wake pattern for some children. And if he was needing nutramigen, then he was dairy/soy allergic- Any graham crackers you would have fed him (as well as other foods) have soy and often dairy in them... and this is how my dairy/soy allergic baby responded. Dairy/soy allergic babies do NOT react positive to a skin allergy test, as it is not a "true" allergy. My allergist explained it as more of a contact dermatitis reaction in the gut. If I slipped up and had dairy/soy or fed her anything with those components, she had the same symptoms as your little one until she outgrew the allergy.

I don't think this has been mentioned here yet, but Investigation Discovery is doing a follow-up documentary on 'Making a Murderer.' Can't wait to see some of the evidence that was purposefully left out. I hate that this documentary left out SO much pertinent information. I think they would be far more credible had they not done that, but looking forward to seeing it. http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/making-a-murderer-investigation-discovery-keith-morrison-1201674567/

Thanks for calling me out. I looked it up again, and you are right. The Duggars used to home church, but there is a lot of jumping through hoops to get actual tax-exempt status and it was proven as an internet lie. From the show, they now attend a small church in an actual (non-home) building.

They have not admitted that, but their tax information is public. It is very easy to find, and that IS what they do.

I agree. I think one or two girls have natural curls and they have said they perm everyone else's. That was in the past though, and only Jinger and Michelle look like they still perm- the other older girls just have soft curls. :)

That's old news and was a makeover episode of the show (almost two years ago) and she ditched the new hair-do within days for her curly frock.

I looked it up, as this was the first I have heard of a Board of Medicine licensing Midwives, but it looks like the website handles licensing for most allied health professionals. "Established in 1894, the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners (LSBME) protects the health, welfare and safety of Louisiana citizens against the unprofessional, improper, and unauthorized practice of medicine by ensuring that those who practice medicine and other allied health professions under our jurisdiction are qualified and competent to do so. In addition, the Board serves in an advisory capacity to the public and the state with respect to the practice of medicine." http://www.lsbme.la.gov/licensure/index From the list, it licenses everyone from accupuncture assistants to respiratory therapists to lab techs to radiology techs (pretty much everything but nurses as the board of nursing has done this) as an allied health professional. But, it is interesting! Most states don't license most of those allied health professionals, and it seems like a good idea to help govern like physicians and nurses have for years. They are definitely following their mission statement as quoted above! I think it would be excellent if more states did this. :)

I assumed she was referring to those of us discussing midwives and doulas.

It depends on your state- for example, Massachusetts just passed the law in 2012 so that CNMs no longer need physician oversight and supervision, and some states are following. However in states without that specific provision (most), ALL non-physician providers (nurse practitioners, PAs and CNMs, all of which are licensed under their own board) are directly supervised by a physician for prescribing power of any medication (and in one or two states, they are unable to prescribe medications, period). http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2012/02/mass-nurse-midwives-no-longer-need-physician-ok-to-practice This article explains the change in Mass. and what the situation for CNMs under the supervision of physicians was before this new law (and still is in most states). Eta: a quote from the ANA regarding advanced practice RNs (APRNs) to explain more thoroughly. "The Physician Relationship Each individual state's board of nursing is responsible for laying out scopes of practice for health care practitioners. Some are very specific, while others are general enough for standards to evolve without the need for new legislation. The degree of physician supervision varies widely. For example, Washington and Oregon allow APRNs to practice unsupervised. In California and Texas, CNMs can only diagnose and prescribe under the supervision of a physician, while Oklahoma doesn't let them prescribe at all. Degrees of supervision also vary. Some states require direct supervision, others accept periodic reviews, and some require written collaboration agreements between each CNM and a specific physician."

In our state, it is considered practicing medicine- hence why any midwife other than one practicing under a doctor (CPMs and lay midwives don't) are illegal in our state. So, anyone attending a home birth not practicing under an MD is doing so illegally here. We are close to the state line, so many people head across the border to find a CPM birth center to birth in (and some in hotels). Someone may be a CPM in many states, but in states where they are illegal their certification in null and void. However, Certified Nurse Midwives are recognized in all 50 states. :) it is really confusing, especially for those not in the medical field. It is hard for many to understand that all midwives do not have the same education, training, experience and even legality across the nation.

A certified professional midwife or licensed midwife (not Nurse Midwife) in states where they are legal ARE acting within the scope of their certification/license, but they are not practicing medicine. :) For example, that is why CPMs and lay midwives only take on certain (healthy) births and need to refer others out to a physician. If it includes practicing medicine at all or the birth get complicated during labor beyond their scope (it's pretty specific in most states) they are required to transfer their patient. I just wanted to clarify that the only person practicing medicine is a physician, and Nurse Practitioners, PAs, and Certified nurse midwives practice medicine under the physicians licenses. Lay midwives or CPMs never practice medicine, and they are not "in medicine," professionally speaking. In our state, CPMs or lay midwives are illegal and if caught attending a home birth will be arrested for practicing medicine without a license. Sorry if I came across strong! :)

Certified NURSE midwives are practicing medicine (under an MD, the only person who is allowed to officially practice medicine) as a practitioner, but Lay midwives (the apprenticeship that Jill is going through) do not. She did not (and has not) received any training to be a nurse or a nurse midwife. http://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programsServices/familyHealth/WomensHealth/Pages/LayMidwifery.aspx Arkansas is pretty laid back about lay midwives, but in many states, they are completely illegal (and arrested for practicing medicine).

I was a pediatric nurse for five years before DS came along and became a SAHM once he was here. I was elated and not nervous at all. Everything was really easy (though he was, and still is a very high-needs child), and was a wonderful transition.