Skiing in early pregnancy- Would you? Have you?

[jemimafuddleduck]

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

This is all a bit hypothetical really as who knows what will happen in the future etc but I’m looking for opinions on this...

We are planning to TTC our first baby around end of October 2018. We are also committed to a ski holiday over Christmas 2018. IF I got pregnant on the first go (unlikely, I know), I’m guessing I’d be around 8 weeks pregnant, maximum.

I’m a fairly experienced skier, but like to ski at a leisurely pace and wouldn’t be racing around/doing jumps/off piste etc. I rarely fall (but sometimes do!)

I appreciate you can never foresee accidents - other people skiing into you etc...

WIBU to still ski? At that stage, would my risks be ridiculously high if I were to fall? Or would it be negligible?

Sorry if anyone thinks I’m crazy here but looking for honest opinions/experiences.

Yep, skied early doors and mid pregnancy with DC1 - second time round I stuck to horses. No harm done, but I know plenty of people would have been quite nervous and wouldn’t have done either.

No one else can help you with this one really as it’s a question of risk appetite.

OP, you have no control over when / if you may get pregnant. In your shoes, I think I would start TTC now, keep the October trip in the diary and perhaps book a last minute ski holiday for 2018 / 19

Yes, it would be frustrating to pay for trips you might not be able to take, but you would miss the trips for positive reasons and might only lose your deposit. Or might be able to postpone the trip instead of cancelling completely? I think it would be worse to miss out on all these exciting fun trips and then not be pregnant anyway

Sorry I have haven't rtft. I went skiing at about 8w last time and had a MC - the two are entirely unrelated (it was a MMC do growth had definitively stopped before skiing I just didn't know). I think it would be very unlikely for a normal level fall (the kind you walk away from) to do damage - and not more than you're at risk of eg crossing the road or taking an escalator.

I think this is particularly true as you're not even pg yet. I would say start trying and don't wait for the perfect time. It took 3 years to have my first, another year to get Pg again only to MC... That's a lot of time to put your life on hold. Everything has risks. At least with a home pg test you can know if you can apes or not!

I’ve been snowboarding while pregnant, I opted out of buying lift passes and taking part and when I got there, the paths and walkways on the resorts are so treacherous anyway that I may as well have snowboarded! Do what you want. The baby is so tiny and safe in there, it’s more physical stress or toxins that would harm them at that stage, or emotional stress.

If you don’t mind me asking, where are you going? I go to Morzine and thoroughly enjoyed mooching around, taking the lifts to places and drinking loads of hot chocs.

The October trip is a difficult one. Ive been lucky enough to fall pregnant at the drop of a hat and ive got 3 friends/ family members who got pregnant despite using condoms but the large proportion of my friends struggled to get pregnant and miscarriages are very common. We are all people leaving it til our 30s but so many people then lose more time because it takes that much longer and requires IVF.

Youve also got to think about dc2. I had ds1 at 31 (ok, nearly 32) then ds2 3.5 years later. Couldnt have faced a much shorter gap. Secondary infertility is a blight on a dear friends life and several other friends reluctantly settled for one child and considered themselves lucky to have managed that.

In short i reckon you start trying. And if you get pregnant then quit the trip and if you dont you can enjoy it as planned. Sods law might mean you get pregnant right away!!

I’d be more worried about the nausea and absolute exhaustion at that point! Make sure your schedule has plenty of space for naps, and bear in mind you might not be feeling at your fittest. Good luck! Be sure to visit the Conception board at some point, as the mumsnetters over there kept me sane.

Depends how desperate you are to have children really. If you’re in the “if it happens it happens” camp, wait til after Christmas.

Enjoy October event. Enjoy skiing and apres ski! Use the time to get healthy, take vitamins, get off hormonal contraceptives and get to know your cycle.

Hope for a September (or later) baby with the educational advantage that brings.

If you would feel major loss if you can’t have children, then ditch the events and TTC. FWIW I have been perimenopausal since age 34 - it’s not that unusual. So very many people leave it later because as a population we’re all so healthy in our 30s but your fertility is already in decline and will take a nose dive after 35. Lengthy TTC sends many of us a bit loopy and carries a stress like no other.

Good luck OP

Would it be an option to start trying for a baby whilst you on your skiing holiday so you can be a bit much re chilled out about it ?

I am also a very keen skier and we started ttc in Jan knowing we had ski trips booked in both Jan and March. Got pregnant immediately so in my first pregnancy I skied at about 5 weeks and then at 8 weeks. I took it easy and kept to pistes and avoided blacks etc but had an absolutely fab time. I was lucky not to suffer any nausea or morning sickness though.

Second pregnancy was the same, tried in Jan and got pregnant immediately. Went skiing in March, sadly this time the pregnancy didn’t continue. Nothing skiing related at all, but I did find out that I’d had a missed miscarriage whilst out there. I’d had a tiny amount of spotting at 11 weeks (2nd from last day) and the UK midwives I spoke to told me I had I be seen immediately. I spent a day waiting around at a French hospital, eventually got a scan and was told the baby hadn’t developed past 5 weeks. It wasn’t a great experience, but I guess it’s always going to be awful finding out that you’ve lost a baby.

That has tainted my view of going away in the first 12 weeks. Not because I think that skiing is a particularly high risk to your baby (as someone else has said you’d need to smash your pelvis to do any damage to them) but because the risk of miscarriage is high in the first 12 weeks and dealing with it whilst away just adds an extra level or pain and trauma to a very difficult experience.

Then again you really can’t put your life on hold in case you get pregnant. It took me another 5 months to conceive again and it taught me that you really shouldn’t stop doing or planning things you want to do because you might get pregnant. It may also take ages! Overall I’d say go for it, just make sure you have decent travel insurance before you start ttc so if you do have to cancel you can get your money back.

