teshy1

You girls make me smile! I had my early ultrasound this morning (I'm 13 weeks) and it was AMAZING! I couldn't believe how much I could see of the baby! Legs, arms, fingers, nose, eyes, stomach, heart. So cool. I'm just sorry my hubby wasn't there. I told him not to bother to come, since I didn't think we'd be able to see much. It'll be great to have him there for the next ultrasound in 6 weeks. Oh, and I only saw 1 fetus. I'm a twin and so are my hubby's siblings, so we thought there might be a chance that we're having twins, but guess it's just 1 right now. I'm O.K. with that. I suppose I should actually do some work now. I'm becoming such a slacker....

Brooke, what a sad week for you and Justin. Sorry to hear about your friend. Let's hope that's the end of the bad stuff and you guys can start looking forward again to the positive... I had to laugh when you talked about your bra size going up so much. Within the first week of finding out I was pregnant, I had to get a bigger bra, and I just went shopping again last night for another. It's one of the few perks to pregnancy, hey?

Krista, your stagette sounds like it was a ton of fun! My stagette was mostly work people and was on a Friday night, so most people bailed by 10 p.m., after drinks/dinner. At the end of the night, it was just me and my future SIL at the bar. I'm not the kind of girl who likes the spotlight, but I kind of wish my stagette had been just a tad crazier! Are you getting excited -- your big day is so close! By the way, if you'd chosen the day before your actual wedding day, you'd be getting married on my b-day...

My husband and I both firmly agreed on NOT finding out the sex of the baby ahead of time. We both want to be surprised. I always imagined it that way.... Chris, I totally sympathize with you on the dizzy spells! Are you pretty tired right now? I couldn't believe how totally exhausted I felt early on. I still get tired more easily, but not as bad as before. The best thing right now is that the morning sickness has gone away and my appetite is much better. The heartburn sucks, though!

Quote: Originally Posted by dana FutureMrsLewis- I'm a registered dietitian and the first thing I'd think of is why are you legs swelling? Have they worked you up and ruled out medical conditions? I agree with the others if they aren't answering your questions maybe you should look for another doctor. Now onto the nutrition side. If you don't eat enough calories you can actually slow down your metabolism which will stop your weight gain. When you don't eat enough calories it actually burns your muscle as a fuel source which gives you weight loss but slows down your metabolism. If you are burning muscle possibly that could be why you are swelling I could figure out how many calories you need if you wanted to PM me. Also, there is a great website called Sparkpeople.com. I swear by it and it will calculate your calories everyday and give you a good insight to how many calories/nutrients you are getting. Hope this helps! Dana makes some really good points. I am also a registered dietitian. My first concern would be finding out why you're continuing to have big weight fluctuations and what the source of your edema is. You mentioned being lethargic, too. I know you said finding a new doctor would be difficult, but if you feel that your current doctor is not listening to you or pursuing this enough, I would find a care provider that will. By the way, kudos to you on changing your eating habits -- VERY difficult to do! I agree with the girls that emphasized the importance of physical activity, as both are essential to effectively managing weight. However, I also understand that if you're lethargic, it might be hard to get up and go. I would really see if there is another clinician out there that can get to the bottom of things for you. Best of luck!

Minerva01, is your wedding actually in the Xcaret EcoPark, or are you getting married at the Occidental resort in Xcaret? I may be able to offer some advice, since I got married at the Occidental in February. Welcome to the forum!

Brooke, sorry to hear about Justin's grandfather. My thoughts are with you... Hope everyone had a good weekend. I was able to get to the mountains and do some hiking, which is nice, since the further along I get in my pregnancy the less I may feel like climbing a mountain! Last Thursday was exciting; I had my 12-week checkup and got to hear baby's heartbeat. I'm such a sap and totally teared up. It was an awesome experience. I have an early ultrasound this week, which will be exciting, too.

hockeymom, we had our wedding at 11 a.m. in the Riviera Maya and it actually worked out well. I didn't have to avoid my future hubby all day (you know, the whole "can't see the bride before the wedding), I didn't have all day to get more and more nervous and stressed, and we had lots of time in good lighting to take pictures. We had our reception at 6:30, so our guests just spent the afternoon doing whatever they liked -- some napped, some went to the beach, some went into Playa del Carmen. The only minor drawback was having to get up pretty early to have my hair and makeup done. I was at first disappointed about the early time, too, but everything turned out great.

