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Flying while pregnant?

AnyaBellaAnyaBella
in Northern California Babies

Last night DH and I started talking about going to Europe. It's something we've always talked about doing but were never serious about.  Now I think we might be seriously considering going either in March for our 5th anniversary or in May for his 30th birthday.

With that said, this could possibly mean putting off TTC. :( I know traveling is possible with kids but we would really like to experience this as just the two us.  Anyway, I was thinking if we started trying in Oct. and happened to get pg the first try (yeah right) that would put me at about 5 months in March.  Is that too far along?

I know you're not supposed to fly in your third trimester, but I guess what I'm looking for is actual experiences.  It may be safe, but having never experienced pregnancy before I'm not sure if I would actually want to be doing that kind of travelling at 5 months. So what do you think? Thoughts?

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Re: Flying while pregnant?

  • hersheykisshersheykiss

    You can fly up to 36 weeks. At 5 months you would be around 20-25 weeks so yes technically, you would be ok. That is as long as you are having a good pregnancy.

    Me personally, I did not want to go anywhere while pregnant. We went to Tahoe when I was about 5 months and while I was ok, I was not comfortable. The trip was not hard, but all I wanted to do was be at home on the couch and relax.

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  • amyfeliceamyfelice

    Assuming everything is normal with your pregnancy that would probably be the ideal time actually.

    First trimester, you may feel pretty lousy, sick, etc, and flying across the Atlantic is not necessarily what anyone would want to be doing. Also there is a lot of radiation with flying but that has not been shown to cause any defects, even in flight attendatns. but if it concerns you the most impact of that would be in the first trimester when the organs are all forming.

    Second trimester, people generally feel a lot better and have more energy. I worked out more in second trimester than either of the other two. Not to say you can't still be nauseated, it depends on the person, but less likely.

    Third trimester you can still fly, usually it is about the last month when they get pretty antsy about it, because they worry about you having labor on the plane.  that doesn't seem to be your issue though. 

    I canceled a  trip to tag along with DH to Barcelona on a business trip in my first tri, because I just didn't want to be on an airplane that long and I didn't want to be in a foreign country where people eat dinner after 9pm when I was hungry all day long. I got a full refund because my dr wrote a note. I was super lucky.  

    ETA: No guarantee of course that you would be that far along, could still be in first few month or not yet preggy of course. 

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  • everydayeveeverydayeve
    I've flown at five months and seven months and been just fine both times. Neither time was to Europe, but my trip at five months was across the country - so a longer flying time. I was a little more uncomfortable than I would normally have been, but it really wasn't much different at all. Make sure you book an aisle seat so that you can get up and walk every hour or so and so that you have easy access to the bathroom. Enjoy your trip!
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  • pkwpkw
    I am currently 23w (closing in on 6 months) and I wouldn't double guess flying.
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  • kittylovekittylove member
    I know Ava went to Europe at about 5 or 6 months. You might talk to her about what it was like so you get an idea of how it was for someone. I would also like to add though that some people have very hard pg and you just never know how you will react. My sister was in the best shape of her life when she got pg the first time and it knocked her on her a$$. She was on modified activity through out her pg. Where as I was very lucky and felt preety darn good up till the end.
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  • mcunninghammcunningham
    i flew to europe at 20 weeks pregnant and i felt amazing then!
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  • AnyaBellaAnyaBella

    imagekittylove:
    I know Ava went to Europe at about 5 or 6 months. You might talk to her about what it was like so you get an idea of how it was for someone. I would also like to add though that some people have very hard pg and you just never know how you will react. My sister was in the best shape of her life when she got pg the first time and it knocked her on her a$$. She was on modified activity through out her pg. Where as I was very lucky and felt preety darn good up till the end.

    I know, this is what concerns me. I would hate to assume that I would be fine and then have to cancel. Then, I also hate the idea of delaying TTC any more. Decisions, decisions!

