Lurker: How did you handle the holidays?

eponine7682 · September 2012

Hi there mommas, I am from the January 2013 board and am starting to think about the holidays coming up. For those that celebrate Hanuka/Christmas/Kwanzaa, how did you handle the shopping and family gatherings while being so close to your due date?

Did you shop early? Did LO arrive early (like around the time of the holiday you celebrate)? If they arrived early, did you bring LO to holiday celebrations or was it too early for you to feel comfortable? Were you able to attend the holiday celebrations? My family is pretty big on Christmas and there are always a ton of work parties too. It's truly my favorite time of the year but I just don't know what to expect now. So, how was it for you all? TIA!

Brit's Luna154 · September 2012

I decorated my house in early December, but I did not do any Christmas shopping. We had been living in Asia and I moved back in early December. H came back to the US in mid-December. We were kind of playing it by ear with traveling for Christmas, but DD was born 4 weeks early on Dec 21. We ended up staying home for Christmas. My family came to visit us a few days later. It worked out pretty well. I don't think I would have taken a brand new baby to our huge family Christmas party. I was still uncomfortable and overwhelmed for a good week or two after she was born. It just wouldn't have been that fun for me.

michaelaskedlauren · September 2012

I was due mid-January so I was still able to go out for New Years and the holidays, but kept it pretty tame. If it was a big crowded party I would only stay for an hour or two mainly becuase it got pretty uncomfortable to stand for long periods of time (and there was no squeeeezing by people to get through hallways, etc).

I agree with what Brit said. Just remember that after you have LO you may not be 100% up to schmoozing with oodles of people so soon after having a baby. When I was pregnant at the end I took full advantage of my pregnancy/baby 'get out of jail free' card and basically told people I needed to play it by ear depending on how things went.

Good luck and enjoy the end of your pregnancy!

baloneydisc · September 2012

I was put on strict bed rest 2w before thanksgiving, so decorating and Christmas parties were not an option. I did all of our shopping online and everyone came to our house (with food) for both holidays. I was due 1/8 & induced 1/4, though we were having frequent monitoring and told we could be induced any time from 37w forward depending on our appointments. If DD had come before Christmas we probably would've done the same, my family is small & DH's family lives on the other side of the country.

raefre · September 2012

I did things like normal; but I also worked 14 hour days up until the day I was induced.

eponine7682 · September 2012

Thanks ladies! I guess I will play it by ear as to whether I will attend parties and whatnot. I am lucky because all our family on both sides are local so going to their houses won't be too big of a deal. I think I will definitely be shopping online though!

shortstuff15 · September 2012

raefre:
I did things like normal; but I also worked 14 hour days up until the day I was induced.

Us too. I decorated as normal, we went Christmas tree hunting 2 1/2 weeks before Christmas, I did a ton of baking and I actually did no online shopping. I don't work outside of the home, but we wanted to keep things as normal as possible for our oldest.

As far as travelling, we didn't do any because it was my family's side to have Christmas so it was local. I would have had no problem going to my in-laws though (7+ hours) except for the winter driving and the fact that we didn't have the finances to take the trip.

namara5532 · September 2012

I employed DH to help with the Christmas shopping, and we told family that if they wanted to see us they had to come to us. DS was a week late, but I was uncomfortable travelling by early December because DS was camped on my bladder.

If you do go to parties/gatherings, have an escape route if you get tired. Better to enjoy half the party than be miserable the whole time. I'd also limit your range of travel, especially if you are adament about having your OB/midwife deliver and don't want to end up having your baby at an out of town hospital.

BritanyV · September 2012

I was due mid-January. My goal was to have all Christmas shopping and decorating done by/on Black Friday. Black Friday was my day to finish up shopping.

Good thing I did because my water broke the Monday night following Black Friday!!! Had DS that Friday (the week after Black Friday), a 10 day NICU stay and then he was home with us. We did Christmas as usual, went to church with him and then had family come to our house.

Ya Never Know · September 2012

Last year a friend (also pregnant, due a month before me) and I traveled to Syracuse (4 hours out) to do some Christmas shopping at the end of November. We walked around for about 5 hours. lol It was tough! My friend had bad morning sickness all through her pregnancy and puked before we got on the bus, but her will to shop was strong, and we carried on.

I got tired a lot faster, but I didn't really become vegetative until mid-january. I still had enough energy for running around Nov/Dec. I didn't decorate the house at all for Christmas last year, but it was mainly because we weren't going to be home, and there wasn't much point, so I put up the tree and never decorated it. LOL

EDIT: Well, look at me, I'm on the wrong board.. haha... So apparently baby brain never ends.....

eponine7682 · September 2012

Ya Never Know:
Last year a friend (also pregnant, due a month before me) and I traveled to Syracuse (4 hours out) to do some Christmas shopping at the end of November. We walked around for about 5 hours. lol It was tough! My friend had bad morning sickness all through her pregnancy and puked before we got on the bus, but her will to shop was strong, and we carried on.
I got tired a lot faster, but I didn't really become vegetative until mid-january. I still had enough energy for running around Nov/Dec. I didn't decorate the house at all for Christmas last year, but it was mainly because we weren't going to be home, and there wasn't much point, so I put up the tree and never decorated it. LOL
EDIT: Well, look at me, I'm on the wrong board.. haha... So apparently baby brain never ends.....

LOL, you are hilarious! I remember you from 3T and PAIF! Baby is looking beautiful hun! Thanks for the response!

bigbear · September 2012

We decorated as usual, I did my xmas shopping online - thank you Amazon!!. But, even though I wasn't due until 1/23 we didn't go on our usual 4hr road trip for xmas to visit DHs family. I was too uncomfortable and I didn't want to be too far away from my clinic once I was 36 weeks along. And I really enjoyed all the food. It was a perfect excuse to really pig out :P

Elisha Shick · September 2012

last christmas I was huge and miserable. but my whole family was coming to our house for christmas and then we traveld 2 hours away to see dhs family. I did decorate, shop, cook and bake a few things. after it was all said and done I went into labor a week and half later. I wasnt due till Jan 15th, dd came 2 weeks early thank goodness lol

shamilton223 · September 2012

I did about half of my normal decorations last year. I debated skipping them together but the thought of not having a Christmas tree made me sad. So we did a tree and a couple other special things that I wanted and skipped the rest. As for shopping, I was did almost 100% online shopping. I just didn't have the energy to do it any other way. I did go out to one store and buy DH's gifts but that took all of 30 minutes since everything he wanted was in one place. The best thing I did was keep my wrapping supplies under the sofa. Then when my online purchases arrived, I sat in the living room floor and wrapped them immediately. That way I never had to spend a day wrapping gifts. I just dealt with it as it came in.

mrs.larry · September 2012

I had my in-laws in town staying with us for two weeks, plus my last day of work was the 27th and so I "handled" it by being a huge b*tchy ball of stress until about new year. I was rude to my MIL, threw a bit of a pity-party for myself on Christmas day and just about bit anyone's head off if they asked me the slightest thing.

Logistically, we stayed home for the holidays and people visited us if they wanted to see us. Though we did go to one family gathering that was pretty local. I didn't go to any after-work type parties because I just didn't have it in me to sit by while everyone drank. My actual work parties are all luncheons so that was fine. I think I did most of our xmas shopping online or on my lunch hour.

My baby was born on 1/27 so no, we didn't have any conflict with the actual outside baby.

basically i'd say to expect being tired and cranky and extra touchy if you're already prone to a little holiday stress. best of luck!!

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