The Preggy Woman's Guide to Surviving Christmas

While most women who are pregnant for the first time consider themselves in a ‘delicate,’ ‘sensitive,’ and ‘fragile’ condition, on my ninth month, I was whispering secret prayers of thanks for every pothole on the road and every elevator that didn’t work. I got wide-eyed stares and quizzical looks from men and women who offered to give up their seats for me as I so politely refused them. On the first day of my maternity leave, a mere two days before D-day, I walked in circles around my living room so many times that if the floor were a bed of soil, I would have dug a two-foot deep oval track. Tagtag was the goal, and I had a deadline to beat: December 24. That was the date my ob-gyne scribbled on his prescription pad—my due date, the day I was expected to give birth. Upon reading it, thoughts of me and my newborn bonding in a private room decked with holiday trimmings, and the song ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ softly filling the background appeared in my head and I decided, No, that cannot be!

Spend Christmas in the hospital? No way! It was bad enough that I was trading Christmas parties for OB visits and ultrasound scans. It was downright pathetic that the only cocktail I could “enjoy” that merry month of December was one mixed with Novocain and had to be injected in my spine. It was ridiculous enough that staring back at me when I looked in the mirror was “the face that munched a thousand chips” - all while Noche Buena was still in its planning stages. There was just no way I was going to spend Christmas in the hospital! (Woe is me, woe is me…). Thus the strong resolve to “accidentally on purpose” induce an earlier delivery by working my fingers (and legs and arms and torso) to the bone. And you know what, it worked! I gave birth December 21 - and with C-section stitches threatening to come off with my slightest movement, I bade the warm hospital staff adieu on December 24 and never looked back.

And so on Christmas day, I was surrounded by family and friends... that makes for a happy ending, right? Wrong! Doctor’s orders were that I was to remain horizontal (on my back in bed and if I did get up to walk, no using the stairs) for 10 days. Ten days! If you had a short attention span and couldn’t stay still for 15 minutes like moi, that would be hell for you, too. I felt like an imbecile being served lunch and dinner on a bed tray, jealous that I couldn’t join in the mealtime fun as I heard my family’s collective laughter shooting through the air up to my lonely quarters.

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Of course, there was New Year’s. We usually spend it in my ancestral home in the province, where we light 15 or so kwitis all at once, and my grandaunts spend two days preparing the night’s special feast. Well, that year, I was confined in the box that was our apartment, my days peaking when my tiny baby opened his eyes for a few minutes… but as most moms know, newborns do nothing but sleep all day. I was bored.

I vividly remember just staring at my sleeping baby when it was all loud and exuberant outside that New Year’s Eve. I was looking at him and wishing, “Please don’t wake up… please don’t wake up…” It was my most tranquil New Year’s Eve ever. But, all’s well that ends well, they say, and I survived the holidays. By the time the Three Kings were being commemorated, I was up and about and flushing away the post-pregnancy weight down the toilet. While I am thankful I had my last trimester during the cold months, I never would want to be scheduled to give birth around Christmastime ever again!

And, if, like me, you find yourself bursting at the seams in December, here are a few tips to make sure you stay safe and sane this holiday season:

1. Stay cool.
If, every year, you make it a point to do your Christmas shopping in Divisoria, you’ll just have to do without it this year. Crowded places can get overheated, and that’s one big no-no for a pregnant woman like you. Walking will do you a lot of good, but be somewhere with air-conditioning and less foot traffic - and always keep a bottle of cold water handy.
But that is not to say you should limit your exercise: “Unless you’ve been advised by your obstetrician that you’re at risk for pre-term labor, you can continue walking for fitness until it’s time to give birth,” says Carrie Pacheco-Purugganan, M.D., obstetrician and medical affairs manager for pharmaceutical company Glaxo Smith Kline.

2. Watch what you eat.
Two reasons: One, if you pack on the pounds this late in the game, it’s going to be all yours. Remember that the baby is now fully-formed and is just warming up to finally come out of your womb; the excess calories you take in just goes straight to your hips. If you’re eating like a champ in your second trimester, that’s fine - your baby is still developing bones, organs, and whatnot. But if you’re eating like you’re gunning for the Guinness Book of World Records around your due date, you’d better start looking for a good lifetime gym membership deal as early as now.
Second reason is, there is a long list of foods you have to steer clear of when you’re pregnant. Some seafood, for example, are high in mercury content - such as mackerel and swordfish - so in this season of house parties and eating out, be a little more vigilant and ask what’s on your plate. “If you’re at risk for developing gestational diabetes, limit your carbohydrate intake as well,” advises Dr. Pacheco-Purugganan.

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3. Stay away from smoke and alcohol.
I know you wouldn’t dare - but I cannot not mention it. And if you’re tempted to take just one puff or just one sip, remember that smoking and alcohol results to a baby with low birth weight and a host of congenital diseases.
 
4. Dress appropriately.
Yes, everybody’s wearing stilettos and almost-fantasy makeup, but you’ll have to sit this one out this year. The maximum heel height you can pull off is two inches (and we’re talking sensible, grade-school teacher heels, not kitten heels, cigarette heels, wedges, or - God forbid - spikes). Don’t even think about wearing stockings. Don’t put on your skin anything you haven’t tried before (to lessen the risk of allergies), and that includes sparkly fairy dust on your shoulders. Besides, you’re a little too old for that.

5. It’s no time to be Wonder Woman.
Owing to a lack of trust that nobody else can achieve perfect results other than ourselves, we tend to do everything on our own. Believe me, though, that when you’re nine months pregnant, people who offer to do simple errands for you actually do mean it (and hey, it’s Christmas, so they must really mean it). So take advantage of that resource and take them up on their offer! “Delegate and distribute your workload,” suggests Dr. Pacheco-Purugganan. “If you have high stress levels during your pregnancy, you might give birth to a premature or low birth-weight baby.” So allow people to help you and smile!

6. Stop getting stressed and enjoy the remaining days of your pregnancy.
So you’re fat and you don’t have a social life. But with a straight face I tell you, sleep all day while you still can and do absolutely nothing while you still can…because once that baby arrives, your world will be in shambles - but it will also be the happiest, the sweetest, and the most rewarding time of your life. I know for sure it was mine.  

Photo from flickr creativecommons