Booking a holiday when ttc...would you?

[whiterose2011]

Just that really! We have been talking about summer holidays and I keep thinking 'maybe we shouldn't book anything just in case I am pg by then'.

So I'm wondering if anyone else just continued as normal or was more careful about making plans for holidays, trips, events, weddings etc? If I'm not pg I would like something to look forward to but also don't want to lose money if we have to cancel.

Do insurance policies cover you for cancellation due to being pg if you can't fly? I'm not even sure when the latest you can fly is but I'm thinking that long haul would not be fun when heavily pg!! Xx

[Happilymarried155]

Hi,
I would carry on as normal, we have been ttc for 2 years now and would have missed out on of fun if we hasn't have gone on holiday etc...
I am unsure about the insurance policies and how late you can fly depends on your health during pregnancy and different flight companies.
Good luck!

[JollyToddles]

We booked a UK holiday this year. Partly because of ttc and partly because we went abroad last year and although it was good I genuinely need at least a couple of years to recover.

[HavingALittleFaithBaby]

We had put our lives on hold but it took 2 1/2 years for us to conceive. We had a foreign holiday in that time but we had the week booked off work and booked to go abroad at the last minute. I'm not sure about insurance cover but you can fly until 36 weeks in most cases. Personally though, I'm 25 weeks now and wouldn't fancy being stuck on a plane for too long!

[QTPie]

Hi

We do long haul trips (normally USA), cruises (you cannot cruise after 6 months pregnant) and ski holidays. We have one DS (conceived after a year of trying) and are approaching a year of TTC DC2. We fly to LA (family) this coming Satirday and on to Colorado (skiing) a week afterwards. AF due this Saturday (lovely timing!), so actual skiing is in the balance, but I am not optimistic about being pregnant right now (we start ICSI as soon as we get back from holiday).

I would go for it. We have always booked things being mindful of the timescales (booking skiing late and booking cruises within the "24 weeks").

Get travel insurance WHEN you book (so you are covered straight away), but be mindful that you will/should be covered for medical need to cancel or because a flight/cruise won't accept you because of your stage in pregnancy (although check individual insurance policy for details), but not just because "you don't feel like going because you are pregnant".

I flew to LA, then on to Alaska (for a cruise down to Vancouver) when I was 12 weeks pregnant with DS. Everything fine and a very enjoyable holiday. We just altered the actual activities that we did to take pregnancy into account.

QT

[AThingInYourLife]

Rule 1 of TTC: you're not pregnant until you're pregnant OR don't put your life on hold

Being pregnant will be a big consolation should you have to cancel.

Missing out on all the things you could have been doing while still not pregnant is shit.

[EuroShagmore]

I agree with the advice not to put your life on hold. We've been trying for over 2 years now and been on some wonderful holidays in that time. We tend to book last minute-ish (maybe 6-8 weeks ahead) anyway, as it makes it easier with our jobs (we're both lawyers and can usually predict forthcoming trial dates, which the courts won't move for someone's holiday, at that point). It also makes it easier to predict my periods at that point, and as I am in to scuba, I prefer not to be in a state where I might attract sharks when in the water....

The only concession we have made to ttc is avoiding malarial zones, as some of the anti-malarials are not compatible with ttc (some are supposed to be ok at certain stages of pregnancy, but the advice I got was to avoid them if you could).

You can fly until quite late into pregnancy (it differs between airlines), but if you are worried, see what the limit is with the airline you are thinking of booking with, and book so that even if you got pregnant asap you would still be under the limit for the return journey.

[moggle]

Don't put your life on hold while TTC, please! I did for the first 6 months and it made me focus so much on TTC it was really depressing and sad when it wasn't happening and I had no fun stuff to look forward to. Also had a really boring year of UK holidays, sorry I love the UK but it was crap not going abroad. This year we're planning trips skiing, to Egypt and hopefully a long holiday to South America too. We wouldn't book anything more than say 6 or 7 months in advance.

The only reason I wouldn't book it is if you are eg going to Everest base camp or some other really active holiday... or to India and are the kind of person who is going to really really worry about food poisoning etc... or some other holiday of that type that is really going to be impossible / ruined by being pregnant. For most holidays if you're going to be pregnant it isn't really a big deal is it? Just a little harder to roll off the sun lounger ;-)

off topic... I am going skiing in 2 weeks and my AF is due that day .. have little hope after 13m of trying but if I do get a BFP I'll still be skiing after doing a little research on it.

[moggle]

Oh I also meant to add - I did some research and travel insurance takes into account pregnancy fine as long as you are complying with airline's rules on flying etc. That is if you find out you're pregnant after buying the policy but before the trip. If you're pregnant when you're buying the insurance I would probably give them a call first.

[QTPie]

Yes, I would ski in (very) early pregnancy too, but I get bad foot/calf muscle cramps in the extreme cold (made even worse by rigid ski boots) so take Quinine Sulphate to keep the cramps away. Quinine Sulphate is not considered at all good during pregnancy (even early pregnancy).

QT

[whiterose2011]

Thanks for all your comments. I think I knew the answer to my own question really, but it has been helpful to hear it from others! We are big fans of holidays so I am going to do something positive and start researching our next location!

We had a mc last Sept after getting pg in my first month of ttc so it feels a bit like all our plans are out of kilter. I had been expecting to use all my hols to extend my ML, not for actual hols this year.

Good luck to us all for a BFP.