Vacation at 33 weeks??? [Archive]

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June 19th 06, 05:20 PM

Hello,

Any experience or opinions on this? I'm considering taking a week's
vacation when I'm 33 weeks pregnant. We were thinking of going to a
stay at the family cottage on the beach. It's a 6 hour drive. It's
still in the same province so there are no health insurance issues.
There's a hospital nearby. I've had a very uneventful pregnancy and
I'm having a scheduled cesarian (for reasons that will not affect my
vacation). I'm nervous that I may have problems when I'm away from
home and away from my own doctor but like I said, no problems so far
(touch wood). But, on the other hand, I'd really like to spend some
quality time with my DH and my 17 month old DD before the new baby
comes. It sure would be nice to be able to float in the water when I'm
big and hot!!!! Am I crazy to consider a 6 hour car ride with a
toddler when I'm 33 weeks pregnant?

Mandy (on the fence)

Jamie Clark

June 19th 06, 05:27 PM

wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Any experience or opinions on this? I'm considering taking a week's
> vacation when I'm 33 weeks pregnant. We were thinking of going to a
> stay at the family cottage on the beach. It's a 6 hour drive. It's
> still in the same province so there are no health insurance issues.
> There's a hospital nearby. I've had a very uneventful pregnancy and
> I'm having a scheduled cesarian (for reasons that will not affect my
> vacation). I'm nervous that I may have problems when I'm away from
> home and away from my own doctor but like I said, no problems so far
> (touch wood). But, on the other hand, I'd really like to spend some
> quality time with my DH and my 17 month old DD before the new baby
> comes. It sure would be nice to be able to float in the water when
> I'm big and hot!!!! Am I crazy to consider a 6 hour car ride with a
> toddler when I'm 33 weeks pregnant?
>
> Mandy (on the fence)

I say go. Stop frequently during the drive, so you can stretch your legs,
pee, etc. But go, and have a great and relaxing time! As you said, your
pregnancy has been uneventful up until know, so there is no reason to think
that is going to change. And, if it does, there is a hospital nearby, so
you and the baby will be fine. But honestly, the chances of something
happening are slim, and you can guarantee that if you DON'T go on this trip,
you'll stay home and be completely bored and nothing will happen!

--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys, 1/3/03
Addison Grace, 9/30/04

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Dave {Reply Address In.sig}

June 19th 06, 06:15 PM

xkatx

June 19th 06, 07:52 PM

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hello,
>
> Any experience or opinions on this? I'm considering taking a week's
> vacation when I'm 33 weeks pregnant. We were thinking of going to a
> stay at the family cottage on the beach. It's a 6 hour drive. It's
> still in the same province so there are no health insurance issues.
> There's a hospital nearby. I've had a very uneventful pregnancy and
> I'm having a scheduled cesarian (for reasons that will not affect my
> vacation). I'm nervous that I may have problems when I'm away from
> home and away from my own doctor but like I said, no problems so far
> (touch wood). But, on the other hand, I'd really like to spend some
> quality time with my DH and my 17 month old DD before the new baby
> comes. It sure would be nice to be able to float in the water when I'm
> big and hot!!!! Am I crazy to consider a 6 hour car ride with a
> toddler when I'm 33 weeks pregnant?
>
> Mandy (on the fence)

Go, if you feel up to it.
I actually had a very similar question looking for advice last summer while
pg with DD. We were going down to Drumheller to go camping, which is about
4-5 hours away from home. We'd be tenting (as I do not go camping to sleep
in a trailer!) but there would be my parents' tent trailer, as well as my
aunt and uncle's trailer to sleep in with beds if need be. I decided to not
go, in the long run, only because I was not good with the heat at home,
couldn't imagine the heat further south and being outdoors almost all day
and night. The heat was the one and only reason I decided not to go, and DH
and I sent DS off with Grandma, Grandpa and uncle for the week. I was
36-37ish weeks pg when we'd leave to go camping, come back when I was
37-38ish weeks (if I had gone) I also had concerns that I would be the only
one driving the whole time there, which was kind of a pain for me as I had
to put my car seat so far back that I didn't enjoy driving with big belly +
steering wheel problems ;) DH does not drive at all, and if something came
up, no one but my mom and dad can drive my car... DH, no license, neither
aunt or uncle can drive standard and my brother would not be covered under
my insurance.
Just go if you have no concerns, want a break and time to relax and spend
some time with DH and DD before there's a baby as well. Stop lots to
stretch your legs and walk around a bit, also those horrid, constant
washroom breaks are a must. Have lots of water on hand in the car and bring
some nice snacks ;) Then, go out and enjoy yourself!

