I’m Gabe. I’m the mom of seven children ages 11 years – 3 months. My husband is in the military, so we move around quite a bit. I homeschool the kids and enjoy baking, sewing and crafting in my spare time (ha!). I always said I would never homeschool or have more than 4 kids and I planned to stick around my hometown where the rest of my family still is. God’s plans are ALWAYS so much better than what we can dream up.
One day YEARS ago I had no children to care for and we were far far away from friends and family. I was about 16 weeks pregnant with our first baby. I was tiny back then, and already had a cute little baby belly going. Being a newlywed, and having nothing better to do that day, I thought it would be fun to see if I could still fit into my wedding gown. It fit! It was a bit snug, but I was able to zip it up with very little difficulty! Almost half way through the pregnancy and I could still fit into my wedding dress! “I’m going to be one of those lucky ladies that walk out of the hospital in their pre-pregnancy clothes!” I thought to myself. Well, that was fun, now to take it off. Pride goeth before a fall….
Oh no! Despite going on with no problem between the weight of the gown (it was a very full skirt with a long train) and the extra weight I had put on; that dress didn’t seem to want to budge. At that moment I realized we had recently ordered some things and the UPS guy could be showing up at any moment. Wouldn’t I look crazy opening the door in my wedding dress? Or what if I had to wait for my husband to get home to get the dress off? I was still experiencing some morning sickness (you know, the kind that sends one RUNNING for the bathroom) would I get sick while wearing the dress? I started to panic a bit, regained my composure and gave some thought to my situation.
*This is a picture of my daughter, the one I was pregnant with when
this happened, trying on my wedding dress some 10 years later!
Maybe if I didn’t have to deal with the weight of the dress I would be able to wiggle out? I put as much of the long skirt and train as I could on the bed and started wiggling and pulling. It budged! It moved! Finally I was out! Note to self- No more trying on the wedding dress while pregnant! Oh, and in case you were wondering I gained 65-70 pounds in that pregnancy and I definitely did NOT walk out of the hospital in my pre-pregnancy clothes. In fact I ended up saying “good-bye” to most of those clothes.
How funny that you tried on your wedding dress! I always gained so much weight w/ my pregnancies that there was never any chance clothes could still fit. I couldn’t even get wedding rings on after the 20 week mark!
What a beautiful little girl in that dress – so worth it all. Funny story – I wonder what the UPS guy would have said had you been stuck in the dress when you opened the door…
That would be funny, meeting the UPS guy in your wedding dress. I don’t think he’d mind though; he (or she) has probably seen stranger things.
Isn’t it funny how we assume that we are gonna be one of those moms but we so aren’t! I only gained 25 lbs with all my pregnancies but the weight never went back to the same places so things didn’t fit!
Very funny post, Gabe, and your little girl is adorable! I took a quick look at Gabe’s Babes, and bookmarked it, lots of great info. Thanks for sharing!
Oh yes, I am trying to remember these things now…since I am prego with my 2nd baby. I am trying not to get too excited about coming home in normal clothes. 🙂
Cute story. I think every woman who’s had kids can tell the same tale in one version or another. It took me four months after child number 1 to get back into pre-pregnancy clothes and 6 months after child number 2 and forget it after 3. Hubby bought me a sewing machine so I could sew myself some new things. Finally gave all those pre-preggo clothes to a charity. As for me, my own worst nightmare was squeezing into my girdle (yes, we wore those in my day) and not being able to breathe. But do you think I could get the doggone thing off? It was glued on. I hate to say that I finally had to cut it off. End of my sad tale of woe.