Simistar

GORGEOUS dress! Great choice:-)

Delaney is a GREAT name !!! If we have a girl next time (IF there is a next time, lol;-)) then that will be on our list... Funny b/c I was thinking if we did have a girl, I couldn't think of a "d" name I really liked...now I have one:-)

Oh my gooodness, I TOTALY know how feel! We were totally worried about jinxing things, especially after going through IVF... I wouldn't even let myself look in the window of Pottery Barn kids when I walked by (and that store is RIGHT by my place:-)) It's kind of a weird mind turn...actually akcnowledging finally you're carrying a baby and it's even weirder when you start letting people (and work!) know:-) Names... My husband is Jewish so they have a tradition where if someone if your family has died, you name a child with the first letter of that person's name... (his sister died several years ago...) So, we have to come up with a boy's name that starts with "d" :-) We haven't decided on one yet though:-) you???:-)

omg, omg, OMG!!!! Carly!!! I'm SOOOOO happy for you!!!!! For sure your brother is helping from afar!! I think I'm a bit teary for you too:-) BTW, we JUST found out yesterday - we're having a boy! I was actually convinced we were having a girl, so it's gonna take some time to wrap my head around a boy (what will I DO with a boy I asked my DH?:-)) But as long as he's healthy, we're happy:-)

You look amazing - better than the model picture!

Hi there! I used the Extreme version of Fotofusion...which is, agreed, expensive (around $300)... I bought that version for a number of reasons, one of them being that I too, LOVE designing albums and knew that I'd be using it for designing family albums after trips as well as albums for friends etc... PLUS, I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to stuff like that and idd not want to drive a designer crazy by constantly asking for changes to what they'd done:-) That said, if you don't mind someone else designing for you, then I'd say between the cost of the software and the book AND if you include the time invested it will take you to do yourself, it's probably about the same (maybe even less?) to have someone design for you... Sarah Sproullie is a vendor on this site and makes fabulous albums and her prices are reasonable. http://sproulliedesigns.webs.com/ As for designing pages using photoshop Elements...I'm sorry I can't help...I've never used this software...I've only used the full Photoshop...(though i can say Fotofusion is WAY simpler and faster for doing layouts than the full Photoshop:-)) Hope this helps:-) Quote: Originally Posted by Heather Penrod Hey there! I went to the template site you used but all those programs cost over $100. Which did you use? Did you find it cheaper than having a service do it for you? I personally LOVE designing my own digi albums but I have always used the softwear that the printing comp comes with but they dont offer flush mount. I can't afford a $100+ program for layouts because I am about to buy Photoshop Elements ($80). I am wondering if I can create my layouts using elements? Anyone know? Thanks!!! Heather thank you:-)

Hope everything's okay! But stress CAN play a huge factor, so it is probably just your job...:-(

Thank you!!! I put my new (and limited) photoshop skills to work:-) My husband loved it and thinks I should start a business doing announcements, lol - so if/when you are successful in TTC and need an announcement... ;-)

I thought I'd check in!:-) Just finished my first trimester screening and everything's looking good! *huge sigh of relief* We are finally starting to tell people...I just told my work yesterday:-) I also just posted an announcement for all my friends on FB...I'll try to attach it here, since we had some fun with it and I thought you guys might get a kick out of it:-)

Hey, no problem - I'm just trying to remember myself:-) Okay, so, keep in mind, cost will vary greatly depending on size of album you choose, how many pages, and what kind of cover (leather, etc)...and of course, which company you use. I used Balck River Imaging, which is one fo the only companies I could find that sell albums like these to consumers instead of JUST pro photographers. I ordered a 12X12 black leather with 30 double-page spreads or 60 pages (or "sides" as they're sometimes called...) - which is actually pretty large and thick:-) So my total order, with taxes and shipping was $560 USD. So, definitely not cheap, lol, BUT cheap-ER than ordering the same through a photographer... at least most photographers I checked with charged a design fee (which I think has a huge range, from $200 - $1000 ?) and then they charge for the actual book anywhere from $700 to a couple thousand... The kind of album I ordered is called "Tuscany".. And the base price for the leather covers, including 20 pages, is $249 USD. Every page after that is an additional $7.50 USD. I then also bought Lumapix Fotofusion software to design the page layouts. If you are proficient in Photoshop and have it on your computer, you can obviously design the pages with that as well... I bought the "extreme" version of Fotofusion...but ONLY because I wanted a 12x12 book with 12x24 panaromic layouts and you can only do them that large with Extreme. And b/c as far as I could tell, that's the only version where you can save multiple layouts to one project and be able to see them all at once while you're working on a project. That said, I think you can buy just the "Essentials" version and have everything you need...for a LOT cheaper:-) - like $100 I think. If the largest you want to go is 10x10, you can do panoramic layouts with Essentials for 10x19 layouts. And you'll just have to save each page as a separate project...which is kind of inconvenient, but again, cheaper:-) Hope this helps:-)

