#get the reply count...
my $sth2 = $dbh->prepare("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM h_replies WHERE thread_id=?");
my $do = $sth2->execute() || die "Error counting posts: $DBI::errstr\n";

while(my $count = $sth2->fetchrow_arrayref) {
   push @rows_data, { count => @{$count}[0] };
}
$sth2->finish();
return wantarray ? @rows_data : \@rows_data;