Ladies in Waiting: New Traditions

My college alma mater warns its alumni to be vigilant “lest the old traditions fail.” But with the easy removal of one single letter, we can create a new phrase: “let the old traditions fail.”

When you are pregnant, there are some traditions you will want to continue. Perhaps you and your partner have been going out on a date night once a month. Kudos to you both if you decide to continue that tradition. Perhaps you have taken my advice and celebrated milestones during pregnancy like reaching the six- week mark or watching the technician do your twenty-week ultrasound. Please continue with these traditions.

Are there some traditions that you might want to change? Let’s talk about traditions around the holidays. Is the Fourth of July always spent at the beach? Do you always celebrate Thanksgiving with friends? Do you always have Christmas dinner with relatives?

Pregnancy might be a great time to begin new traditions. Anna is a patient of mine who always celebrated Thanksgiving by driving four hours to her in-laws home to have a mid-day dinner. This year, she is 13 weeks pregnant. Now, a four-hour drive is “just exhausting.” She tells me that all she wants to do over the Thanksgiving holiday is to “sit on my couch and eat mashed potatoes.” For Christmas, she would like to be at home with her partner and open-up presents in the morning before having her parents over for a few hours in the afternoon. She tells me that this is the last Christmas with just her and her partner. Next year, there will be a baby. And with a baby come new traditions.

What new traditions do you want to begin during your pregnancy?