Christmas can be extra-magical when you’re pregnant, but it can also make you feel very restricted. It’s also no fun when you’re experiencing those nasty side effects such as constantly feeling nauseous, uncomfortable and generally run-down.
The good news is, there are ways to make your Christmas more enjoyable when you’re pregnant. You don’t need to feel down and restricted! Here, you’ll discover 10 great ways to make sure you enjoy your Christmas pregnancy.
1. Be Honest About What You Can Handle
Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year; particularly when it comes to social engagements. While it’s always nice to see friends and family, when you’re pregnant it can become a little too much. You get tired quickly, which can result in you feeling extremely run down. So, it’s important to be realistic about how many social engagements you can attend. Learning to say no to people may be difficult, but it’s essential for you and baby.
It’s not just social engagements you need to consider either. Depending upon how far along in your pregnancy you are, you could also struggle with cooking a full Christmas dinner. Enlist help if you need to and do as much preparation in advance as you can.
2. Eat Smaller, More Frequent Meals
While you may be excited by all of the delicious, tempting Christmas food, it’s important not to over-indulge. Obviously, you should indulge a little (it is Christmas after all), but if you go overboard you could end up feeling terrible, your chances of heartburn will increase and it’s not healthy for you or your baby.
So, the best thing to do to remain comfortable and still enjoy Christmas food, is to eat smaller, more frequent meals. This provides the body with plenty of time to digest everything, reducing your risk of indigestion and also encouraging you to eat less and avoid too much weight gain.
3. Let Go Of Your Expectations
It’s a good idea to let go of any expectations you may have this Christmas. Sure, it can still be magical, but don’t expect to be able to do everything you’d usually do – especially if you’re late in the pregnancy. Even if you’re just in the first trimester, you could end up suffering from nasty side effects such as nausea, so it’s best not to plan anything for the big day.
Let go of those expectations and simply take the day as it comes. It’s just one day and this time next year, you’ll be spending your first Christmas with baby.
4. Ensure You Take Regular Breaks
Taking regular breaks is crucial regardless of what stage you’re at in the pregnancy. You’re bound to become exhausted quickly carrying a little person inside you. So, taking regular breaks to just breathe and take care of yourself is essential.
The last thing you need is to get overly stressed out and burnt out so don’t feel guilty for taking a little time out throughout the day.
5. Switch To Mocktails
You may not be able to drink cocktails, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the fruity taste! Mocktails are a fantastic alternative to cocktails and there’s literally hundreds you can try out. They’ll help you to get into the festive spirit and not feel too left out if others are drinking around you.
While it’s safe to consume a little alcohol during pregnancy, the exact amount that is deemed safe is unknown. Therefore, it’s best to avoid alcohol completely until baby is born.
6. Treat Yourself To A New Christmas Outfit
Christmas is an awesome excuse to get dressed up. Just because you’re pregnant, it doesn’t mean you can’t get glammed up for the day. A new, luxurious outfit will make you feel amazing. Just make sure it’s stretchy and designed with pregnant women in mind!
Worrying about spending too much money on yourself when you’ve got a baby to provide for? You don’t have to spend a fortune on a new dress – there’s plenty of bargains to be had online.
7. Learn How To Control Your Morning Sickness
If there’s one thing which could threaten to ruin Christmas Day when you’re pregnant, it’s morning sickness. However, did you know that with a plan, you can minimize the chance of developing morning sickness, as well as successfully manage it?
Try to ensure in the lead-up to the big day, all meals and snacks are eaten on a specific schedule. Maintaining a regular regime will lessen the chances of nausea. It’s equally as important to maintain a good sleeping schedule. Too little sleep can also make morning sickness worse.
Of course, you can also try out natural remedies for morning sickness such as eating ginger biscuits or drinking ginger tea.
8. Take Advantage Of Online Shopping
The wonders of technology mean you can now shop for practically anything you need from the comfort of your own home. So, why not lower your stress levels and take advantage of online shopping? You won’t have to face the crowds or worry about spending hours walking around, trying to find the perfect presents. Shopping online can be invaluable for pregnant women.
9. Get Some Extra Sleep
As mentioned earlier, not getting enough sleep can contribute to morning sickness. However, it can also increase your stress levels too. You’re likely to be much more tired at Christmas so don’t be afraid to get some extra sleep.
Enjoy a lie in, have little naps if you get tired throughout the day. This will really help you to recharge your batteries and reduce the side effects pregnancy can bring.
10. Embrace The Magic
Above all else, don’t forget to embrace the magic of Christmas! Remind yourself that next year you’ll have your precious miracle there with you. There’s lots to love about Christmas time so don’t forget to embrace it.
Conclusion
These are 10 of the best tips to ensure you enjoy a Christmas pregnancy. As you can see, the day doesn’t have to be stressful and there are ways you can enjoy it without alcohol and overindulging in food.
Taking extra sleep during Christmas periods is one way pregnant moms can get to enjoy one of the busiest period we have around. One good thing about that is that it is going to reduce the issue of depression in the end. It’s nice, also, that they understand that it’s not possible to partake in every activity during this period since it in will affect their condition too.
I agree with you completely that a pregnant woman needs absolute rest during a very busy festive celebration like christmas. But i doubt most women will be able to given the series of activities involved, other children playing around and even visitors coming by during this period. Christmas where i come from is always like that. Always too busy especially for women.
Yes, you’re right. Women who are pregnant during Christmas must accept the fact that they will not be able to do the things they usually do. If they don’t accept this fact, they will really get frustrated. They should take everything in stride and avoid stress as much as possible.