Leslie

June 19th 06, 08:18 PM

I went on a nine hour trip while I was 8 months pregnant with my first.
It was for a wedding or I probably would not have, just because the
trip was uncomfortable. Before Lorelei was born, I went about three
hours away for the weekend. I think I was about 8 months then as
well--maybe more!

If you feel up to it, go for it, I say.

Leslie

Anne Rogers

June 19th 06, 08:49 PM

I suppose my concern would be that supposing you go into premature labour
(unlikely) and you are planning a scheduled c-section that you might end up
somewhere where the doctor doesn't think you should and you having to have a
vaginal birth which might be risky or whatever. Perhaps I am being paranoid,
but I could imagine this kind of thing happening in the UK, it can work in
your favour though as there was someone who had triplets vaginally having
expected a c-section because when she ended up at a different hospital there
was a consultant who was comfortable with her attempting a vaginal delivery.

Other than that, you are the only one that can know whether you would be
happy with the drive, I know I wouldn't have been, but then I had a
particularly difficult end of pregnancy.

Anne

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hello,
>
> Any experience or opinions on this? I'm considering taking a week's
> vacation when I'm 33 weeks pregnant. We were thinking of going to a
> stay at the family cottage on the beach. It's a 6 hour drive. It's
> still in the same province so there are no health insurance issues.
> There's a hospital nearby. I've had a very uneventful pregnancy and
> I'm having a scheduled cesarian (for reasons that will not affect my
> vacation). I'm nervous that I may have problems when I'm away from
> home and away from my own doctor but like I said, no problems so far
> (touch wood). But, on the other hand, I'd really like to spend some
> quality time with my DH and my 17 month old DD before the new baby
> comes. It sure would be nice to be able to float in the water when I'm
> big and hot!!!! Am I crazy to consider a 6 hour car ride with a
> toddler when I'm 33 weeks pregnant?
>
> Mandy (on the fence)
>

June 20th 06, 02:27 AM

Go and enjoy. With DD I flew 8 hours (inc. connections) at 33 weeks,
and with DS we flew 10 hours total at 32. The travel part was pretty
miserable with a toddler on a plane, but then again, I have miserable
pregnancies anyway. The trip itself was great. Relax and enjoy. As
long as your OB OKs it, there's no reason not to.

JJ

Andrea Phillips

June 20th 06, 03:20 AM

wrote:
> Am I crazy to consider a 6 hour car ride with a
> toddler when I'm 33 weeks pregnant?

I'd advise you to see what your doctor thinks about it and decide from
there. There is a significant family event going on for me at around 34
weeks, and I've been advised not to go, even though it's only about a
two or three-hour drive away (depending on traffic). The doctor felt I
was crazy for even considering it... now, I may have risk factors you
don't have, and your doctor may be totally fine with it, but I still
feel it's the one opinion you should be soliciting. :)

Anne Rogers

June 20th 06, 12:43 PM

"Andrea Phillips" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> wrote:
>> Am I crazy to consider a 6 hour car ride with a
>> toddler when I'm 33 weeks pregnant?
>
>
> I'd advise you to see what your doctor thinks about it and decide from
> there. There is a significant family event going on for me at around 34
> weeks, and I've been advised not to go, even though it's only about a
> two or three-hour drive away (depending on traffic). The doctor felt I
> was crazy for even considering it... now, I may have risk factors you
> don't have, and your doctor may be totally fine with it, but I still
> feel it's the one opinion you should be soliciting. :)
>
but on the other hand, your doctor probably hasn't ever been pregnant,
unless you've got any specific risk factors he's (if it is a he) probably
being over cautious. I have a friend who went to a similar family event
after her due date! it was her first pregnancy, she figured she would have a
long labour and thus plenty of time to get back to the planned hospital. The
trip went fine, unfortunately she had a long labour ending in a c-section a
few days later.

