Egg donation?

[fightsactualfoo.livejournal.com]

Hello! My sister-in-law started her new job at a fertility clinic recently. She also mentioned in passing that if anyone is up for donating some eggs, the clinic will pay $7,000 to the donor. My first thought was, "Wow! That's a big wad of cash just for potentially making a woman's dreams of a family come true!" But then I starting thinking about it some more, and I realized that I know nothing about the process. So I have a few questions for you ladies that know how it works.

What is the process?
How long does it take?
Will I have to stop having sex with my boyfriend? For how long?
Is the donation anonymous?
I've got relatively good genes (no major health problems, but I am short, chubby, and have horrible eyesight. I also have an autosomal dominant skin disorder that makes me develop non-bleeding blisters on my hands & feet from "little or no trauma" -- am I still eligible?
Also, for anyone that's done it -- did you find it difficult to give up "your babies"? I am worried that if I do go throught he process, I will be consistantly and subconsciously scanning every child I see to check for mannerisms/features that are similar to mine. Did anything like this happen to you donors? Any other psychological side effects I should look out for?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

vibrator identification.

[ohme-ohmy.livejournal.com]

Ok, this is a long shot....

( picture of my vibrator. )

Does ANYONE know where I bought this from? Or where I could buy another one? 

EDIT: IT'S BEEN FOUND! Thanks apocalypticbob!!!!

Masturbation, virginity and, um, carrots

[notquiteme.livejournal.com]

I am a 22-year-old virgin, who never really experienced much sexual desire until I met my first - and at this stage only - proper boyfriend (now broken up). Didn't see the point in even touching myself. We didn't have PIV sex, partly for emotional reasons (I wanted it to be 'special'), partly because when we tried it hurt, but we did pretty much everything else.

Problem is, since we broke up, I've been having a LOT of sexual desires, and alleviating them by masturbating, sometimes with just my fingers on my clit, sometimes by inserting things into myself, including a carrot. (I'm REALLY embarrassed about that one.)

My problem is that while I know it's technically not the case, all this masturbation makes me not FEEL like a virgin anymore (in the sense that I think I know what sex feels like), but emotionally I still feel this desire to hold out for things to be special. I also worry that it's going to make me looser (although I guess I was too tight before, so...).

And this morning it occured to me that by using a carrot I may have been putting pesticides into myself and setting myself up for cancer in the future. Also, being a virgin, I've never had a pap smear.

So there are a number of things I'm confused about really (as well as just needing to get this off my chest). Would appreciate any feedback.

Period dreams

[turkituck.livejournal.com]

I just had one of the oddest period dreams of my life. Usually when i have them it's about 2-3 days before I'm due becuase my body is paranoid that I'm going to bleed all over myslef (don't wear pantyliners on general principle, and am currently out of pads >_< )

( Cut for TMI )

And then I woke up.

Note to self: Buy pads.

EDIT: I should mention that I just stopped taking a pack of Ortho-Cept last night ( mood changes and other issues were driving me utterly bonkers, I have my annual due next wednesday and this pack of pills was given to me to hold me over until the Triphasil backorder is filled, or I get an IUD.) I should be due to start a withdrawl cycle in the next day or so, but it was just really amazing to me how fast my dreams kicked in.
I told my fiance about the dream and he was like "You have period dreams?????" *eye roll* :p Boys....

Preventing Clogged Duct/Mastitis

[tanoshii-chan.livejournal.com]

Hi all, this is women's health related, I promise, because the health of my breast is at stake here.  

I'm nursing my 2nd kid, and had -0- problems with the first so I thought I had it all under control.  This time around I keep getting the clogged ducts from hell, and now I'm pretty sure this one on the left has progressed into mastitis.  One of the rec's to prevent all this is to wear soft bras with no underwire.  I'm already doing this, but it seems as though the band just keeps killing this duct on the underside of my breast.  

I'm asking here since it's more of an apparal question than an actual nursing question, but...

Any leads on where I can find bras with very wide bands?  I don't even have huge boobs, but the band keeps digging into the tissue and causing problems, and I'm fairly sure it's not a bra-sizing problem, but a mechanics problem.  

So, bra's with very wide bands on the bottom?  Anyone?  Beuller?  (it doesn't even have to be nursing style bras, but if you know of some, I'll bite there first as that's an obvious advantage)

Also, just not wearing one isn't an option because I leak a LOT all the time, I need something to hold in the nursing pads.

Vaginal swelling?