I think it's totally up to you what you plan. With 65 people, it may be hard to arrange events. We had 30 people for our DW and sent out an informal itinerary about 3-4 weeks before the wedding. We did a welcome dinner once all guests had arrived, planned a day at Xcaret EcoPark (right next door to our resort), had a 1/2 day tour of the Tulum ruins, and then just the wedding ceremony/reception/dance. We wanted a few events to help bring people together, but we also wanted people to have freedom, since it's also their vacation.

Quote: Originally Posted by krista.baird Chris - I'm glad to hear that you are doing well! And you definitely don't need to lose any weight at all!! You are skinny skinny girl!!I hate when doctors say you are overweight, blah blah blah, BMI crap. I'm a size 10, weigh 160 lbs, and according to doctors I'm obese and need to lose 30 pounds. Seriously, size 10 is obese? !!! They need to take into account people's body structures, muscle mass, etc. I hate BMI - it's stupid, and any good nutritionist/trainer will tell you the same thing, it's about measurements, not weight, because weight can fluctuate so much based on water retention, foods you eat, amount of muscle vs. fat. Wow...I'm really cranky today.... Krista, I totally hear you! I am actually a dietitian that works in a pediatric weight management centre. There is so much to consider when looking at someone's weight and health. BMI is nowhere near a perfect tool to determine overweight. What really bothers me though is when I see families come into our centre and talk about their negative experiences with trainers, doctors, etc., telling them "lose weight" or "you need to lose 15 lbs." Nice advice -- too bad it's just not that easy. Throwing weight loss numbers around without any justification is dangerous. Stay positive, girl! All the stress will be just a memory soon -- your big day is just around the corner!

Coco, I'm sorry you're having to go through this. All I can say is to have the wedding that you and your FI truly want. It will be so much more meaningful than having the wedding everyone else wants. It's very unfortunate that your family is giving you a hard time about this, but I'd hope that love would win out over everything else and that your parents would be there for you on your special day, no matter where it is. Best of luck to you...

I went with Wedding Paper Divas (weddingpaperdivas.com) for our invitations. I was very happy with the quality and found the price to be reasonable. I'd thought about DIY invitations, but decided I didn't need the stress of all the extra work to put them together. If you create an account on the Wedding Paper Divas website, you'll also have access to coupon codes for discounts. I wound up getting free shipping.

We got married in February at the Occidental Grand Xcaret and rented out the disco there, which included their DJ's services. We brought a CD of songs we wanted to play, which included our first dance and the wedding party dance, and the DJ was very accommodating. Also, the songs he played from his own music collection were fine with us -- they were popular dancing songs you'd hear at weddings and parties. I think they try to cater to the North American tourists. I'm glad we went the disco/DJ route -- everyone had a lot of fun and it was one less thing for us to stress about.

We'd lived together for awhile when we got engaged, so we considered our incomes/investments to be "ours"....so e-ring and wedding bands were paid for from joint money. If we'd still lived separately or considered our incomes to be separate, I think that I would've paid for my fiance's wedding band.

Congratulations, Chris -- that's so awesome! Welcome to the February brides mommy-to-be club! Your symptoms early on sound exactly like what I was experiencing. I will keep my fingers crossed that everything goes well for you!

Can you take it back to the jeweller from whom you purchased (or take it to a reputable jeweller if you ordered the ring online or was passed along from family) and get it resized? Most rings can be resized. It wouldn't hurt to ask...

I just ordered invites from Vistaprint for our AHR and was very happy with them. I just got plain white envelopes, so didn't have to worry about printing stuff. I did notice the paper used for the envelopes is very thin (probably contributes to the low overall cost), but otherwise, things turned out great. Can you call Vistaprint and let them know about the blue line on the envelopes? Since it bugs you the most, you should see if you can get it fixed. Just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you should settle for mistakes. By the way -- cute invites!!!