oh my gosh -- SOOO glad to hear this!! For you and your new family AND b/c it really does give me hope everything will be okay:-) I agree about Baby Center... a friend told me about this site... You can register on the site and get weekly emails updating you on what your baby looks like that week, what parts are developing etc...it's pretty cool:-) Sooooooo...bit of a story to my u/s on Wednesday, but the bottom line is, there is at least ONE in there with a god, strong heartbeat, so that is fantastic news:-) A teeny bit disappointed it's not twins as the thought of going through all this a second time makes me want to hurl at the moment:-) So, the long story... On the Tuesday night before my scheduled u/s, I started not feeling well...not crampy like I had felt sometimes, it was a different kind of pain...centered on my right lower side and going into my lower right back...I went to bed early and figured I'd sleep it off. Wishful thinking. Of course, I should add, it's murphy's law my husband had JUST flown out of town for work...something he could not get out but tried:-) Anyway, I woke up at 3am and felt quite nauseous (which I haven't felt at all yet during the previous weeks) AND in MAJOR pain on my right side. I ate some toast and took some extra strength tylenol and that seemed to help...for about 30 mins. Then the pain came back extra strong and I honestly can say I've never felt pain like that (and I once had kidney stones:-))... I got really upset b/c I thought maybe I was miscarrying. Then I went online (keep in mind, I could barely walk...but I hobbled to my computer) and after googling a bit I was convinced I was either miscarrying (though wasn't sure b/c I wasn't bleeding) or had appendicitis. So I called a cab at like 6:30am and went to emergency. They took blood and did some ultrasounds...that's when the u/s tech told me she sees at least one with a good heartbeat...(I'm still holding out hope there *might* be two b/c I'm not sure how hard she was looking for a second:-))...but then she can't see my appendix. So, then they're thinking of giving me an MRI b/c I can't have a regular x-ray to check if it's my appendix. They did give me a shot of morphine which helped for a couple hours:-) FINALLY a gynecolgist comes to talk to me b/c my blood work came back showing no infection (so not likely it's appendicitis)...and she tells me I have something called Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. Apparently a percentage of women who go thru IVF develop this condition...and a smaller percentage get severe symptoms like I did/do. Basically, my ovaries, b/c of the fertility drugs, swelled up to the size of grapefruits and my right one had become particularly inflamed. I was sent home with some painkilelrs that are safe to take in first trimester...and therefore don't do much:-) And was told symptoms would subside in 48 hours...which they have, but I'm still not back to *normal*... I immediately researched this condition online and it looks like moderate and severe cases need to be monitored pretty closely, so I've made an appt with my regular doctor for later today AND since I couldn't make it my scheduled u/s on the Wednesday, I've rescheduled an appt with the fertility doctor for Saturday morning. I'm kind of unhappy with our clinic and doctor for not warning us this could be a problem. I had never even heard of this condition until the doctor in the ER told me about it. Anywaaaaaay... so I'm not sure what this condition means long-term for the pregnancy, but at least we've got ONE that's sticking around:-) My husband flew home early so I now have someone to wait on me too:-)

15 weeks...that's REALLY sad to hear, so sorry for your loss. I am totally worried something like that will happen for us since it was hard for us to conceive...I keep thinking *something's* going to happen...just being anxious I guess. I have my first ultrasound tomorrow and am praying everything looks okay... Sorry to hear about your struggles...a lot of us have bee there unfortunately, and we're here for support

Hi there! Actually, the album is done digitally...i.e. I assembled the layouts for each of the pages on my computer and then I emailed those files to a online company who does these books. That company then takes my emailed JPEG files and prints them into this book. The pictures are actually a part of the page, if that makes sense...like a magazine page. I doubt a home printer, even of very good quality, would be able to print these types of pages out...especially b/c they are thicker than regular paper... even thicker than cardstock paper, but not quite as thick as cardboard:-) The company I used was: http://www.blackriverimaging.com/index.asp And the layout software I used to makes the pages was: http://www.lumapix.com/index.shtml Thank you!!:-)

Congrats to SeaPrincess too! VERY nice way to tell your hubby TLGnhci :-) So, I had my second blood test this morning...first was on Tuesday...and both show a BFP!!!! Finally!!! I'm really starting to think this thread has some good karma or something suddenly attached to it:-) Next up...and ultarsound in July... Now I can spend my time worry about THAT:-) (BTW, I *tried* to surprise my husband with some pink and blue balloons, but he wrecked it:-) He caught me in the elevator with the balloons after work:-))

just read this! CONGRATS to you too!!! Wow, this forum must be good luck!:-)

