flying in the first trimester?

[amychris03]

Hi! I will be flying across country to be a bridesmaid
in a wedding when I am 8 weeks pregnant. I have read
that it is generally ok to travel in the first trimester, with
the biggest issue being the nausea. Anyone have any
stories/advice for me? I am going to book a flight with a
connection to break it up a little. Thanks! :)

[wildcat]

It's totally fine:). Once you get to around 36 weeks, that's when it's off limits. I flew twice in my second trimester without any problems at all (other than getting a bigger belly and reaching under the seat in front of me was getting more difficult!).

[jennylou]

I flew at almost 14 weeks and then again 10 days later. My biggest piece of advice is to sit in an aisle seat. You may have to get up more than you usually would on a plane. :)

[tgray99]

I flew at 9 weeks and again at 34 weeks. Had no problems either time!

[albuquerque]

I flew from Athens, Greece to NYC at 4 weeks, returned at 6.5 weeks, then from Athens to London at about 14 weeks, returning a few days later. No problems. I wasn't any more nauseous on the planes than I was in general. Just try to get a comfortable seat. Both trips I was unlucky, I was center seat for all four flights (really not fun for the 11hr Athens-NYC and return) and not visibly enough pregnant to get the sympathy factor. It is important to either get aisle so you can get up easily, or else at least window to make sleeping easier! And take a big bottle of water with you. I always get dehydrated on planes and this was even worse when pg.

[leftrightrepeat]

I travel a lot for work, and was flying almost weekly when I was 6-12 weeks pregnant. Definitely pack snacks to help with the nausea, try to grab an asiel seat so you have quicker access to the bathroom, and make sure you check the seatback in front of you for a barf bag - if you hit turbulence, you may need it! Good luck! :)

[mamax2]

It's totally safe, but you should plan to get up and walk at least once every hour (you'll probably have to go to the bathroom that often anyway :p ) If it's not possible for you to walk the aisle, make sure you do some simple leg stretches, rotating your ankles, etc. as pg. women are slightly more prone to blood clots. That's not said to freak you out - I've flown without issue (transatlantically) during both of my pregnancies.

[NicoleWisconsin]

I also flew during my pregnancy. I chose not to go through the metal detector and have a pat down instead, but they say it is perfectly safe. I just chose to err on the side of caution.

[kat]

I haven't actually done it yet (obviously), but I'm planning on going to Ireland in early August and my doctor has said that's fine. We may decide to cancel if I continue to feel crappy, but I just wanted to let you know that my doctor said there were no medical restrictions (I was concerned that it'd be "different" for a multiple pregnancy, but apparently not).

[lml41981]

make sure you check the seatback in front of you for a barf bag - if you hit turbulence, you may need it!
If you are one of the ones who has a hard time with m/s, I'd suggest taking your own barf bags. The ones provided by the plane are awfully small and if you get sick more than once, it might not contain it all.

I've got dogs, so we keep poo bags that we buy at Petsmart in the house to clean up the backyard with. They come in convenient little rolls. I keep a roll in each car and a roll in my handbag so that I have barf bags with me at all times. They are much bigger than the airplane bags and you can hold them to your mouth a bit better to prevent spilling (gosh, I never thought I'd be discussing the merits of barf bags :rolleyes: ). The only downside is that you can kinda see through them (ours are transparent blue), so you would probably want to take a grocery bag to hide them in as you take it to the lavatory to trash.

[LexyLou]

I flew 6 times while pregnant..twice internationally. No problems at all in fact 1st trimester was the easiest since my body hadn't changed much.

[jengen]

I flew three times in the first trimester. My dr said as try to get an aisle seat and move around a bit if you can each hour (one of my flights was cross-country). Aisle seats also help with all the bathroom trips! :) She also said drink plenty of water (doesn't help with bathroom issue!) and it was fine. I was told Dramamine non-drowsy is ok to take, but check with your dr. I took plenty of snacks with me as they don't give you much of anything any more. Good luck! :)

[amychris03]

Thanks ladies :) I figured it wouldnt be that big of a deal, but I
just wanted to make sure! Now If I only knew what to do about
getting the bridesmaids dress altered ;)

[abbylynn]

I'll be the lone dissenter. I was supposed to fly in my first trimester to go to my BILs wedding and my ILs 30th anniversary party. However, I woke up the morning we were supposed to leave and I was just too nauseated to go through with it so DH went alone. I had horrible visions of being trapped on the plane while they served snacks and the whole weekend was an eating weekend and that just wouldn't have gone over well for me at the time (I couldn't even open the pantry or go food shopping without feeling sick to my stomach).

[cr8zyforaf]

I flew around 10 weeks and I was so sick - it was the worst 4.5 hours of my life. Thank god I had an aisle seat because I had to get up every 20-30 minutes. It was awful...but I knew it was going to be - we purchased the tickets way before I got pregnant and I couldn't back out - I was taking DH grandmother to see her new twin great grandsons. Let me tell you, traveling with morning sickness and an 80 year old lady is pure he11.