[mournful.livejournal.com]

Howdy, girls. New to the community. :)

I had a question for you guys; hopefully one of you can help me out here. Here's the situation:

My boyfriend and I TRIED to have sex last night, but to no avail, as my vagina felt like it was completely swollen. Even my boyfriend said he couldn't get all the way in and that it felt like some kind of "wall" blocking it. Now, I had been a week late for my depo-provera shot, so I had to wait a while in order to do it again. Do you think that has anything to do with it? Granted, we had sex the night before without any problems, but it did get a bit rough. I'm still sore today and I feel all puffy inside. Even when I urinate, I can still feel it. Oh, and I'm also getting this strange discharge -- it feels almost oily. I can't really find any other word to describe it. It's not thick or anything, just feels... oily. I don't know.

Thoughts? Anyone?

Razor burn, jock itch and ingrown hairs, the works!

[http://users.livejournal.com/-preciousheart/]

Ever since I started my job a month ago that requires me to wear tight pantyhose and shorts for 8 hours straight, I have been extremely prone to razor burn, "jock itch", and ingrown hairs in my girly area.

Is there anything I can do to prevent AND treat this??

Thanks.

pill being exposed to the enviroments

[celestialstarco.livejournal.com]

So anyways. I take my pill every morning when I wake up. You know, hear alarm, grunt (to early to make the effort with swearing), turn off alarm, lie there convincing myself I really want to get out of bed, roll over, take pill, stagger out of bed etc. Naturally, my co-ordination skills are pretty lousy (Many a morning have I popped the foil and seen my pill rocket upwards and away. I then spend several minutes looking for it) and yesterday morning, I accidently broke the foil on today's pill.

Being exposed for 24 hours isn't going to... kill the pill, is it?

d&c recovery

[sillyboho.livejournal.com]

i had my baby 4 days ago, at home unassisted. due to a 'retained placenta', uterine tears (11+ pound baby) and lots of bleeding i ended up in the hosp getting a d&c. this is my second baby. i don't remember my uterus being in this much pain after the birth of my first child.

has anyone had a d&c for retained placenta? how long did it hurt? is there anything besides rest (i'm trying) that i can do help it along? i'm taking 600mg ibproferin, but it only hleps so much. i can barely walk.

my uterus also is alot slower in shrinking this time... i am breastfeeding, but it still seems to be rather large.

heated pills and skipping periods

[groupieforhire.livejournal.com]

When my pill alarm went off today, I grabbed my purse to find the packet. Unfortunately, it wasn't in there. I found it out in my car. Not a problem except for the fact that my mom's car's know-all screen said that it was 104*F outside today. It was in there today until 4pm with no air conditioning (I drove my mom's car, for various reasons), and it got hot enough that the plastic sheet warped away from the cardboard case. Like... hot enough that I had to hold the packet by a corner. I seem to remember reading a post here that said the pills aren't shipped in temperature-controlled trucks, so I should be fine, but I'm not positive that I'm remembering right. I'm in the very beginning of my third week, and I'd like to avoid the hassle of getting another pack, since I'd have to pay for it. Do you think the pills are still effective?

Relatedly, about skipping periods... I hadn't done it in about three years, but I skipped my period this month. Unfortunately, I timed it wrong (forgot that I was losing a week due to placebos, lol), and I'd kind of like to skip it again, or at least delay it a few days. (I'll be leaving for college on the 30th, I'm due on the 27th or 28th, and I'd hate to miss sex on the last two days with my boyfriend due to something like that.) I'm on Kariva, the generic of Mircette (monophasic).

Any help would be really appreciated! Thanks in advance :)

x-posted to birthcontrolled

Torn Vaginal Opening

[lacymagnolia.livejournal.com]

OUUCHH. I had (rough) sex two days ago, and I have a small tear on the outside of my vaginal opening. I looked at it with a mirror and I can actually see what looks like a small cut on the bottom of the opening (the part nearest my butthole) But it isn't a vertical split, it's a horizontal one if that makes any sense. It doesn't hurt anymore, but it hurt a LOT and bled a little for about 12 hours after the encounter...

My question: Will this heal up on it's own? AND can I put neosporin ointment on it to make it heal faster?

