Anyone travel for work?

jarbatz

I may have to travel soon for work and was wondering what your OBs told you about travel during the 1st trimester?   I have a call into my OB but was curious what everyone else was told....my flight would be a long one...about 4+ hours then an hour in an car.  

 Thanks!

Liz

Sassystace

My OB never mentioned any travel restrictions at all (especially in 1st tri).  The airlines care later in your 3rd tri but my dr would say as long as you are going somewhere where there is a hospital then you will be okay.

BrideBuddies

Just ask your doc.  Most will probably say you're perfectly fine to fly/drive for fairly long periods of time, as long as you get up and walk around a bit.

I had bleeding issues in first tri, so I opted to skip going to Hawaii with my hubby for a conference.  He WILL be making that up to me at a later point!

But we may also take a long driving trip over Labor Day when I'm 31-32w, if the doc says I'm okay to go.   It would be about a 14-16 hour drive normally, but we intend to break it up into two days with stops every hour for me to get out and walk around.   I'll find out in the next week or so if she's okay with that.   So far, I'm not sure I want to go!!

jarbatz

Thanks everyone....that's sort of what I was thinking...that I'm fine. I guess my only concern is just being away from DH and being by myself if something, god forbid, were to happen.  

I was sort of hoping my OB would tell me not to go! But he's really layed back about everything so my guess is he will say its fine.

Bride - you are a trooper for taking a trip that long (if you do go!).   The longest I can sit in a car (when I'm not pg!) is like 6-8 hrs.  

Matildasun

I don't travel for work, but I flew to Spain for vacation when I was 7 weeks pregnant. I had no trouble on the way over because I brought tons of snacks. I wasn't as well prepared on the way back, so I was hungry and miserable. The next day I was violently ill for most of the day.  My suggestion to you would just to bring enough food in both directions, and make sure you get up and stretch when you are able to.

BrideBuddies

I know, I know!  I'm probably crazy!  But for 20+ years we've been going to a big lake with a bunch of our college friends and I hate to break the tradition!  This is probably our "last hurrah" for a while. 

And we normally do this long drive at least once or twice a year, so it really doesn't phase me any more.  When I was around 18w, we drove to Omaha for a wedding.. that's about 12 hours.  And we did it in one day with lots of stops.  By the last couple of hours, I was kind of uncomfortable sitting, but we pushed it a lot harder than we should have at that point because we just wanted to get home.  Won't do that again.  

I swear I know every bloody bump in the road along I-80 between Colorado and Iowa!  Ha!

jarbatz

Well you have inspired me....we have been talking about taking a 'babymoon' this fall but really need to do it on the cheap.   We live in Ohio though and there really aren't that many cool places within a few hours of us.  DC is 6.5 hours and we have a free place to stay right in downtown DC....I think after hearing your story, I could handle that!

shelby9201

I flew a lot in 1st and 2nd tri for business & leisure and the only thing my OB told me was to walk around when i could & stay hydrated.  The one thing I made sure to do was to let the flight attendant know that I was pregnant, especially when I was feeling a little queasy.  It was more just in case I needed some ginger ale or crackers & I didn't want to seem like a whiny traveler.  It did come in very handy when we were flying to Charleston to see the in-laws when I was 16 weeks.  Our plane was very delayed out of Louisville and it was looking pretty impossible to make our conenction in DC.  DH & I were already working on "Plan B" when the attendant came over to see us.  She had the pilot radio ahead that a mommy-to-be was in danger of missing a connection.  They had a shuttle meet us on the tarmac and drive us across to the other side of the airport to the waiting plane to make our connection.  The flight attendant said that she recently had her first child and the last thing she wanted me to have to do was haul butt across Dulles to try and make our connection.  I made sure to send a super nice letter to US Airways about her! 

BrideBuddies

Oh Jarbatz.. don't use me as a "good example!"  I've been looking for any excuse not to do the roadie this year!!  

Some earlier did raise the good point about not having a good hospital nearby.   The closest one that might qualify as "good" would be about 1 1/2 hours away in Sioux Falls.   That might be a deal-breaker.

But not to thunderjack the thread, I think a 4+ hour flight is okay in the early going... just don't overexert yourself, eat some snacks and get plenty of water.

jarbatz

Well good news - I've just managed to pawn off my trip to Ogden, Utah and will be going to Newark, DE instead, which is only a 1 hr flight to Baltimore and then a 1 hour drive from there.   I can handle that! 

Thanks for all your advice ladies! 

maschmidt16

Shelby was smart in mentioning that she was pregnant because I had a horrible experience connecting in DC at the end of my first tri. We were flying back from Seattle to Manchester. The flight was delayed coming back from Seattle, then it took forever for the plane to finally taxi to the gate. We were in the back of the plane on a full flight and we had to make a connection over to another terminal. We narrowly missed our connection plus I was starving!! Although this particular airline is notorious for bad customer service, so I doubt they would have been much help even if I did mention it. We would probably have been stuck in DC overnight if we didn't make our connection.

When we had to go to Toledo for my FIL's funeral, I was at 30 weeks. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to flying after the first experience. So we opted for the train instead. Despite it being a longer trip, it was nice to be able to walk around, have no limitation on baggage, have big comfy seats and not have to do the security "dance" with taking your shoes on and off (a big deal when you're in the third tri).

Anyway, my advice is make sure you get an aisle seat and to the front of the plane, try to fly direct if you can (if not, make sure you have enough time between connections), bring an empty water bottle to fill up after you go through security, walk around when you can and bring plenty of snacks.

prazenjc

i'm restricted, b/c i have an uber conservative RE. and i am pg via my first IVF attempt.

but, i also wanted to share this, which i found from 1st trimester:

https://pregnant.thebump.com/pregnancy/is-it-safe/qa/is-it-safe-to-fly-before-week-12.aspx

 

pahokie

I traveled almost every other week for work, and I had no restrictions from my OB, until third tri.  Their advice was "stop when it becomes uncomfortable."

If you are having m/s, make sure to have whatever remedies work for you on your person when you board the aircraft, because you may not be able to get up and get your bag when you need it.