Surviving the Holidays, Pregnant

Pregnant Holiday Scenario #6: You're pregnant, and everybody keeps urging you to have a drink. Mom says, "I drank moderately when I was pregnant with you, and YOU turned out okay!" Cousin Patsy, who's been around the world four times and lords it over everybody, announces, "In Italy, doctors prescribe a little wine for pregnant women to help them relax. You look like you could use some relaxation." "No thanks," you say, moving toward the cranberry sauce. If they get pushy, you get to practice that Mona Lisa superior half smile as you say, "I know, it must be hard for you to consider not drinking. But, doctor's orders!"

Pregnant Holiday Scenario #6.5: You're used to partying hard, but now you're newly pregnant, so newly pregnant that you aren't letting anybody know. Balance a glass of tonic with lime all night. Fill a flask with spring water and swig from it as though it's vodka. Find a conspirator who will keep your secret and keep you refilled—with juice. Be inventive, and good luck. You've got a hard row to hoe, baby, ringing in the year without even a glass of Mumm's, but when you're pregnant, especially in the first trimester, drinking and drugs are out out out of the question! It's a health issue—not for you, but for your baby!

Pregnant Holiday Scenario #7: You're pregnant, alone, contemplating your life as a single parent, and more depressed than usual. Call a friend. Get online and visit a chat here at BabyZone. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. When things get really tough, focus on the impermanence of it all. In one hour, one week, one month, things will be different. If you are all alone, if you are lonely, remember that you are not alone. Deep inside you grows new life, and as the winter solstice holidays celebrate the turning of the earth toward the sun, a new member of your family deep inside you grows bigger and stronger. Grows stronger and bigger, waiting to meet you.