Also don’t think that it’s not possible to ski once you have a baby, with the help of my parents we have skied every year since my DD was born.

I went skiing at around 11.5 weeks pregnant - the midwife said the baby was so well protected it wouldn't be a risk to the baby, just to be careful of injuring myself because the body is more elastic when pregnant so more risk of dislocations.

I miscarried while out there but I genuinely don't think this was to do with skiing - it just happens. I used my other child's nappies to contain things and carried on skiing the day after the main event. It was - obviously - upsetting, but I think I would have felt worse if I had been at home. I probably would have seen a health professional of some sort and there would have been more fuss.

How old is OP?

If you’re 24 then I’d say postpone the TTC and enjoy yourself for a bit ...... but if you’re 35 I’d say get on with TTC.

Also depends whether you really really want kids or are flexible either way.

I took over a year to get pregnant (mid 30s) so glad I didn’t postpone.

Hi OP

I've skied in early pregnancy (didn't actually know I was pregnant til end of first trimester!)

Would've been around 9 weeks or so, did all the usual ski stuff and après drinking (tho not crazy amounts) but I remember feeling v tired.
(Baby was born completely healthy at 39 weeks.)

But that usually happens to me when skiing all day!

I think if you're feeling ok and up for it, just do it tho take it easy.

There is an increased risk of miscarriage in the first trimester but I am of the opinion that there's not a great deal you can do about it.

I had a missed miscarriage last year, found out at dating scan, stopped drinking the minute I found at at around 6 weeks, took it v easy etc but still it all went wrong.

I dont think its always obvious how much you want dc until you start trying and then fail.. previously unbothered 'take it or leave it' types get obsessed once they start TTC unsuccessfully

The thing with skiing is that it's not just how well you ski but the others around you.

I lost control as a learner and took out a whole other class of learners actually I took out one and then there was a domino effect. thankfully they were all ok.

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious why not just leave TTC for a month?

I really did miss out on a holiday in early pregnancy with DD1. I was too sick to go and I conceived first month so it really does happen.

I dont think its always obvious how much you want dc until you start trying and then fail.. previously unbothered 'take it or leave it' types get obsessed once they start TTC unsuccessfully

Yes, I think this is really true. When we started trying we were 'going to see what happens' and I had visions of myself as this super chill pregnant lady who I'm sure would have skiied with abandon. It took about five or six months of not conceiving before I started going mad and obsessing over ovulation kits, etc., and I'm currently going mad with anxiety over every little thing in this pregnancy. Miscarriage, in particular, really changed everything - we'd always just assumed that we'd have kids eventually and it was only after the third one, when we started seriously thinking 'but what if this never works' that we realised what it meant to us.

Not skiing but I climbed with DD until about 6 months when it became tricky due to the bump. I just did far easier routes and took it easier (not that I've ever been brilliant!) - it was something I enjoyed and DH understood that I wouldn't take any unnecessary risks.

The baby should be fine, but I'd worry you could miscarry for an unrelated reason and then blame yourself.

Are there other things you can do on this sort of holiday? Could you just think of it as, if you're lucky enough to get pregnant in the first two months, you won't ski?

I'm thinking of booking a holiday in September knowing that if I get pregnant in the next couple of months I'll have to cancel, but after trying for 7 months I'd happily lose my deposit for that reason!

Sorry just seen about the whole thing being very physical. Please don't cancel your October trip, as PP have said you'll feel shit if you aren't pregnant by then. Go to October trip and cancel December, or go in December and start TTC then. If you end up itching to book another trip in April, book something where you can ski if not pregnant but have somewhere nice to take it easy if you are.

I had a ‘missed ‘ miscarriage in France on a ski trip as only found out I was pregnant a few weeks before. I had fallen prior but the doctors said it would never have caused the problem as baby so protected at that point.

The French hospital were amazing although it was very sad to think there were problems and we went home early. The foetus never grew and I ended up with a surgery.

But all of this was just coincidence and bad luck. I now have 2 extremely healthy children who ski black runs with ease! ( better than their mother). Many people ski quite successfully in their first trimester. At the time as I was a first timer with no kids I blamed myself of course and was devastated to lose my pregnancy. Until I realised that approx 1 in 3 pregnancies end in miscarriage. However this could have happened on ski holiday or at home regardless. I would probably have one last ski fling and then try because it will be some years before you take yourselves and your kids skiing so make it a good one without any worry where you can fully participate in Apres. Or if desperate to try for baby then you can always do other exercise walking / hiking / swimming etc when there.

Skied twice in early pregnancy (4-5 weeks), once unknown and one known. Both trips were booked prior to TTC, so I just carried on. I think if you are pregnant, then you can make the decision then. I would definitely second all the opinions on not putting life on hold whilst you TTC as it can take a long time.

I horse ride through pregnancy and even fell off once. No problems whatsoever although I took it easier

I’ve skied in both my pregnancies at 20 weeks and 4. First time around I still had a flat stomach but “popped” during the week. Ski trousers are designed to be high waisted and corset shaped at the top so fininding some to fit was an effort as I was “thick waisted” by then. I skied in the mornings only and retired after lunch with a book for a nap. It was very nice. Medical staff were entirely unconcerned.
4 weeks the second time around but hardly skier as we had a toddler we wanted to muck around with, two snow days and two injured friends.
If you are fit and well there’s no reason not to though I’d avoid a busy holiday school half term resort break.

One thing which is that I conceived at the end of October and have a late July baby. A large proportion of the school class are almost a year older and that’s an obvious disadvantage. If you decide to wait until October, I’d wait until December personally.