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  • Dragonfly_BrideDragonfly_Bride member

    I planned a trip to Hawaii a year in advance. I thought for sure I'd be pregnant or have had a baby by the time the trip came up. Since I wasn't sure what the timing would be, we bought special travel insurance that refunded a large portion of the trip cost for canceling for any reason. So, I had to be prepared to cancel my trip if I wasn't going to be able to make it, but still it made me feel better that we?wouldn't?be out a lot of money, or that I'd feel obligated to go even if I wasn't feeling it becaue of the money that?would?be lost.

    Of course, the trip was a year ago and I never did become?pregnant?- not in the year before the trip or the year after... but the airline we were using did go out of business, so the insurance was still a good thing to have (but we didn't need to use it since our credit card company refunded us). So, you just never know!

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  • kittylovekittylove member
    What about trip insurance? I think you should go for both, and hope it works out. Both are chances of a lifetime and nothing would be worse than you not booking the trip because you are ttc and then you aren't pg. And delaying ttc even more would suck too because you are at an increased risk of having t-ttc (cause of the endo).
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  • AnyaBellaAnyaBella

    imageDragonfly_Bride:

    I planned a trip to Hawaii a year in advance. I thought for sure I'd be pregnant or have had a baby by the time the trip came up. Since I wasn't sure what the timing would be, we bought special travel insurance that refunded a large portion of the trip cost for canceling for any reason. So, I had to be prepared to cancel my trip if I wasn't going to be able to make it, but still it made me feel better that we wouldn't be out a lot of money, or that I'd feel obligated to go even if I wasn't feeling it becaue of the money that would be lost.

    I hadn't even thought of that. I haven't traveled much so  I didn't realize that was something you could do. Thanks!

     

     

    imagekittylove:
    What about trip insurance? I think you should go for both, and hope it works out. Both are chances of a lifetime and nothing would be worse than you not booking the trip because you are ttc and then you aren't pg. And delaying ttc even more would suck too because you are at an increased risk of having t-ttc (cause of the endo).

    The insurance is a great idea! The endo is exactly why I would hate to delay TTC any further. My DH isn't much of a risk taker so I know he would hate the thought of possibly canceling the trip, but maybe the insurance idea would help with that.  :)

    This has been really helpful. Thanks ladies!

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  • jsugrinjsugrin member
    We went to England for our babymoon and I was 4 months along I think.  It was great, the morning sickness was mostly gone, the awful initial fatigue was gone but I wasn't huge and uncomfortable.  We had a wonderful trip so I say go for it!
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  • tri_bride05tri_bride05

    In my 2nd and 3rd trimesters with my first pregnancy, I got horrible motion sickness so cars and flying made me extremely ill. We flew to Hawaii when I was about 15 weeks and San Diego when I was 20 weeks and both flights wiped me out. I needed a day on either end of the flight to rest and recover even though San Diego is a one hour flight! I couldn't go more than 20-30 min. in a car either. It was strange since otherwise I had a totally easy, symptom free pregnancy and I don't normally get any sort of motion sickness. You just never know how pregnancy is going to affect you.

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  • tri-readertri-reader

    I went to Europe at 5 months pregnant and was just fine.  :)

     

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  • Happy10th!Happy10th!

    While I can't yet speak from experience, we are going to Europe the second half of October, and I'll be 25 - 26 weeks pregnant.  I've spoken with the doctor, and she says although it's safe pregnancy-wise to travel, because of all the H1N1 stuff going on right now, DH and I will have to wear masks in the airport and on the entire flight to and from.

     

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  • green3000green3000
    I flew to the middle east and europe at 3.5 months pregnant (which was great!), to NYC at 5 months and to Canada at almost 8 months (a few weeks ago).   I was definitely more exhausted travelling to Canada this time around but it was do-able.  I would not postpone your trip - most folks feel fine during their second trimester and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun!  (you may be a bit more tired though, so I would ease up on the fully scheduled days).  
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  • amyfeliceamyfelice
    imageHappy10th!:

    While I can't yet speak from experience, we are going to Europe the second half of October, and I'll be 25 - 26 weeks pregnant.  I've spoken with the doctor, and she says although it's safe pregnancy-wise to travel, because of all the H1N1 stuff going on right now, DH and I will have to wear masks in the airport and on the entire flight to and from.

     

    Maybe you can get the shot before you go.  

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