Traveling...

[Kristie]

So my sister's husband just got a new job at Disney (world) in orlando and he'll have a week off before starting the new job.

They want to go travel with us during their "week off", but Kathy's not too sure if/where she can travel. She's on her 17th week... I'd like to get her to Paris.. but she'll settle for Vegas if anything...

She is concerned about visiting the grand canyon area since it's "in a higher altitude" than florida (everything's a higher altitude than florida!)...

Are there any precautions to take and would she be able to travel overseas before her 20th week?

[biochemtine]

I'm no expert, but I thought it was just during the 3rd trimester that you can't fly. And the third trimester starts at week 26 or so, right? So I would think she would be fine, but I'd get a doctor's stamp of approval first. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[MQAAord]

Basically depending on the 'normal-ness' of a pregnancy, you really can travel up until the very last weeks.

We were suppsed to go to Florida when I was 7 or 8 months with Alex, and my doc actually encouraged me to go, he said I had such a normal, uneventful pregnancy, with no complications and that I should get out and take advantage of a trip before the baby arrived!

If there's any complications, any hint of problems or possibility of early labor it wouldn't be smart to travel. Her doctor will be able to give a thumbs up or down as far as travelling is concerned.

[MQAAord]

And as far as 'altitude' goes, or even 'air pressure', your body is in complete control of how much oxygen gets to the baby. You will not deprive the baby of oxygen being in a high altitude situation. If it's bad enough, the body will give oxygen to the baby at the expense of the mother, so don't worry about that.

[Kristie]

ok.. cuz apparently her book (everyone's book) "what to expect when your expecting" says that flying in a plane is ok because your pressurized.. but being in a high altitude could deprive baby of O2...

giving O2 at the expensive of hte mother.. doesn't that then give momma breathing problems which in turn could harm the baby more?

I was thinking that maybe up in the top of the grand tetons or mt everest.. sure.. but grand canyon or going overseas? just don't see the problem there.. but then again, i'm not prego! so I wouldn't really know...

I just wanna make sure If i take her on an 8 hr overseas flight.. she's not going to have a problem (which I don't think she would because we'd be sleeping all the way)...she was supposed to tell me today what the doc said.. but hasn't yet said anything.. maybe she just doesn't wanna go?!

[TheWife]

In all honesty I would not go overseas while pg. Not because of the flying, but because even the most uneventful pg can have sudden problems arise and I would be really leary and uncomfortable having to seek medical care overseas, plus who knows what that would cost you? Maybe I am just paranoid, but I would just be too afraid of something going wrong.

As far as traveling to the Grand Canyon though I don't see why that would be a problem?? But check some one line, there are probably 100 websites that have an article about that.

[MQAAord]

Here's a link to some AOPA articles about flying/travelling while pregnant. I don't know if you have to be logged in member to read the sites, if the link doesn't work let me know & I'll cut & paste the body of the articles. http://search.aopa.org:9020/asp/search.a...yText=pregnancy

I wouldn't recommend climbing Mt. Everest, but I meant that altitude is 'generally' not a problem for a pregnant woman. Yes, if she were at like, 20,000' with no pressurization/oxygen, that would be bad!

The best source of info for her is her doc, he'd know her medical history & the history of the pregnancy enough to give the best travel advice.

I wouldn't have minded going overseas while pregnant. Certainly not to a third world country or anything, but I wouldn't have a problem with Europe.

[Barbara]

We moved from 200' (PDX) to 5,400' (DEN) in September. We got pregnant on the move out here, or immediately afterward. I was BEYOND EXHAUSTED, from the high elevation, the new pregnancy, the moving & my (then) 14 mo old finding her inner (beast) toddler. My OB said it would take my body 3-4 months to adjust to the elevation. He would not allow me to go any further into the mountains until that 4 month period ended, as it could deprive the baby of oxygen. I'm not sure how the mechanics of that works, but if mama struggles for o2, baby struggles for o2. I'd fly to Europe, though. Aircraft cabins are pressurized to feel about 8000', which isn't too much higher elevation than we are here. People certainly live safely in the mountains. Make sure your sister drinks a TON of water, and walks the aisles a few times during the flight. Something about blood clots in the legs... The second trimester is the safest time to travel. At 17 weeks, she's right in there.

[Kristie]

AWESOME! Thanks for the replies everybody!!

Well, we tried again to figure out if BIL's passport was still valid - because sister washed it some time ago... DOH! I guess she tried to see if it would be passable and the passport ppls said no.. so, no europe for them.. I really don't think she wants to do that anyways which just seems odd to me since we've paid for their buddy passes (I guess, if it were me, i'd JUMP at the chance of going overseas for free)...

but anyways, she didn't get it fixed when she washed the passport (long ago), so we can't go now....oh well...

so, believe it or not - we're doing vegas again in about a week.. i'm gonna try those crap tables again and see how much more I can bring home, or if my luck's run cold! hahahaha

they want to stop in sedona, so we'll be doing that route too...and then, its off to somewhere for vacation ...yup, 2 weeks and counting and we (doug and I ) have no plans as of yet.. ahh the beauty of traveling non-rev overseas... /end sarcasm)...

but anyways, at least we have some plan with the sister & BIL....so that's one thing I don't have to worry bout! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[lrcantrell]

Definately have her check with her Doctor. She'll feel much better once she gets the okay from her OB. There's really no reason that a pregnant woman cannot travel if she is having an uncomplicated pregnancy up until the third trimester. After that, it's the airlines that restrict pregnant women. Just check with the airlines on their policy. The one thing that I always tell pregnant women is to do only what you feel comfortable doing. If she's nervous or uncomfortable getting on a plane, going to the grand canyon, whatever then just tell her it's okay and that she doesn't have to do it. Also, tell her to take her OB's number with her and if she has any questions at all on the trip, just give them a call and get the questions answered right there rather than guessing and worrying.