I agree with the rest of the girls on choosing the colour that best compliments your skin tone. I went with ivory because I'm very fair-skinned and didn't want to looked washed out. True white is very bright. Diamond white is somewhere between white and ivory. Also, it may depend on the fabric of your dress. My dress was chiffon, and when I got my dress, it didn't look as "ivory" as I'd imagined, just slightly off-white.

Luckily, my morning (in my case, afternoon) sickness seems to be winding down. Unfortunately, heartburn is my annoying guest right now. I still get tired easily, but my appetite is much better, which helps with the energy. Still wearing my regular pants, but my jeans are fairly uncomfortable. Work pants are O.K.; a lot of them had a bit of extra room in the waist before pregnancy. I'm planning to get one of those extenders very soon, though. I refuse to buy maternity pants this early on!

Hi, fellow February (and July) brides! I know I've been MIA from this thread for awhile. Krista, I totally hear you about the AHR stress! We are having ours this weekend and a few days ago I nearly lost it talking to my hubby, shouting "I'm so sick of planning!" I just want to relax and have fun with friends and family, not worry about caterers, tent rentals, booze, etc. We also still have an AHR back in Michigan (where I'm from) in July, but luckily my aunt is hosting, so the prep work is minimal for me. I have not been spreading this around too much, but I thought I'd share with you ladies... You can add me to the list of February brides who are now expecting! I am 11 weeks right now and seem to be experiencing what the other mommies-to-be are. Hubby and I started trying right after the wedding, and I was a little surprised how quickly it happened. Guess I better get back to work (which is very hard on focus on these days). Cheers!

Quote: Originally Posted by mlabbe DH is American and I'm Canadian. He does have his Permanent Residence card though. We had no issues at customs in the US and in Canada coming back, they didn't ask any questions about the wedding. If he doesn't have his card, going through customs won't give you the option to get his paperwork started - you'll need to get on the government's website and download all of the paperwork. It took us 9 months after applying for his paper to come through, so it takes quite a long time! Best of luck, let me know if you have questions! You're right -- applying for permanent resident status has to be undertaken on your own. The waiting is the worst part. It took me 6 months to find out immigration had made a decision in my case but 8 months until I was formally granted PR status. I'm still waiting on my PR card...

Quote: Originally Posted by DWbridetobe teshy! Thanks. I'm American and my FI is Canadian. We're going to be settling here in the Toronto area, and I'm so confused as to where to even begin! DWBridetoBe, I've sent you a personal message on this -- hope it went through. The whole immigration thing can be very overwhelming! Bottom line, if you get married in Jamaica and have your wedding certificate with you in Canada, you'll be recognized as legally married, but whether that means you have a legal right to be in Canada (since you're a citizen of a different country) is a different matter.

DW bride to be, is there a specific concern you have regarding immigration? I may be able to weigh in on this, as I've gone through a lot of paperwork with CIC in the past few years. Feel free to PM me, as well.

We used Claudia Rodriguez and were very happy with her, and with our photos. I also found her prices to be reasonable. She told us it would take 4-6 weeks after the wedding to receive our pictures via FedEx, and she was right on. I can't remember if she does photobooks, but you can send her an email from her website and ask. Her website is Claudia Rodriguez wedding photography.

Quote: Originally Posted by Smidge My daughter was married last evening at the Fairmont Mayakoba. They opted for a legal civil ceremony before they left home, and had a very moving oceanfront ceremony here. Too many things can go wrong when you try to navigate legal requirements outside the US, and there are too many opportunities for people to take advantage of an emotional couple. The stateside legal ceremony did not take away from the meaning of the ceremony in front of friends and family, and they know everything is in order back home. They did not consider themselves "married" until they exchanged vows and rings in front of their guests, and we'd all do it this way again . This is what my husband and I did, as well. We had a legal ceremony at his parents' house in Alberta 1 month before our symbolic wedding in Mexico. It didn't take away from our Mexican wedding at all, and in fact, I know I was more relaxed knowing all the legal stuff was taken care of. When we finished our ceremony in Mexico, we could truly say we were married! I've heard some unfortunate stories about couples not receiving their marriage certificates from the country in which they wed...