I used the Prenatal Cradle. I don't know if they are the same or similar. Mine went under my belly and supported it and the straps went over my shoulders. I loved mine, it really seemed to help take off some of the weight. I wore it most of the summer but since my stretch marks were itching and since it was so hot last summer it started to make my belly itch more so I had to stop wearing it.

Thank you for returning to update! I have been thinking of you. I just want to echo Mtn-- it wasn't all for nothing. Keep doing what you are doing. FWIW I also allow my GP to handle routine GYN maintenance and testing. I think that's fine until there's a need for a specialist. It makes sense for me for a lot of reasons-- I am sure it's the same for you. You are in an area with the best medical care in the country. I am sure you are with a dr you trust and respect... and the speed with which they responded to a concern is impressive. So glad you are in good hands and that there are no concerns!!

Questions: - To fertilize, my understanding is that I would first flush the plant with regular water, allowing it to drain. Then I would give it the fertilizer solution. At this point, would I be giving it enough liquid to saturate the volume of the container? For example, since it's in a 2 gallon pot, would I give it 2 gallons of fertilizer solution? Once you have your plants in a soil you can flush w/o the soil punishing your plants for the flush part, you should flush it thoroughly before instituting your new fertilizer program - sort of like hitting the fertilizer reset button. If you decide to fertilize right after you flush, you should use a full recommended dose the first time you fertilize; this, because the water in the soil will serve to further dilute your solution. You only need to apply enough solution so it's running freely from the drain. I usually don't fertilize like that. I would flush the pot, then wait until almost time to water - then fertilize. I've found that the recommended dose is actually very low, and plants that are not drought stressed are unlikely to show symptoms of fertilizer burn unless the plant is dry and the dose heavy. When I do the flush - wait - fertilize routine, I fertilize like I water. Cover the entire top of the soil with fertilizer solution and stop pouring at about the time the solution starts dripping from the drain. In summer, I'll water - water - water - fertilize - repeat - or hold very close to that routine - not all plants get watered with the same frequency. In winter, I fertilize every time I water with 1/4 tsp of 9-3-6 in a gallon of R/O water applied until the planting is freely draining. This rather consistently allows 15-25% of the solution applied to exit the drain. The regular flushing prevents the nutrient ratio in the soil solution from becoming too high or badly skewed. - With my current situation, since the plant is requiring such frequent watering, did you mean that flushing the soil regularly makes fertilization easy because it would lessen the likelihood of overfertilization/fertilizer burn? The ability to flush the soil w/o penalties makes watering and fertilizing easy, for the reasons that, you needn't worry much about over-watering, fertilizer concentrations, or fertilizer ratios in the soil solution getting badly out of bounds as you would in soils that don't allow you to correct these fluctuations by flushing. If you can't flush, WHO KNOWS what the heck the soil contains in the way of nutrient concentrations or ratios? Would you still suggest that I follow the same fertilization schedule of 1/2tsp per gallon every 2 weeks? Or would I increase that since I'd be washing away the nutrients frequent watering? If flushing the soil regularly, it makes most sense to tie the frequency with which you fertilize to the frequency with which you water. Why tie it to tha calendar when in summer you might water 3 times in a week and winter 3 times in a month? Each time you flush the soil, you flush out a fraction of what's soluble and residual. If you water 4 times in a week in summer and fertilize weekly, and water once per week in winter and still fertilize weekly, the plants will have access to MUCH more fertilizer in winter when they need less. If you simply fertilize every (say) 4th time you water, the plants will have access to the same amt of fertilizer in summer and winter. So, why not cut the winter dose in half and fertilize every 4th time you water - as you do in summer but at a higher dose? ...... or whatever interval/dose you find works for your plants. I was just inventing an example that could work well. Al

Is there a womens clinic near you that accepts your insurance? My pregnant DD goes to the womens clinic and I see women of all ages there. They are a full service provider-from OB's to GYN's to family practice, but I like that it's focus on womens health issues. When I retire and we change insurance I'll probably go there, even tho I'm well past menopause and I had a total hysterectomy 10 years ago. I like the idea of specialized care for me. My current provider is under an HMO so I get reminders about annual mammograms, but since I had my hysterectomy no one has ever mentioned a pelvic exam. I was told that since I had no cervix a pap smear was not necessary. But my late MIL had what turned out to be uterine cancer that had metastacized into her abdominal muscles after her hysterectomy. Apparently she had uterine cancer-undiagnosed-when she had her surgery due to fibroids. The cells then turned into a sarcoma that necessitated her having to have her bladder and colon removed! It eventually metasacized and killed her, but I feel like if she'd gone in for annual pelvic exams it would have been caught early one. In any event, I'd probably lean toward a GYN, especially since you have endo and you are not yet in menopause. A decent GYN can handle your other basic health issues.