Christmas dinner and baby due

[Chanel05]

I'm due on 22/12 with my second child and won't be going over as I'll be having an elective section either that day or the next. All being well, I'll be out by Christmas Eve.

I have said to DH that I really don't want us having to cook / host Christmas dinner as we always do, as there's a good chance I'll need lots of help and we have a 2 year old, so I don't want him spending all day in the kitchen and me having to clean up!!

We only live nearby to his family (just two of them) but one has never cooked anything much and the other is 90. Plus, I don't see that we will want to be going out an about to other people and feeling obliged to stay there for hours with potentially a 2 day old and me still fresh from surgery.

My dd absolutely wont eat Christmas dinner and doesn't understand the concept of Christmas so there's no issue there. My question is (and thanks for reading if you got this far!!) what would you choose to eat on Christmas Day if you were in my situation? I'd still like it to be a special kind of celebration on the basis it'll be our first as a family of 4.

In lockdown we weren't sure if we'd make it to family xmas (and didn't as it turned out!) so I made a Wellington with stuffing, meat, cranberry sauce rolled up in pastry then in the freezer. Maybe it was this www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/christmas-dinner-wellington

On xmas day it just went in the oven with some roast potatoes out of a bag and a few veg, gravy from granules. Xmas pudding in the microwave and ready made custard in a pan.

But you could have anything you want, there's no law saying you need xmas dinner. I got some fancy stuffed mail order pasta as a treat after DC were born, takes minutes to cook and tastes lovely.

@DappledThings assuming I don't go into labour beforehand and things go smoothly, dc1 will be with her grandad (who's very involved with her) for the day and then dh will collect her before bedtime as visiting hours still have an element of restriction where I am anyway.

We had covid last Christmas so spent the day alone, which felt a bit flat! We were lucky during Christmas 2020 though as we were allowed to bubble due to having an under 1.

@OneFrenchEgg happy to have the two relatives over but just conscious of feeling overwhelmed by mess and hopefully I'll be trying to establish bf so want to have a simple life but still relish in the festivities, to an extent. DH and I are usually a no tv on Christmas Day kind of family too, generally just radio on and playing games etc.

Thanks for those of you that have suggested getting nice foods in for breakfasts and dessert/ snacks. Hadn't even thought of that!! Have mainly been panicking the last few days that I want to have my Christmas shopping done and wrapped by the 4th December and that only dd is done - we have a huge wider family who we're very close to but live a distance from.

I would (if they don't have an alternative and I liked them) have them over for a lunch time meal, crackers, presents if you do them, and then drop them home with a box of mice pies/slice of cake/big kiss.
But i was super close to my family (lots of early deaths so only a couple left now) and it would be a pleasure for me to do this despite new baby.

I'm having a C sec on 22nd/23rd too! I'll do a big shop for snacky bits, cheese, and party food on 21st, and then will be buying in from Cook for Xmas day. Parents and ILs have been told they can pop over for an hour or two as long as they bring bits of their own Xmas treats and fizz to celebrate!! I will absolutely not be moving off the sofa or out of my pyjamas

Ahh I’m going to be in a similar-ish situation as I’ll be heavily pregnant at Christmas and likely won’t be up for making a full roast and all the trimmings. Partner would probably step in to make, but we have an active toddler so if one of us is going to spend hours cooking a big involved meal, the other has to spend several hours chasing toddler round the house.

Was tempted to buy in a nice festive spread of posh deli food - but I can’t eat smoked salmon 😫pate 😣or soft cheeses 😣and partner is Jewish so a baked ham or picnic pie is out 😓.

Have decided to just make stuffing a few days before and freeze (cannot not have this, it’s leek and chestnut and so delicious), get partner to pre-make and freeze special red cabbage (also unmissable) then on the day throw a chicken with a few carrots and onions in the pan in the oven and buy a trifle. So no roasties, posh roast veg, cauli cheese, yorkshires or home made gravy. Toddler LOVES a roast so everyone should be happy.

Let your DH decide since he'll be doing the cooking and watching the toddler. Don't be making a lasagne before the baby comes! It's Christmas Day, hardly much effort to chuck a turkey crown in and some trimmings

"So no roasties, posh roast veg, cauli cheese, yorkshires or home made gravy."

