The Lollipop Road

I know there many of you out there who are pregnant and wondering what to do about taking that long planned vacation before your little bundle of joy arrives.  After all, this is a time for celebration, seemingly endless research (if you’re anything like us) with hopefully a wee bit of rest thrown in before your world is turned upside down in the nicest way possible.  There is definitely a lot of information to digest and many twists and turns to navigate throughout this very special time, but what about taking that darn vacation? 

Many people will warn you about going anywhere farther than your backyard, but modern medicine and communications has made traveling a whole lot safer and easier now.  But what if you’re sick?  This is a valid question and for most of us, not a big issue if we just plan ahead.  Typically, the first 3 months can be challenging for most mothers-to-be.  Between morning sickness, frequent urination, food aversions, and mid-afternoon exhaustion, you may wish you were on another planet, never mind an exotic Caribbean island. 

Taking your vacation after this “initiation” period should alleviate many of your pregnancy symptoms that may cause you to secretly plot to eliminate your travel companion (your husband) who convinced you to go on vacation in the first place!  And not straying too far from home during the last 6 weeks of your pregnancy is advisable as well.  For many of us, carrying baby around for 8 months takes its toll on our backs, and you never know when baby is ready to make their debut into this world.  There are also strict airline, as well as cruise ship pregnancy timeliness you must adhere to as well.  These guidelines are for you and your baby’s safety as well as their protection from any lawsuits should any early arrivals occur. 

Note the McDonald's Salad!

Now, of course this doesn’t mean that if you follow the above guidelines your travels will not be without challenges.  I have never seen a vacation that goes 100% as planned anyway, have you?  When I was pregnant with my first son, my husband and I traveled to Japan for 2 weeks.  I was almost 4 months along and was fortunate to never really suffer morning sickness during early pregnancy, so what could possibly go wrong, we thought.  If you ever go to Japan, as you might have guessed their food is stunningly different from what you might find in the United States.  In fact, fried food is the norm and fresh fruits and vegetables (you know, the high fiber foods) are rather difficult to find.  When you have to rely on a salad from McDonald’s for your vegetable selection, you know you’re in trouble.  Hmmm, what do you think happens to a pregnant woman devoid of fiber?  So, during our 2 week whirlwind tour of Japan, I paid a visit to a pharmacy to see what remedy I could find to alleviate my little problem. 

Fortunately for me, the pharmacist was a woman because what transpired during the next 20 minutes was nothing short of storybook fodder.  I played a game of charades called “name that ailment” with a captive audience of 3, the pharmacist, her assistant and another woman who may or may not have worked there!  Once they finally understood my situation, the pharmacist quickly pulled a remedy off the store shelves.  Hmmm, is this okay for a pregnant woman to take?  So the game began again, only this time, the pharmacist realizing that I was pregnant, quickly snatched my salvation out of my hands.  With sadness I said “thank you” to my new friends, hung my head low and staggered out into the busy streets empty handed.  The assistant clearly made out much better, with an unbelievable dinnertime story to tell her family and friends, as was obvious from her non stop laughter during our little impromptu game show.

Yummy - Miso & Rice...Again

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the miso with rice served for breakfast every morning.  My husband and I couldn’t keep it down after the third day. I guess it’s just not our thing (I did more vomiting in Japan than the first 3 months of pregnancy).  A giant thank you to the British Pub is Kyoto – you saved our lives! 

When I was 5 months pregnant with our second son, we went on a 3 week RV trip through the Midwest, Canada and Alaska.  The trip was great with the only pregnancy mishap being my accidentally sitting on the seat belt buckle and tearing a large hole in the leg of my maternity pants!  I quickly sewed them and we were on our merry way.  I don’t think we can blame the large rock flying out from the dump truck in front of us and cracking our windshield on pregnancy.  Nor can we blame the bridge that scraped the side of our RV as we precariously crawled over it during the road construction.  And I don’t know what to say about the drawer that flew out of the kitchen in the RV as we went around a mild curve at 20 mph, screws and springs flying everywhere!  Yes, mishaps happen, even when you’re not pregnant; the stories just aren’t as funny. 

Check back tomorrow as we review some of the specific airline restrictions regarding travel during pregnancy. 

Disclosure

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