Thanks so much, you guys are lifesavers.

breakthrough bleeding/running

[-r-e-q-u-i-e-m-.livejournal.com]

do any other runners here notice if they run on hot days they get minor breakthrough bleeding? i started running 3 months ago, and its happened twice... im not on any pill, nor have i ever been, so its not hormone enduced [beyond whatever may be happening with my body when i run on hot days]

Burning pee after PAP smear

[thebootyfaerie.livejournal.com]

Is it normal for peeing to burn after getting a PAP smear? I had mine this morning, and now it's evening and still burning when I pee.

I should note that I had a blind PAP, since I have a very sensitive vagina and we didn't want to have to pry me off of the ceiling.

Also, the doctor didn't use lubricant, as we did just the PAP smear, and not the other part of the exam.

yeast infection or... ?

[hhhhhelp.livejournal.com]

ok, so in the past three months i have been having lumpy/sour-tasting white discharge like whoa. it doesn't smell like anything and there's no itching. sometimes there's a yellowy-white phlegmy blob, but it doesn't happen very often at all.

i've seen two different OB-GYNs, used canestan and some strange pill suppository thing. neither as effective. the discharge only clears up after menstruation, and then returns four days later. also, both OBGYNs insisted that i didn't have a yeast infection/thrush, but gave me the meds anyway for the future.

some history: i had knee surgery in early may and was on antibiotics for a month (keflex, four times a day... pretty heavy duty). i also got off the pill that month. but why has my yeast infection persisted? is it even a yeast infection? i've never had such bizarrely-textured/flavored discharge. i'm mostly just bothered by the lumps/sourness.

thanks in advance for your input!!

~ yeasty and sad

ps sorry if it's really gross that i've taste-tested it.

Thanks to everyone who helped!!

[crimson--snow.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say, Yay im not pregnant and im healthy and fine. So thank you to all of you who replied to my post with helpful suggestions and comfort. Im so glad I joined this community, I really couldnt get through my shame and actions without venting to someone! 

The only problem now is that rumors evolve and things arent so good and its not like me to do crap like this and cause drama but it all happens in our lives and all i can say is im going to be sober and this was a lesson learned! =D

anyway, I have a small quick question however. I got my period yesterday and it was early. I usually get mine at the end of the month not the middle and it was very heavy for my first day. And i've only had my period for 2 days now and both days I felt extremely tired and dizzy. I usually do not get like that and feel this way when I normally have my period. But I think my dizziness and tired-ness may be because I hardly ate anything last night and today. I just had a rice cake yesterday and cereal and popcorn today and then I felt lightheaded. I guess I was just kind of wandering whats going on and if I were okay and am just being too paranoid once again.

Thank you all and take care <3
xoxo

uti? or other?

[neglectedecho.livejournal.com]

So, a few weeks ago I went to my campus health center because I was 99% positive that I had a UTI. They did a urine test and didn't find much other than blood and high levels of protein (I think?) anyway, they gave me a prescription anyway. I have finished the prescription and now Im kinda feeling like I have another UTI, there isnt any blood (yet) but normally I dont catch on to the whole "Hey, I have a UTI" thing until there is blood. My urine is a bit darker than normal and smells kinda weird but other wise I just feel off in that area.
After I finished the uti meds, I had my period (a few days later then normal but I was stressed) then I started a new bc. (Trinessa generic orth tri cyc)
Other symptoms possibly related (possibly not..Im going to some rough times and it could be due to them or the lack of sleep and food) is tension, I can't seem to relax my neck and my calves are killing me.

Anyway, I guess my question is; is it common to get a UTI right on top of another? What else could it be, the new bc? Im paranoid and my mind goes straight to pregnancy, I took a test but it didn't show anything so Im taking another in the morning, I dont think I am...my period was fairly normal.
I haven't had sex either since my last uti, there has been masturbation though (damn long distance relationships)

Any help is appreciated.

Beginner's Question

[cadaver-ous.livejournal.com]

I was afraid this may sound like a completely ignorant question, but its been bothering me the entire day.

Two weeks ago I became sexually active for the first time in years with my current boyfriend. I lost my virginity when I was thirteen and after that first time, never engaged in intercourse again until now. After I came home from his place, I immediately went to the shower. However, later on I began wondering what new procedures I'd be needing to take, what with us having sex. Somehow, I feel the usual soap, body wash and so on isn't going to be all that's required. I really want to avoid yeast infections and remain clean, and the fact we have to use condoms because I'm not on any birth-control has me wanting to be even more cautious, because I've heard stories and understand condoms can irritate you.

Does anyone have any advice or information they can pass on for a clueless little gal like me? I'd really appreciate what suggestions anyone has to offer.

Thanks so, so much in advance!