Does anyone else have a Christmas due date?

geni456

I’m struggling with the idea of my kid celebrating their birthday on, or very close to, Christmas. I feel like that is going to be so hard for my kid. I’m also nervous about staffing at the hospital. Is anyone else feeling this way?

missa_lyssa

My due date is 12/21, and my previous pregnancy went 5 days past the due date, so the possibility of a Christmas baby is definitely on my mind! I’m not worried about staffing. Hospitals know that babies don’t follow a calendar or care about holidays, and nurses are sometimes incentivized to work on holidays. I know that a midwife will be on call no matter when I go into labor.

As far as having a birthday on or near Christmas, I know people who celebrate December birthdays in January or at the half-birthday. I’ve got a party coming up in two weeks for a kid with a Christmas Eve birthday. I think we will do a small birthday with just our family on the actual day and a party in January.

sbunks

My due date is the 24th. I’ve been worried about a birthday near Christmas too. But my sister is a Christmas baby and she loves it. My parents always did a half birthday party for her and then a cake on Christmas. I know another family that did one tree for Christmas and set up another tree for their Christmas baby to distinguish Christmas presents from birthday presents. 

bluecampanula

As a Christmas time baby myself, it's really not that bad. My due date is also 12/25, my qualms are actually more that we have so MANY people in our extended family with December birthdays that the month feels crowded 😅 

My mom always made sure to wrap my birthday presents in birthday paper, and she swears I always got more presents because she was so worried that my birthday presents would be lumped into Christmas ones. And my experience has not been that way, any grandparents that gave gifts did differentiate between the two for me. Both my birthday and my sibling's non-Christmas birthday were celebrated in much more low-key ways than a lot of modern birthdays are, otherwise it would be an issue that a lot of my friends would be out of town or busy with family things if I wanted to have a party. (But low key is NOT bad)

I would absolutely hate it if my family insisted on celebrating my birthday some other time of the year, because my birthday is my birthday. It would probably feel like I was inconveniencing them rather than them considering how I felt. Whatever precedents and traditions you create for your child and family will be what they know, so take that as a relief and freedom to make birthdays what you want rather than what everyone else thinks. 

The only "downside" I ever really felt was that it seemed like I only had one chance at a wishlist each year, which felt like a lot of pressure. But as I got older and cash gifts became more the norm, I loved how rich I felt with Christmas + birthday money all at once 😁

bluecampanula

Some other considerations:

* anyone with a birthday between 12/24-1/1 will never have to go to school on their birthday 🥳 (once you enter the workforce that's a different story 😛)

* June (half-birthdays) is not all it seems as far as a better time to host a birthday party. Once a child hits school age, depending on where you live, this is either a super busy time with end-of-school-year activities, or else everyone is super busy and going in opposite directions for summer activities/trips. 

solace59

I was also born on christmas day, there's definitely pros and cons. Pros: never having school on my bday, everywhere is decorating with holiday lights, strangers are nicer/generous, got larger gift than my siblings (eventually got cash as I grew up) Cons: restaurants can be closed if you want to go out to celebrate,  couldnt celebrate with friends, attention not fully on me as it's more on christmas/family gathering (eventually you will appreciate it as it's hard to gather family together but christmas/your bday is a great reason)

Overall,  I love my birthday and learned to appreciate it as I grew up. My 2nd child potentially might be a christmas baby as my 1st born was late, but I am electing to schedule an induction a week before christmas for the following reasons:
- don't want to spend my bday in the hospital 
- recovery time can be painful , want to recovery enough so I can celebrate 
- learned the baby's routine to balance motherhood again

BraveheartKitchenSink

My due date is the 30th. I'm mostly worried about them coming early and permanently destroying some long held family traditions.  We usually hold a huge party with Santa the Saturday before, then do Christmas morningat home before joining for dinner and cousin gift exchanges.  I'm just praying the kid can sit tight until at least after Christmas.  Due date would be ideal.  But it's my 2nd pregnancy and 3rd kid. So there's a chance *someone* will be early.  

They can ruin new years all they want.  But please don't touch Christmas.  

BraveheartKitchenSink

My twins are June babies. They always have a small turnout since most are out of town the minute school is out in May. It's hot AF here, so people stay gone all summer. It kinda hurts their little hearts.  But they usually end up having a great time anyway with the few who do come.  

dogmama629

I have a December 25 due date 🎄and am feeling very anxious about it. My husband and I actually joked that we weren't thinking about the due date and just on getting pregnant, but maybe should have skipped that month to not have a Christmas due date! Obviously, we'll be thrilled whenever we get to meet the healthy baby, but it's definitely giving my anxiety! I'm worried that the baby will really hate having a Christmas time birthday (we've considered some half birthday ideas, too). Our three year old has a Jun 29 birthday, so while it doesn't matter much to him now, I often think he'll be said for the summer birthday and not being with friends.

I'm also having mixed feelings between being perhaps glad for the holiday time and maternity leave (my husband has terrible parental leave, but will have between Christmas and New years as an office holiday, so that helps!) My office is also closed that week, so it's an extra 1-2 weeks matleave! But feeling anxious about so many family members being around over the holidays. On one hand that can be good, they meet the baby, can help with our older kiddo. But also, we are the kind of people who preferred everyone to stay away for a week or two so we could get settled with our newborn before people descended on us. With everyone in town, it feels like that will be harder. And we'll want to celebrate Christmas with them and our 3 year old!

