How to Survive a Holiday Party While Pregnant

The holidays are a wonderful time to connect with family and share some holiday traditions but it can also be challenging too. Keeping up with all the festivities can be especially tough when you are expecting a baby.

Here are some tips for surviving holiday parties:

• Consider not hosting this year’s party.  You may normally love to host everyone at your house over the holidays but this year you may want to share the love.  Have someone else host the party and offer to bring a dish as your contribution. You can also consider co-hosting the party with someone else.  Have it at your house but have someone else come early to help make or bring food. Have it at someone else’s house and you can go a bit early to help make food.  Either way you are cutting down the amount of work for yourself.

If you must host the party yourself, here are some tips to make it easier and more enjoyable for you:

•  Be strategic with timing.  Plan your gathering for mid afternoon so you can serve light snacks instead of a full meal.  Have a holiday tea party so you can serve small treats. Invite people over for coffee and dessert instead of dinner.

• Hire a cleaning crew.  Cleaning the house before and after a party is one of the biggest jobs.  Have someone come in to clean before and after the party and you have cut your work in half.

• Consider a potluck.  Everyone likes to feel like they are contributing this time of year, so why not let them?  When a guest asks what they can bring or how they can help, take them up on their offer. Even better, have everyone bring something they love to make so you don’t have to make as many dishes of food.

• Have the food catered.  This is not as fancy as it sounds.  Many grocery stores will make platters of food from veggies and dip to hot options to desserts.  Take the food off the store trays and put them on your own platters and no one will know your secret.  Just remember to plan ahead as most of these places need to have the food ordered in advance.

• Ask for help.  When it’s time to clear dishes and put food away, invite some guests to help.  It’s fun to have 3-4 people in the kitchen helping to do dishes and put things away.  Allows you to have more a visit as well and not have all the work to do when they leave.

• Don’t miss too much sleep.  Sleep is so important in pregnancy and you are probably already having trouble getting enough of it.  Getting up a million times to pee, having to readjust in bed to find the right position that puts less pressure on your hips, etc.  With this in mind, you may want to make sure you are not heading to bed too late. Be specific in what time the party is to end and don’t be afraid to send people home.  They need their rest too!

We hope these suggestions work for you and you enjoy all the very best the holidays have to offer!