Keeping it secret?
• Keeping it secret but struggling with all the glasses being pushed your way? Have a partner in crime, whether it’s your husband, another family member, or a best friend. A bit of cunning switching, and nobody will ever know.
• Sound risky? Drive to any events in the diary. Yes, you might have to navigate the south circular, scour the streets for a space and explain why you didn’t take the tube the mere four stops, but nobody can argue with your refusal to drink.
• Normally a party animal but fall asleep on the sofa at eight? Claim to have another party you need to go to. It is the season for it, after all.
• Arrange your own celebrations, like a trip to a Christmas market or a gentle brunch at 11am. When it is perfectly acceptable (indeed normal), not to have to quaff a large glass of mulled wine.
Pregnancy & Birth
Pregnant at Christmas Time?
Here are our top tips for surviving the festive period no matter how big or small your bump!
Out of the bag?
• If it’s not your first pregnancy, you always have other children as an excuse. It’s a busy time, and babysitters are often booked up… you might just have to skip the third party of the day to eat Milk Tray in front of Love Actually look after them.
• Join your great uncle Albert in an unplanned snooze on the sofa. If he can do it, why shouldn’t you?!
• Exhausted all the time? Turn up early. You’ll be able to have a catch up with the hosts before it gets too busy, and slip out once the crowd arrived. There is no shame in going to bed at ten (or seven).
• Have a Christmas film evening with friends or family. You can eat stollen, gingerbread, and drink elderflower presse to your heart’s content.
Being pregnant at Christmas can be tricky. There are a hundred things to do, meals to cook, and presents to buy. It can be tough if nobody knows you’re pregnant, but similarly tricky if the news is out. Not to mention navigating your way through office dos and parties with friends and family, the general preponderance of forbidden food and drink can be hard, but here are a few suggestions (both serious and light-hearted) to help you through.
And the rest:
• Be organised. Know what you can’t eat or drink, and make a beeline for what you can.
• When it comes to food, do an online shop. Why battle the crowds when you can get everything you need delivered to your door.
• Don’t over-do it. If you don’t feel up to it, there is no shame in taking it easy.
• Delegate tasks. Don’t haul heavy presents around, or decorate the tree. And unless you’re a complete control freak, when it comes to Christmas dinner, many hands make light work.