So other Christmas due dates, I'm in solidarity with others feeling a mix of emotions and anxiety!🥴🥲😁 My first came nearly 3 weeks early, so who knows! I'll just have to wait and see with this one... ☺️

knottiea7e5d5d0edde1fc4

My due date is also 25th december 2024

knottied23b7658efb90221

Hey due date twin! You must be 14 weeks too this week? How are you feeling these days?

audie86

My due date is Dec 26! I was nervous about being so close to Christmas too, but reading some of these responses have been helpful 😃

pr12

23rd is mine and I so want it to be anytime in Jan..im scheduled for a C section. Have no choice in this I guess? 

kgoldatc

My due date is also 12/26! I actually have more anxiety about a skeleton hospital staff during the holidays but am fortunate to work for a sister company to the hospital system and hoping to use as many connections as possible. Also plan on talking to my OB as I get closer to see how I’m doing and if an induction date before Christmas is advisable. 

bluecampanula

knottieae6b9a5057349da8 said:

My due date is also 12/26! I actually have more anxiety about a skeleton hospital staff during the holidays but am fortunate to work for a sister company to the hospital system and hoping to use as many connections as possible. Also plan on talking to my OB as I get closer to see how I’m doing and if an induction date before Christmas is advisable. 

No! Do not induce if it's not medically required! A medical reason is a different story, but choosing to induce is just setting yourself up for a harder labor and more risk for other interventions, including c-section. 

knottied5b21afa965e6c26

Dec 25 due date as well. Hoping I’ll either be early or late so she doesn’t have a Christmas birthday! 

dogmama629

Anyone due on/very close to Christmas who is pregnant with their 2nd, 3rd, +? Or any moms who gave birth previously around Christmas? I'm pregnant with my second, my first will be around 3.5 years, and I'm due 12/25. I'm starting to think about how to handle Christmas for my first with a new baby around. He's still young enough that Christmas isn't his whole world in December, but he is excited by it. And I am worried about being so occupied with end of pregnancy or a newborn (or in the hospital!) my first's Christmas time will get a bit lost in the shuffle. I really don't want that! Any strategies if you've already done this or anything you are thinking about if you are in the same situation?? 

froggerblue

I am not exactly due around Christmas, but I still plan to do something special for my one year old. The Christmas tree will be up way in aadvance in my case and we'll just celebrate Christmas when it's convenient. There's no law that says it as to be on the 25th. In your case, I would probably plan to celebrate Christmas with the toddler a week or two before your due date if you are worried of not having the energy or time after you give birth. I wonder if other moms have better solutions, but growing up, we always celebrated Christmas when it was most convenient as there were so many family dinners around those dates. We (the kids) never complained about celebrating Christmas early.

bluecampanula

@dogmama629 I guess the first thing I would think about is what are your Christmas traditions, and what is most important to you to do that makes it feel like you've celebrated Christmas?

Our tree is usually up sometime after Thanksgiving-beginning of December. So with a due date of 12/25 (and based on my other pregnancies I would guess I'm more likely to give birth around 12/22) there will be plenty of time to get that done, and I can plan to have my husband do any heavy lifting, and my kids most of the decorating. (I do have a 9yo who is probably more sentimental about decorating and celebrating than I am, and can pretty confidently say he's going to just oversee it all, all month)

It's usually a very, very busy time with my husband's job so often we don't even open our presents until the day after Christmas, and my kids have always survived. My mom is also extra busy with work at this time, so then we have spread out celebrations with the grandparents the week after Christmas. But I will try harder this year to have than end of things done early, so I can just sit back and say, "go grab the wrapped gifts from this closet" And I think just being set up somewhere myself with a newborn should be pretty easy to sit and nurse while they open gifts and all that. 

I am not a baker, but if I was (more like my MIL who has a whole lineup of their traditional Christmas cookies) I think I would also try to do that earlier and then freeze them.

other things we like to do, like drive to walk around to look at lights, I'll just play by ear if I feel like doing it or letting my husband have some special time with the kids while I rest. 

missa_lyssa

I’m not sure yet what we’ll do as far as Christmas celebrations. I feel like I need separate plans depending on whether the baby comes before, on, or after Christmas because the people who will be watching our older son will also have their own plans… He will be about 2.5yo by then.

bluecampanula

slightly still on topic - the changeover day for my Christmas due date started off being Wednesday, but the past couple weeks the bump app has changed it to Tuesday - has anyone else noticed this?

froggerblue

@bluecampanula I'm not sure I understand what you mean. What is the changeover day?

missa_lyssa

I think she means the day the app changes from one week to another (new fruit/vegetable for the baby size, etc.). I don’t know why that would happen if your due date hasn’t changed! Mine has always stayed on the same day the entire pregnancy.

froggerblue

@missa_lyssa Okay!!

Mine is still Monday, then.

bluecampanula

Apparently I either set my due date wrong with the app or accidentally changed it at some point. Now I'm back on track with my midwives schedulers lol (who always schedule things as, "it has to be this Wednesday or later")

Why I noticed: my MIL loves keeping track of anniversary type dates. When DH and I were dating she would send us messages of, "Happy X-many weeks dating!" And then months. She also keeps track of all her grandkids pregnancies, and the change over day is one of her first questions 😆 

maxiemustard

My original due date was dec. 31st but they shifted it to dec.25th due to baby running larger. Due anywhere from 25th and up
basically 😂

mjchristiansen

I got induced with my 3rd with no issues. I was 39 weeks. My previous baby was 9lbs two weeks early and I broke my tailbone and got a 4th degree tear. So I was scared for another big baby and that trauma again. I did not have any issues getting induced. I labored for 4 hours maybe and I did not have an epidural. Some people might fear monger, which I mean there can be complications.. but there can be complications regardless. All I can say is trust your gut and do what is right for you.