Why? Yorkshires are a doddle and roast veg is hardly rocket science. Id rather prep the potatoes right now than not have them at Christmas!

DD was born 23 Dec, thankfully straightforward homebirth with toddler DS asleep upstairs. I was also lucky to have my mum staying with us and she cooked a roast chicken dinner for Christmas Day.

In your position I would just take the pressure right off, buy some easy but special food and get DH to sort it all out on Christmas Day. Don't feel obliged to have family visitors if you don't feel up to it (esp after C section).

Good luck - it's going to be a really special Christmas for you and your little family, no matter what you end up eating.

If I was due a baby by c sec a couple days before Christmas I would finally indulge in my fantasy of having a massive Chinese on Christmas day

Alternatively I know my DH would cook me whatever I fancied and clean up; Id probably have a ready meal Christmas dinner via what's already been suggested here (Cook, M&S)

Just do family Christmas a different day (before baby comes) and have a quiet easy day on the day itself. It's one year, I'm sure they'll survive.

Takeaway!

our local Indian is doing a 3 course christmas menu for about £25 pp.

i keep trying to persuade the rest of them as I hate cooking and am not keen on roast dinners.

I’d pre cook and freeze something like a salmon wellington, vegetable lasagne or fish pie as they’re my favourites, along with loads of lovely xmas bits and pieces, loads of snacky food

I would absolutely order from COOK either a traditional Christmas dinner or something "nice" still like their beef wellington. They do mains, sides and desserts and it can all be kept in the freezer until you want to use it.

If not that, I'd do what a PP said and just graze on party food all day!

This reminds me of the year DC3 was born by caesarean a week before Christmas. We'd ordered a turkey but the oven broke. So we phoned the butcher and swapped the order for two chickens- and he was so pleased because he'd forgotten to reserve one for himself. Mum n dad came for Christmas and made a pot roast with DH looking after the older two and me peeling the odd bit of veg between feeds.

Yeah as PP have said, I would go for all ready prepped stick in the oven stuff I think.
Or… picky treat things, especially things you may have missed whilst pregnant, Camembert, pates etc.
I’m due mid December so we’ve been having similar conversations (although nowhere near as time pressured). What we’ve said is that we’ll definitely be at home alone but at this stage we’re still planning full Christmas lunch, just very relaxed with no pressure or expectations from anyone else re timings etc

Loads of continental meats and cheeses and pate that you couldn’t eat in pregnancy.

Yes! Gave birth at 7pm, home by 4pm next day. Had the food delivery already there so I was eating pate, meats, cheeses, glass of champagne by 5pm!! Was amazing!!

My family don't like Christmas dinner so we buy an Indian takeaway on Christmas Eve and just pop it in the oven to heat it up on Christmas day when we feel like eating. It's so easy and stress free!

Oooh yes agree with previous poster - eat all the things you couldn't have like soft cheese, sushi, champagne! Do your toddler some kiddie food and feet up!

I would still do xmas dinner personally but do it super simple (we do it this way anyway) by buying everything pre-prepared.

We get the microwave steamfresh veg (plenty for just 4 of you) and the premade microwavable mash/root mash. The frozen parsnip and yorkies get wacked in the oven and as vegetarians we have a pasta instead of meat and that can be a ready meal type too or you could get a pre-cooked chicken maybe if you want meat.

It basically requires little to no effort other than switching on the oven and pressing buttons on the microwave - get your DH to do it while you relax and recover on the sofa watching over the 2 year old playing.

You can eat sushi while pregnant in most the world.

Sushi we get over here even the meat/fish ones are flash frozen to kill parasites its not like fancy japanese resteraunts where they serve you live fish that could be infected.

Its like the same way here in the UK you can eat raw/runny/undercooked eggs while pregnant but you cant in the USA as british chickens are vaccinated and the eggs are processed and stored differently.

Things vary by country but Sushi is almost universally fine if its stored correctly.

I was due around Christmas & we got the Sainsburys dinner in foil trays to just shove in the oven plus a load of party food.

I ordered a load of cheese from an online cheesemonger too.

DS ended up being born in that dead end time between Christmas & New Year, but meant that we could just really easily reheat a load of leftovers or just eat cheese and crackers for ages!