Anne

[email protected]

June 20th 06, 01:59 PM

wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Any experience or opinions on this? I'm considering taking a week's
> vacation when I'm 33 weeks pregnant. We were thinking of going to a
> stay at the family cottage on the beach. It's a 6 hour drive. It's
> still in the same province so there are no health insurance issues.
> There's a hospital nearby. I've had a very uneventful pregnancy and
> I'm having a scheduled cesarian (for reasons that will not affect my
> vacation). I'm nervous that I may have problems when I'm away from
> home and away from my own doctor but like I said, no problems so far
> (touch wood). But, on the other hand, I'd really like to spend some
> quality time with my DH and my 17 month old DD before the new baby
> comes. It sure would be nice to be able to float in the water when I'm
> big and hot!!!! Am I crazy to consider a 6 hour car ride with a
> toddler when I'm 33 weeks pregnant?

I went on a vacation at about the same number of weeks (I was visiting
my parents, which required a plane trip) and my doctor had no problem
with it. He said that assuming I continued my normal activity levels
the trip itself didn't pose any heath danger. He did point out that if
I happened to go into premature labor (not because of the trip, but
because it just happened to happen) one downside would be that the baby
would probably have to be in a hospital for a significant period of
time, and it might be problematic to have that hospital be so far away
from my home. Since you're visiting a family cottage and it's only 6
hours by car from your home this might not be a big deal for you.
Anyway, I had no issues at all and really enjoyed the trip.

I also went on a somewhat shorter trip by car at something like 37
weeks (about 3 or 4 hours) and had no problems with that trip either.
The 6 hours in a car with a toddler is probably the scariest thing
you've said from my POV! :-)

Beth

[email protected]

June 20th 06, 02:01 PM

Andrea Phillips wrote:
> wrote:
> > Am I crazy to consider a 6 hour car ride with a
> > toddler when I'm 33 weeks pregnant?
>
>
> I'd advise you to see what your doctor thinks about it and decide from
> there. There is a significant family event going on for me at around 34
> weeks, and I've been advised not to go, even though it's only about a
> two or three-hour drive away (depending on traffic). The doctor felt I
> was crazy for even considering it... now, I may have risk factors you
> don't have, and your doctor may be totally fine with it, but I still
> feel it's the one opinion you should be soliciting. :)

What was your doctor's concern? Because, as I said in another post, I
went on quite a number of trips during the latter half of my pregnancy
and my doctor had no issues with it as long as my health was good.

Beth

[email protected]

June 20th 06, 06:11 PM

Well, it sound pretty unanimous in favour of me taking a vacation! I
spoke to the doctor this morning and he has no issues with it. He did
mention that the closest hospital to my destination was a community
hospital and that if anything really major went wrong, they'd have to
airlift me to a largest hospital but even that didn't concern him.

Thanks for everyone for giving me the extra confidence!!!!!

wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Any experience or opinions on this?

Andrea Phillips

June 20th 06, 09:58 PM

Anne Rogers wrote:

> but on the other hand, your doctor probably hasn't ever been pregnant,
> unless you've got any specific risk factors he's (if it is a he) probably
> being over cautious. I have a friend who went to a similar family event
> after her due date! it was her first pregnancy, she figured she would have a
> long labour and thus plenty of time to get back to the planned hospital. The
> trip went fine, unfortunately she had a long labour ending in a c-section a
> few days later.

Actually, she has been pregnant, and more than once, at that. :)

As for my risk factors: in my case, I've got a lot of well-controlled
complications that yet need an eye kept on them. Asthma, borderline GD
(or, well, borderline/undiagnosed GD last time that led to a big baby,
hyperextended uterus and resultant difficult-to-control bleeding, and
neonatal hypoglycemia), topped with family history of precipitous labor
and hemorrhage. (I swear I'm perfectly healthy when I'm not pregnant!)

It's not that it's so very likely I'd have an emergency; it would
probably be just fine. It's just that in the unlikely chance I did have
a problem, it would be much, much better if someone who has my medical
history written down is around for it. And I mean, it's not so likely I
and the baby would both die a horrible death if I ate sushi topped with
brie for dinner every single night, but I don't do that either. :)

For the original poster, if she has a C-section planned this far in
advance, that indicates to me a situation to be managed that I, at
least, would want my doctor's OK on. (And if you don't trust your
doctor to give you an honest and truthful assessment, maybe reconsider
your choice of doctor!) You have to do what you're comfortable with,
though, and I'm glad for her that her doctor says it's OK. :)