To not want a Christmas Day baby

[Sweetpeach3]

I just feel soooo guilty "what if I'm not here Christmas morning for the kids"

Baby's due tomorrow. Iv had 2 sweeps, got kidney stones and on antibiotics (all should induce labour) but Seriously no bloody sign of an arrival. Doing everything I can but I feel perfectly fine in myself I can't sit still and bump is still pretty high

Baby number 3- first was 2 weeks late , 2nd was a week early so yea was no telling what way this will go
I'm just dreading it being over Xmas eve or Xmas as their such a special magical time I don't want to miss with my other 2 baby's. This is such a big gear and i know baby's coming when baby wants to come theirs no waiting lol

I just don't want to get everything set up Xmas eve for Xmas morning then go into labour through the night then they will see what Santa's brought and me and their dad miss it as we won't be here.

I sound so selfish I just don't like missing any time with them?? their always with me and doing things with me. I only have a break when they go nursery 3 days a week an that's only 1-6!! Then I don't want the baby being born on Christmas Day as people keep sayin "it'll save us a fortune buyin one present for 2 occasions if baby's born Xmas day""
I don't agree with that at all and I have said if baby is born Xmas day the birthday will be celebrated either before or after like a proper birthday
Just feel shit iv clearly not planned the dates well here ??

Best wishes for your birth.

The DC will be fine, you could put away some of the main gifts and get them out to open whenever you and their new sibling come home.

@PeapodBurgundy well this is something I asked for and they've advised me not 2

My first delivery was forceps as he was back to back but second delivery she just came no pain relief or anything I literally just made the hospital but their saying I'm at high risk of baby getting stuck (god knows how it hasn't been long since last 2 so I'm clearly not tight as can be down below) an hemmoraging ?? Never had these problems before so don't know why she's saying I will now but you know x

I hear ya ds1was born at 5.50 am on Boxing day I was induced on Xmas day so spent most of it in the delivery suite in Labour he doesn't mind though he's 13 on Boxing day .

I was so worried about having a Christmas day baby and when he did arrive on Christmas day of course he was the best Christmas present ever. I worried a lot about the impact both on him and his older sibling, but so far we've managed fine and just enjoyed it really. He is quite happy with his Christmas birthday so far, never gets joint presents, presents wrapped in Christmas paper or anything like that. I won't lie, it does take a bit of extra planning at an already busy time of year, but I honestly wouldn't change it now and even though we're not at all religious it still does feel a bit special in a way.

A good bit of advice I got was to make sure that the first thing you say to your Christmas-born on their birthday is Happy Birthday not Merry Christmas and we've always stuck to that. Sounds small but I think it matters.

Midwinter birthdays in general can be tricky but once you have your beautiful baby safe in your arms it really won't matter and whatever date it is, you and your family will find a way to make it wonderful

Another mum of a xmas day babe over here. We are doing as a pp does, bday on 25th June with party and presents then. On Xmas we will have a cake, usually for breakfast but this year we are celebrating with a bunch of family from over seas who we will see later so we will do it with them.
It is annoying when people give combined bday and Xmas presents or bday presents in Xmas wrap, but, at least they got lo a present.
Being in hospital over Xmas day was the best experience of being in hospital. It will suck as you have your eldest kids to think about but really there's f all you can do about it so just chill and go with the flow.

I was in your situation with dc3 15 years ago. She was due on the 21st Dec. She finally arrived on 5th jan after being induced. Good luck!

I had a Christmas Eve baby.

It's so stressful TBH.

And I struggle every year to get the balance of birthday vs Xmas eve activities.

When he was born I thought it was super cute.

But now, 10 years on I really wish he had come earlier / later.

Blimey you’re really stressing over something you have no control over. Just relax. In all honesty the kids won’t be bothered whether you’re there or not as long as Father Christmas has been. Like others have said. It’s one Christmas. Good luck with the labour.

We have a Christmas day birthday child. We do cards, his choice birthday lunch with birthday cake but no birthday presents on Christmas day. 25th June is celebrated with another birthday cake, school friends party and presents. Most of his friends don't realize it's a half birthday. Works for us all.

I'm another Christmas Eve mum. DS2 wasn't due until January 12th but he came at midday Christmas Eve after a twenty minute labour. We could have come home from hospital that day but he didn't feed well so stayed in overnight then did presents when we got home. They were very efficient at getting us discharged that morning.

He's never minded having his birthday at Christmas. He's 23 this year and it's the first time he's ever had to work, he's a nurse, on his birthday.

Literally none of that matters, so stop worrying and stop feeling guilty. If you have a safe delivery and a healthy baby, it'll be the best Christmas ever, no matter which day it happens. And you can't do anything about it, anyway.

Oh, you poor thing, try not to stress out. Your oldest are still very young and won’t know the difference when is the actual Christmas Day Plus baby can still be born in January! Wishing you good luck and easy labour

My DM is an April fool and it actually couldn't have been more appropriate for her 🤣

Yanbu but baby will come when he/she is ready!

@CadburyFestiveFriends I have an April Fool! He is wonderful, loves when his birthday is & says he can play tricks on people all year round because he’s the official April Fool 😍

We always had the birthday party first weekend back to school in Jan. Did the same for 18th and 21st.

Will you give the baby a Christmas name. We snuck in a third.

The other plus was that labour and maternity wards were v quiet because it was natural labours and absolute emergencies only. There was a christmas eve baby, 2 christmas day babies and a boxing day baby. I had to stay for three days as ds spent the first night in scbu and he was born at 36.4 and tje protocol then was that the baby had to hit the 37 week mark to be allowed home.

I would have a letter from 'sant' a prewritten, that says that he heard that a new arrival was coming to the house and he would be back with everyone's presents once you were all home. That way even if you go into labour overnight you are covered. Maybe leave them a couple of Christmasy things to open that can preoccupy them, Christmas colouring book, packet of Christmasy sweets etc and just shift christmas to when you are home.

Or if you are feeling good now have your Christmas eve tonight and Christmas tomorrow. We always just shift Christmas depending on if Dd is with me or her dad and it really doesn't make any difference what day you do it unless you go to church.

Congratulations on your soon to be new baby.

I think Christmas day babies are usually born in mid/late September. My sister and I both were, so was DP.

I blame those drunken parties.

I'm in the same boat. I'm currently 41 + 1 have had a sweep but no labour yet just hoping he waits untill after Christmas at this point.
My partners birthday is Christmas eve and he hates it but I may use the half birthday idea for our little one as he gets older.
Also we have Christmas morning with my stepson who's 7. Theres so few of them left where the magic of Santa is real I would be heart broken to miss one.

I think homebirth is the way to go. Particularly as you had a nice straightforward second delivery.

Do you have any pre existing health conditions? Are you booked for a birth centre or delivery suite?

@TheFairyCaravan Happy birthday to your son and hope he has as quiet a shift as possible. Emergency workers are amazing 💐

My DD's birthday was yesterday and DS's will be next week. It's all a bit of havoc that close to Christmas but your kids honestly won't care so much about the exact day. Just take everything one step and a time and your kids will have a lovely Christmas.

I was similar to you. Had a scan on 23rd and told they wanted to induce on 24th so thought I was on course for a Xmas day baby but in fact labour started a few hours after the scan and I had baby a little before midnight on the 23rd.

This time 10 years ago I felt like you but it could happen any time now

My second was a Christmas Eve baby (due 6 Jan). Went into hospital at 5:30pm and home on the sofa by 9pm. Took him with us to the pub for our pre booked christmas lunch the next day. He loves his birthday on Christmas eve.