This is a very good article. Pregnancy during this season can be quite challenging to mothers. Aside from the weather condition, diet is also something you need to pay attention to. This article will really help all pregnants women during this season because these are something they shoud take advantage of. We will surely keep this mind the next time my wife gets pregnant with our second baby.
You’re right, Joey. Pregnant women should watch their diet at this time of the year because they could indulge/overeat and it’s not good, especially if they’re in the last trimester of pregnancy. So that in itself is a huge challenge considering there will be lots of food on the table, haha.
During my last pregnancy, I was pregnant through Christmas and had my baby on December 31st 🙂 my New Years Eve baby.
I found that I was able to enjoy the Christmas season so much more being pregnant. I’m not sure if it was the joy of the season or just all of the extra undivided attention, such as everyone getting my plates of food for me, telling me to sit down and take it easy, and all of the extra presents to open for baby. Lol
I definitely found Christmas that year to be a lot more relaxing than other ears when I was running my butt off trying to help everyone with dinner and handing out presents. It was definitely nice to be catered to, even if it was just for a couple days.
My advice to pregnant soon-to-be mommies is to just RELAX and enjoy the Christmas spirit around you, as mentioned in the post. Next year and every year after, you’ll be right back at the hectic-ness that the holidays provide for most of us. I know it can be hard to let others take care of us sometimes, but I promise you’ll remember this Christmas for many years to come.
I so love everything you said 🙂 Pregnancy during Christmas could indeed make your life wonderful because you can relax without needing to tell people around you that you’re not up to the job because they already know they can’t force you to do anything. It’s their time to take care of you for a change, haha. So yes, it should be a very enjoyable time!
Being pregnant on a normal day can be very daring talk much of being pregnant on a festive holiday like christmas. I can only imagine how it feels like for women in such situation at the said time.
Being honest about what you can handle which is the number one tip on the post in my personal opinion is the best point amongst others. Faking to be okay or going over the limits of what a person can handle is really risky to ones health, especially when you are pregnant. I also like the points on eating smaller, embracing the magic and taking a lot of rest. I think those points are something almost every pregnant woman can learn to handle or take control of. But i really don’t know about the point on learning to control their morning sickness.
True, being honest about one’s condition is important, after all, family and relatives who know of a woman’s pregnant condition understand her situation and would even tell her to relax and not bother herself with the tasks at hand. Some would even go to the extent of pampering her, especially if it will be the first baby in the family. I bet that would be awesome! She would be treated like a queen, haha.
These are really working tips to enjoy Christmas despite pregnacy. A pregnant woman needs to reduce the extent to which she gets involved in social engagements, bearing in mind that a whole child is right inside the womb. She shouldn’t be reluctant to say no to anyone if the need arises, lest she invites unnecessary health issues to her body.
To enjoy Christmas meals, she needs to learn how to eat little, but regularly. Her condition does not entail eating large quantities at a sitting. This leads to some complicated health issues during pregnancy.
Very true i must say. But the fact remains, most pregnant women have a big apetite that leads to loads of junks being dropped in the stomach. I think it’s unhealthy in a way, correct me if am wrong. My mum when carrying our last born ate way too much and sometimes i wondered if she was carrying three kids in there. But it turned out ok, she wasn’t affected in anyway and we had a pretty little brother. I guess what we see as harmful sometimes turns out to be just fine.
I totally agree with you. A pregnant woman needs to reduce social engagements, but that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy the holidays. There will be a lot of opportunities with family to enjoy without obliging herself to do anything. Family and relatives can do everything and she can just sit and relax, no sweat. After all, everyone would understand her delicate condition.
Christmas and new year seasons that is the best celebration everyone expects, these seasons is always filled with visitors and so much kitchen activities, this is also the period were there are just too much to eat and drink but pregnant women be careful don’t bite more than you can chew.
So many pregnant women engage in the whoei festivities forgetting that there is a growing human being inside of them, some don’t even take medics advice instead they go ahead to eat whatever they like even at the cost of the life of the child, some over work them self so hard and are too stubborn to want an extra hand to help easy their activities. These festivities season should be a period of rest for a pregnant woman she should get carried away and there i s no need to, you are meant to hire helps of both outsiders and insiders to take of those normal traditions you do during festive seasons and take that rest you need.
The delicious foods on the table are truly tempting and a pregnant woman may overindulge so it’s important to remember to eat in small quantities. This way, she can better digest the food. There is also a restriction in the diet when a woman is in her last trimester. This is to ensure the baby doesn’t get too huge and difficult to deliver.
And yes, she should not insists on doing a lot of chores/tasks for the baby’s sake. She can’t afford to get herself too exhausted and risk the baby’s well-being.
I think that the tip number 3 which says ; Let Go Of Your Expectations is the most important among them all in this article because by going at everything this way, you will certainly not be disappointed with how things turn out should you not get some certain things. But once you have big expectations on things to go your way and it turns out to be the direct opposite of what you were bargaining for, definitely you will be disappointed.
I agree, Martinsx, and I would say this tip applies not only during the holiday season but all throughout the pregnancy. A pregnant woman should understand that she would not be able to do everything she used to do, especially those that involved physical movement or activity. It becomes difficult as her belly becomes bigger. Forcing herself to do things could endanger her and her child.
Yes, it’s absolutely true what you just mentioned about a pregnant mother not putting pressure on herself and the baby in trying to do everything, her body isn’t in the best condition to do so much task apart from the ones which wouldn’t stress her. This is why it’s advisable to get a house help to help a pregnant mother out.