Thursday, November 15, 2007
China in May???
I had been planning to teach an early childhood course in Beijing from May 6-22, 2008. At first when I found out I was pg I thought I'd still do it because I wouldn't be at the stage where some airlines don't allow you to fly (for fear you'll go into labor), but now we are rethinking if this is a wise thing to do or not. Phil, the director, is one of those raising concerns so I know he won't be upset at me if I need to back out of my plans. Any thoughts?
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4 comments:
My "thing" whenever PG was I'm pregnant NOT handicapped. With that said........Beijing is a LONG way from home and I know I personally would not feel comfortable being that far away while pg. Consider this a warm up for the many many decisions you have to look forward to for baby kennedy.
It probably will depend how the pgcy goes. I for one, felt great in May (remember our pgcies are over the exact same time frames, just one year apart), but I didn't have any bp issues, GD, cervix issues, or even any sciatica or anything like that. I would have been fine with a trip to China at that stage. BUT that's not to say everyone should go. It depends how you do. Do you have to make that decision now?
I would say "don't mess with it". I am thiking how hard it has been to get to this point and I would not want to take chances. Also, going to China requires long flights - I assure you that it's not fun to sit in an overcrowded plane when your belly is getting big, your legs are swollen and you need to get up and pee every hour. I flew to Italy when I was 4.5 month pg (with twins) and I was quite miserable. Said that, if you can wait to make the decision, as Joanna said, you can see how the pgcy is going. supposedly the lowest risk for air travel in is the second trimester and I think you would be already in the third trimester...
I definitely would not plan on going to China in the 3rd trimester. This advice is coming from someone who went against my doctor's advice and flew internationally (when pg with Susie) when I was a few days shy of 8 months pg. I went ahead and traveled partly because my pgcy was so "normal" and "easy." I researched my chosen airline's policy and it said "We recommend that a pg woman not travel within 2 weeks of her due date." That's a pretty lax policy, which fed my confidence that it was okay. But I regretted it afterward for various reasons, and it was only a trip between Canada and the US. China would have been a MUCH bigger deal. The MAIN reason I would never travel far away from home during the 3rd trimester again is because no matter how normally your pregnancy is progressing, things can suddenly change (as I learned in my pgcy with Adam) and in the third trimester, this can mean early labor and can even mean you end up having the baby over there. In this scenario, the baby would be "stuck" in the NICU there and could not leave China for MONTHS. [For example, when I went into labor early with Adam I was told he would probably be in the NICU for three full months.] If in your shoes, I would worry about the quality of medical care in China and the possibility that my husband would have to drop everything and fly to China to be with me/the baby, for weeks/months on end. I remember when I made the decision to travel when pg with Susie, the doctor asked me to consider this: Are you comfortable with the idea that you might end up "stuck" in a hospital in Maryland (where I was traveling to) if you unexpectedly go into labor early? Also, I remember she said "Well at least you would be flying over North America, not an ocean, so if you needed an emergency landing, you could get to a hospital quickly (which is MORE important, for baby's sake, in the case of preterm labor than full-term labor)." The same (not flying over an ocean) obviously couldn't be said of a flight to China. Having said all that, many women think the risk is small enough, that they fly in the 3rd trimester anyway, and of course I hope none of these "risks" comes to reality in your experience... hopefully you'll have a normal, healthy, full-term pgcy! But I'm just saying that I wouldn't take the risk (let alone deal with that big of a trip while so uncomfortable and so EXHAUSTED during 3rd trimester). Just my two cents! ~Wendy
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