Travelling Pregnant

[backpackingnewbie]

I've been travelling for about 6 months. The first 4 months were with my partner. Now I've left him behind to work and joined my friends in Asia and I found out I was pregnant in Burma about 4 weeks ago. I'm now 10 wks and I'm in Vietnam. I went back to the UK for a week but was unable to get a mw appointment, but saw my GP. I'm booking in for my 12 wk scan in Bangkok. I feel fine apart from mild nausea and constant tiredness. I stopped taking my malaria pills. I've stopped smoking. Luckily, my travel buddies are lightweights so drinking was not an issue anyway.

I'm happy about the pregnancy. So is my partner. We're getting married as soon as we're back in the UK. Physically, I feel fine. I'm freaking out on the inside, though. I don't want to stop travelling. I have a month left. I'm being careful and have adjusted my plans to make sure I'm taking as few risks as possible. I just feel so alone. And scared and have no-one to talk to about how I feel. My whole life has changed all at once and I'm thousands of miles away from home. I guess I just want someone to tell me it'll be ok. I'll be having my scan alone and I'm worried sick...

Congratulations! I'm 39 weeks with my first baby. So is your partner back home now and you always planned that you would go on to do another month or so travelling? Are you planning on going home in 4 weeks?
Can a friend go with you to the scan in Bangkok? Concentrate on the positives that you feel and are doing well. You could have had awful morning sickness..

Also, you can always change your mind and go home if you want to. It's really normal to feel vulnerable and worry how the scan will go but try not to get stressed, it will no doubt be a wonderful experience. What is worrying you the most?

For the sake of a month you will be fine, I used to live overseas and came back at 16 weeks (I was in Africa) and I was just having the normal mw/doctors appointments there at a private clinic. Had my booking in appointment late but the only difference was that the scans were awful quality pictures! I got a 4D scan to make up for having to go to my earlier ones alone. Make sure you keep your receipts because your travel insurance may cover you, mine did.

It's very tough being so far away but you only have a month left and if you feel physically well and there are no underlying health concerns you should be alright. Make sure you sleep under a net if you're not taking your anti-malarials but I didn't take any after I moved permanently, had malaria once (but with the right treatment it is not the big deal it would be for someone who is at higher risk e.g. a child) though I lived in a low-risk area so I didn't have a bed net.

Hope this helps and if you want to chat about it feel free to PM me, I was in exactly the same position before Christmas :)

My partner is working in NZ for another two months. I'll join him there next month, then we will go back to UK in June. We had planned to stay in NZ for at least a year, but the bump has changed plans.

My friends are going to Cambodia and it's a malaria risk where they are visiting, so I was going to take it easy until the scan and go back to Thailand. I'm really grateful that I don't feel bad. I'm also a little worried that that is unusual. I've heard so many horror stories. This is my first pregnancy and I don't know how I should be feeling. I don't feel much different, but I'm worried I'm about doing something/anything wrong.

Thank you for helping to put my mind at rest, ladies. I'm just trying to get my head around it all. It was a total shock. I'm just waiting to get past the 1st trimester.

Hey backpackingnewbie - just to help put your mind at rest, I'm about 10 weeks too and have had my scan and seen a heartbeat and the baby but have had no symptoms aside from being starving at about 6-7 weeks. Two of my friends who are pregnant at the min are the same so I think it's more common than I realised.

Enjoy it! You'll not know this kind of freedom again for a long time so make the most of the next 4 weeks. The medical care available in the likes of Bangkok is excellent should you require it - though I'm sure you won't. As a previous poster said you can go home any time you like so take it day by day & put no pressure on yourself to stay.

This is an amazing time in your life so relax and enjoy it.

Congratulations!!

This may sound really silly, but I thought I was 11 weeks. I just used another pregnancy due date calculator and it says I'm 13 weeks. I'm booked in for my first scan on 15th, so I'll be 15 weeks at that point that a problem?

It's not a problem as long as you don't want nuchal tests done (which give you a risk factor for Down's syndrome).

That depends on how you view pregnancy. Do you think it's 11 weeks since you conceived? Medically they count your pregnancy from your last period (so technically you're 'pregnant' for about a fortnight before you actually conceive if that makes sense?!). I agree the only real factor would be the nuchal tests - it's worth contacting them to see if they need to/could do it a bit sooner.

I think it's 11 weeks since conception. I was counting from ovulation, not my last period. It's 13 since my last period. The problem is my scan is booked in Bangkok and I'm still in Vietnam. I'll go straight to the hospital and see if I can be seen before the scan date. In case I can't is it too late to do the nuchal test at 14+1? I think that's what I'll be on the date of the scan. I'm freaking out a bit. I'm 31 so I don't think the risk of Downs is massive. I also don't know if I even want it done. I hadn't thought about it...

I think the NT test is usually done between 11 and 13 weeks. You're right though, you're low risk if you're under 35 and don't have a family history of Downs. The NHS only started routinely offering it to Mums under 35 a couple of years ago where we live.
Congratulations!

I had my NT at 14+0 (official dates rather than post conception) -
my first scan they couldn't do it due to baby's position and they got it ok.