Still a creepy computer-generated image July 11, 2008
Posted by erinfrances in Being a mama, Kind of unreasonable, The baby.Tags: baby, motherhood, weight
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I’m so naive sometimes.
I know I don’t fit in any of my days-of-yore pants, I thought to myself Monday, but a dress is different! I can hide some of those bulges under the bulky, bunched-up material. YES! I can zip that bad boy up and make myself feel good about my body. I mean, after all, I’m still telling myself, it’s not one but TWO sizes larger than the bridesmaids dresses I wore in weddings last summer.
No problem!
These thoughts were quickly disintegrated two days ago as I stood, mouth agape, in Alice’s closet, trying to zip a dress that clearly wasn’t going to accommodate those baby-ch-ch-ch-changes. Note this is a dress I bought when I was almost FOUR MONTHS PREGNANT. And it zipped then. CCC-rrrrrap.
I just stood in front of my full-length mirror, looked at my body in ruins, holding up a bridesmaid’s dress that covered all the new lumps and bulges but not the look of disappointment on my face. And, OK, I cried. I admit it.
So what, you say. The wedding’s Sept. 6. Pl-en-t-ee of time to lose that weight!
Yep.
But I have to get fitted NOW. It’s about 17 feet too long for my 5-foot-1-inch frame.
Oooh. *Sympathetic smiles here.* Well! Um.
It’s a discontinued dress, so I can’t just get another. And really, I’m not looking for solutions on the dress end of this tragic spectrum. I’m looking to see results for this damn veggie and yoga routine I’ve had in place since June 3.
(After this whole weight thing is over, if you ever see cauliflower on my plate again, you will know I am pregnant again. Because that’s the only reason for eating that vegetable in any form.)
I know it all comes down to my hanging my self-esteem hopes on a number — a magic number that I’ve not seen since early October. But is a little give on a scale too much to ask? Especially when that’d translate to some successful zippering?
From the top to the bottom, from my complexion to my dry feet, from my living arrangements to my sleeping habits, my eating habits, my TV habits, my attitude, my outlook, my iTunes library, my walks with the dog, my nights alone, my nights with Dave — everything has been changed by this baby. I wouldn’t trade ANY of that, to have the old stuff back.
BUT, I would trade maybe my left ankle? for a dress that zipped. THAT I would do.
I don’t know what size you need, but the dress is for sale on ebay. Might be worth looking into so you can breathe a little better.
I understand the weight issues. Not the post-baby weight issues, but in general. It isn’t worth making yourself sick over (or eating vegetables, for goodness sake!)
I weigh less than I did before I was pregnant (thank you constant morning sickness), but my clothes don’t fit better. My body is just different. I’m sure that doesn’t make you feel better, though.
Can you get the dress fitted later in the summer? Find a different seamstress?
I’m sure you look great but that doesn’t always translate into feeling great. I hope you find something that works!
Also, I should tell you this: I took my dress to get altered at that place on Highway 21 where I got measured…you know the one. And after she told me it wouldn’t be expensive she was going to charge me $67 (after I already paid her $15) to take in a HALF INCH in just the boob area. I questioned her and she told me that is with a discount. So I’m taking it to another place, which will only cost me $20. Just thought I’d warn you about that.
While I feel your pain after squeezing into a suit that totally fit five months ago for a recent wedding, if I ever find out you bought this I may not be able to look at you again.
Or at least not while thinking “Is she wearing it right now? I think she is. Wait no, she’s not. Oh my god, I think she knows what I’m thinking. Look at her eyes and make a joke about the dog calendar.”
Donovan, I just ordered three. (One’s for you of course.) You’re welcome!
JK, by the way.
that place on 21 is a joke…
Spanx are made by God. Seriously.
I think you will look great even if you have to saftey pins, add material, or wear another dress/comforatable clothes. I want you there post baby and all, because you are important to me, a great cousin, friend, role model, and listener. I could not ask for someone more reliable to turn to when I need someone to talk to, someone to vent to, or someone to cry to. You are an amazing women, friend and now mother. Participating in our wedding does not entail having to wear the creepy computer generated dress. It entails you being there and you showing up as one of those individuals who were asked to support us on this special day. I have looked up to you starting at our childhood years, since we were little and you ordered grilled cheese from Grama and I would copy you, to the day we we watched our lives change together and you were so strong as you held my hand through the poems we read at the funeral, to the days we were in high school and you had such a confidence about you I admired so much, to today when you display strength and courage in being a new mom even-though times get hard. I love you no matter if the dress fits or not and I want you to be a part of this special day because of how important you are in my life and how much our relationship has influenced the direction my life has taken. All my love and encouragement!!!!
I pretty well just bawled when I read that, Kristen.
I will be there, with this dress on, damnit, and I will look hot. Or, as hot as can be expected when you’ve just birthed a whole baby. That, I promise. I wouldn’t miss it — I’m looking forward to your wedding almost as much as I did my own.