You SHOULD want to say your good news!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! This should be a place where we can be happy for each other AND console each other:-) Keep us posted on how you told you your hubby:-)

Wow -- sounds like you're doing all the right things!:-) I know what you mean about work stress, and that CAN play a big factor, so do what you can to alleviate the stress...maybe consider yoga in your workouts? I don't do yoga myself, but friends of mine swear by it to help them de-stress:-) One big things is start tracking your cycles, which can be hard if you're irregular..I'm not as irregular as you I don't think, but I certainly don't fall into the "28-day cycle norm". I bought a Clearblue Digital Fertility Monitor (not cheap! About $200) which I thought really helped me b/c of my irregular cycles. BUT, lots of girls with irregular cycles, just use the regular ovulation sticks, basal temperature etc etc and are fine;-) I think it's a GREAT idea to go to your doctor sooner than later. And absolutely, if you feel he/she isn't taking you seriously, get a new one who will:-) It's amazing how much time all this stuff takes...and unfortunately, a lot of it is "cycle" dependent...meaning you'll often have to wait for your next cycle to start to do a certain blood test or take a certain drug or get an internal ultrasound, etc etc...and every time you have to wait for your next cycle, that's another month gone:-( And if they DO find something that needs to be dealt with ( a cyst, polyp, whatever) then that adds time on too... Thankfully for us, it seems there weren't any major red flags, just the usual stuff when you try to conceive when you're older (lower sperm motility, etc). Most doctors will likely tell you (and your fiance!) to cut back on drinking when you're TTC...I still had a glass about a once a week:-)

Hey there! I see you're form Ireland, so I'm not sure how things work over there in terms of when they recommend you see a fertility specialist and get tests etc... In Canada, they generally recommend at your age (and my age! over 35) to try for six months and THEN consult a doctor. I REALLY wish we had taken more initiative and gotten tests done earlier. We probably would have had to pay for the tests instead of having them covered by health care, but I really felt we kind of wasted six months. We totally could have asked our regular doctor to order the tests, we didn't need a "fertility clinic" to do that. So, if you're concerned, and especially b/c you have such irregular periods, you should consider going to a doctor sooner than later and asking for some tests on both you AND you hubbie-to-be. If no red flags show up, great! keep trying for six months or whatever and then get fertility intervention. BUT, if red flags DO go up, this will save you precious time! Whatever happens, good luck:-)

Thanks for the well-wishes everyone! Every positive vibe in the universe helps I think:-) Things *seemed* to go well today...well, they did...But of course, we won't REALLY know for another 10 days or so. That's when you do the pregnancy test after embryo transfer day. Best of luck to everyone too:-) I'll keep y'all posted:-)

Yes, it sure has been quiet...guess that means everyone's busy trying to get pregnant?;-) I've been going though my first cycle of IVF...we're doing the embryo transfer on Sunday, so my fingers are crossed everything goes okay....then we have to wait two weeks (two weeks! uugh) to find out whether it "took"... Am thinking positive thoughts for you:-)

*blushing* Thanks y'all! And good luck with all yoru projects and planning...it may seem like a pain now, but trust me, you'll miss it when it's done:-)

Hey there, I may have changed since I got married there (2008), but we had more than 20 ppl and we were charged per person after that, for both the sit-down dinner and the cocktail hour... Hope this helps:-)

They both look beautiful, but I prefer the first one on you:-)

Awwww... thanks ladies! Means a lot coming from such super gals:-) Quote: Originally Posted by Aumuller That looks amazing! Must have been so much work but you saved a ton of money I'm sure. Quote: Originally Posted by 82turtles Just read through your photographer review.. wow, sounds like such a mess (and thanks again for posting the review for other brides to know to stay away). Your album turned out so beautifully though!! Great job putting that all together! Quote: Originally Posted by royalbride610 Thanks for the info! I'm definitely looking into this. And your pictures look beautiful!

Hey ladies, This question is actually for a friend of mine getting married in England. She's only have one bridesmaid and is wondering what to do about music. (We had NO wedding party at our wedding, so we played one song for everyone being seated etc and then another for me walking down the aisle...) She's having a string quartet play and I think ideally she'd like to walk down the aisle to something different than the bridesmaid, but she's wondering what other people have done in this situation, since it will only take like 30 seconds for the bridesmaid to make it down the aisle:-) Do they cut one song REALLY short for the bridesmaid walk and then go to a song for her...? That may sound weird...? I'm thinking she uses the same song she's walking down the aisle to for the bridesmaid walk, BUT have the string quartet do an "intro" or the beginning of the song quite different for the bridesmaid, then go into the main part of the song for her...? Not sure... What have you girls done or are doing??;-) Advice/suggestions appreciated:-) Thanks!