Travel at the end of first tri/early second tri

sanpelligrino

Hi, I'm a FTM and I'm wondering what the general opinion is about traveling at the end of the first trimester or early second trimester? I'm going to bring this up with my OB but i dont see her for another 2 weeks and need to research some work travel meanwhile. It would be travel across the country. Could you please offer advice?  

Edit: I'm quite active on the April BMB but posted here since there seems to be more traffic here, especially for a general topic such as this. Also, I'm about 6w.

harpseal135

sanpelligrino said:

Hi, I'm a FTM and I'm wondering what the general opinion is about traveling at the end of the first trimester or early second trimester? I'm going to bring this up with my OB but i dont see her for another 2 weeks and need to research some work travel meanwhile. It would be travel across the country. Could you please offer advice?  

Edit: I'm quite active on the April BMB but posted here since there seems to be more traffic here, especially for a general topic such as this. Also, I'm about 6w.

My question: why cant you travel?  Women travel pregnant all the time.  Most doctors advise against traveling around the 8 month mark.

sanpelligrino

@harpseal135 I do want to travel, no doubts there, I just dont want to do anything risky, hence asked the question. 

inthewoods23

*disclaimer - never been preggo*
They say the easiest and best time for traveling is in the 2nd trimester since you're past the 1st trimester nausea. Flying on a plane isn't going to affect baby if that's what your concern is.

harpseal135

sanpelligrino said:

@harpseal135 I do want to travel, no doubts there, I just dont want to do anything risky, hence asked the question. 

Women dont stop their lives because they are pregnant. They travel, they workout, run marathons, work, go on business trips, go on cruises, they dont stop living.  Unless there is a very concerning medical issue, there is nothing risky to traveling. If it truly bothers you call your doctors nurses line. 

bellebaby221

I flew twice this last pregnancy. Once at 20 weeks and again at 28 weeks. My doctor said as long as everything is going well with the pregnancy she wouldn't say I couldn't until 32 weeks. I know some moms that have traveled later than that though. I just wore compression socks and drank lots of water. I was slightly more nauseated than when I usually fly but it was manageable. 

mercury94

I’m traveling mid-second tri. Didn’t check with my OB as I haven’t seen her and I booked the trip before I got KU. My SIL traveled throughout her pregnancies until early third tri. Should be fine as long as you don’t have any health reasons that prevent you from traveling (and so long as you aren’t deep into third tri).

lovesclimbing

I've flown at five weeks and 18 weeks. There is typically no cause for concern. 

sanpelligrino

Thank you ladies , you have been very helpful! I don’t worry about the travel anymore. I will still talk to my OB about it in 2 weeks. 

Wishilivedinflorida

I flew at 26ish weeks no problems. I wore compression socks, stayed hydrated, and also probably ate more than my allotted amount of seafood (trip to Maine). Baby and I did fine. If you’re doing a really long flight or drive, make sure you take breaks to walk for circulation and prevention of blood clots. Otherwise, there’s nothing special you need to do. 

leksiL

I was right at the end of the first trimester when I went to Scotland last pregnancy. I was a little more tired than usual but besides that everything was fine. I might wear compression socks but I do that even when I’m not pregnant because I’m old 😂 

btw I am 14w right now and would have no issues flying cross country. It’s a nice time of pregnancy because you have some energy back and don’t feel so sick. 

chopchop25

I wasn’t allowed to, but that was because of elevated blood clot risk due to a past clot. Ditto to the compression socks, hydration + getting up and ankle rotations to keep the blood flowing. 

delujm0

I would add the caveat that you want to make sure that where you are traveling is not a zone with known diseases that could impact your pregnancy, like Zika virus.

Otherwise, unless you have a specific medical issue, you can fly until pretty late in your pregnancy.  Every airline has its own cutoff, but many will allow you to take a domestic flight as late as 36-38 weeks.  Flight attendants and pilots have kids all the time and they work well into their pregnancies and are airborne a lot more than the average traveler is.  it is fine.

sanpelligrino

Thank you all for your advise and for sharing your personal experiences. I did not think of the compression socks, but sounds like a good thing to have before my travels.

@delujm0 great point about the Zika zones, I'm not traveling anywhere near those countries. It's domestic travel within the united states. 

babybison

@sanpelligrino I don't travel well due to anxiety and motion sickness, but we booked our honeymoon during the 11-12weeks of my previous pregnancy. My OB gave me a very tiny dose of Xanax to keep my anxiety down, and I used sea bands and ginger drops for the motion sickness. It turned out fine, other than having to pee a lot. I even asked the flight attendant when we boarded about the "no bathrooms during seatbell sign" and she assured me they couldn't stop me from using it. 😆 Definitely lessened my anxiety. 

sanpelligrino

That’s great info @babybison it has def lessened my anxiety about having to fly. I’m so glad you all have helped me with my decision to travel.