Moms have a hard enough time getting ready for the holidays or the birth of a child when they are two distinctly separate events. Together, these occurrences can be overwhelming!

Imagine trying to decorate and put together holiday celebrations while having Braxton Hicks contractions. Or visualize yourself wandering through the mall looking for that perfect gift with swollen ankles. This is the reality for many pregnant moms throughout the holidays.

Carolyn Henderson, a Canadian mother of two, was due December 15, but knew that because her previous child was overdue, she could end up with a Christmas baby. "I was really hoping that this one might come early or at least on time so I could be home for Christmas," she recalls.

But her due date came and went, and Henderson found herself preparing for the holidays still "large with child." "I was very big, having gained about 50 pounds, so shopping that year was not a pleasant experience," she says. "Plus, all the noise (music and wailing children) got on my nerves more than it might have otherwise, since my hormones were raging in every direction."

For the Hendersons, the only sanity-saving solution was to keep the holidays simple. "Because of my due date, we decided to do sort of a minimalist Christmas," Henderson says. "I put up a tree and a few basic, meaningful decorations but other than that, I didn't want much fuss."

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