2nd Trimester holidays

[caoraich]

I'm currently 8 weeks with baby no 1 and feeling pretty grim as have HG. However anti-emetics have helped and am hoping I'll feel a little better once I'm out of the 1st trimester.

DP has suggested going on a holiday somewhere warm and nice during the 2nd trimester so ideally May/June time. We are normally quite big travellers and go fairly adventurous places but this time we reckon we should stick to Europe, somewhere with good tertiary medical care just in case.

Any suggestions / previous lovely holidays? We have been to various canary islands (family there) so probably not there. We'd book fairly last-minute once we're sure I'm feeling up to it.

Would love some inspiration to cheer me up!!

I was just going to say that without meaning to sound all doom and gloom, I was really ill with HG like, too unwell for work until I was about 18 weeks and I think only say the last couple of weeks I could have faced travel as that's a sickness trigger for me - I'm 25 weeks now and almost completely better apart from nausea in the mornings and occasional morning vomiting. Some women even have it really bad all the way through pregnancy. So I would just be careful booking as you say until you actually feel better as even if with travel insurance I guess it wouldn't cover cancellation for a condition that you knew you had when you booked.

DH and I are going to Ireland when I'm 28 weeks. Not very adventurous but feels 'safe' as it's so close, and neither of us have been before. But then cost was a big factor for us so that was also part of the reason, we got very cheap flights and hotel and are only going for a few nights. Maybe France, Spain or Germany? All quite close. I used to live in Lyon, it's a great city, would definitely recommend!

I hope you start to feel better soon and I hope you manage to get away!

Thanks! Yes I agree you're right about booking late, we're definitely going to wait until I feel better and then try and book something for a fortnight's time. We're lucky with annual leave being quite flexible just now.

Enjoy Ireland- where are you going? It's a fab country, but not much of a hol for us as OH is Irish I've never been to Lyon, it looks so pretty!

Nice is lovely and easy to get too... don't know if it would be too hot that time of year?

I liked Barcelona and Nice for being warm, having a beach but also the benefits of a city. I'd hazard a guess both have hospitals nearby.

Hope the HG eases up for you soon, it's really rough!

Last year my partner and I had a lovely time in Crete (where I conceived!) so would really recommend that as an option. We went in late June/early July and it was quite hot so earlier might be a little better when being pregnant. The locals were really nice, food was great (and since feta cheese is fine to eat during pregnancy the Greek salads are to die for out there!) and there's plenty of choice to do either cultural/historical things or just find a really nice hotel with a pool or a lovely beach nearby and bliss out. We hired a car and did a bit of a criss-cross across the island (the roads were safe, pretty empty and relatively easy to navigate), we enjoyed Chania quite a lot as it had a good mix of everything - but there are other prettier bits with nicer beaches if that's more what you're looking for.

Or... if you're feeling better and fancy something a bit more adventurous, during my second trimester (22-25 weeks) in December we went to South Africa and it was amazing. Cape Town is really fantastic, very cosmopolitan, felt like any European city (tap water is safe to drink, food is absolutely brilliant, never felt scared or threatened even when out after dark). You don't need to have any injections/anti malarials for South Africa that aren't pregnancy suitable as long as you don't go to Kruger national park for the safari (it's a malarious area). There's no Zika which is a big deal because we originally had Thailand booked then had to cancel when we found out I was pregnant as it's a Zika area! We did a guided tour around the Western cape and the garden route and it was a once in a lifetime trip that felt very special since we're not going to be doing many more for a while after baby comes! There's loads to see and do down there and everyone speaks English so it's nice and easy particularly if you have a medical emergency (just make sure you have good insurance!). There's beautiful beaches and tonnes of culture to see. And the temperature is similar to Mediterranean, so not too hot, not too cold (although May/June would be their winter so worth checking first!)

Hope you manage to get away somewhere and have a lovely time, I'm already desperately trying to figure out ways to go on adventurous holidays with a baby in tow

cao We are going to Dublin! Any recommendations for things to visit? I want to visit the gaol and neither of us like beer so we aren't gonna do the Guinness tour. Anything else interesting we are up for, we're both quite nerdy and enjoy museums and stuff. And food although we are both vegetarian.

Another suggestion not far away that tends to have nice weather is Montpellier. Lovely beaches and lots of touristy stuff to do there as well. I've been twice in June & July and both times it was pretty hot. Lovely beaches.

Fab suggestsions everyone! Hadn't thought of Nice, I was there years ago for a conference and never really got to see the place so might be a good opportunity this time

meadow it's fab! The Guinness tour is very touristy anyway, as is Temple Bar - I'd avoid especially if you're not drinking.
Something we did do recently was the viking splash tour. OH had seen them driving about for years and always wondered what it was about and we had such a fun time. They're amphibious vehicles and you get a city tour on the road and then along the canal. It's safe in pregnancy, not very bouncy at all. The chat is hilarious - it's meant to be all about Ireland's viking history but is more like a moving comedy show.

I also always go and see the book of kells. It's beautiful and the trinity library leading to it is amazing. Fairly inexpensive too.

I'm veggie as well and never have any issues eating in dublin, usually lots of options. If you like Japanese food there's Yamamori Sushi which does lots of veggie sushis and an amazing veggie bento box. You'll have a fab time, it's a really friendly city and easy to get around. The LUAS (tram system) is really handy if you're going a bit further out.

@Anothercliche

I was reading this thread thinking about nice holidays when I saw your comment on Zika. It sent me rushing to google as I was in Myanmar in November (before I was pregnant). I hadn't even given it a second thought until now. I'm only 5 weeks now so I have been home a good two months without symptoms before getting pregnant.

Sh!T another thing to worry about. Does anyone know any more than I do? Should I be telling my Doctor now?

Sorry to hijack an otherwise cheerful holiday thread - I agree on both Capetown and Nice - both lovely cities with a nice relaxed vibe.

I think you call your gp and they do a blood test for zika. Or if you're in London there's a tropical diseases centre.

This is based on another thread I read not personal knowledge tho.

@Rideforthehills

My understanding is the risk is very low - think how many women there are getting pregnant in Zika countries without contracting Zika - and that even if you do happen to have caught Zika it absolutely doesn't mean there will definitely be something wrong with your baby. I believe the advice is to go to your GP and get a blood test done for Zika, and don't have sex with your partner for 6 months after leaving the Zika country in case he has it and passes it to you while you're pregnant. But right now just breathe, try not to worry (difficult I know!) and go to your GP, explain the situation and get a test done. It really is very unlikely you'll have it, it's just that I couldn't go to Thailand knowing there was a risk and I knew I'd stress myself out loads if I got even one mosquito bite.

If it makes you feel any better, my sister went to Thailand the year before last (when there was Zika there), got accidentally pregnant 3 weeks after returning, never knew there even was Zika in Thailand so never got tested. She had a beautiful, healthy little girl with no problems whatsoever.

ride don’t panic, I was in a similar situation and HCP were really reassuring. See your GP and try not to worry, the overwhelming likelihood is everything is fine. Look on the pregnancy boards, there are threads about it, lots of ladies in your position (with healthy babies!).

OP we’re heading to New York and Belfast in the second tri. Our last chilled grown up holidays before baby!

We went to Australia whilst I was just into my second trimester. I do not advise this!! Brilliant holiday but the flights... oh what a killer. You may think you’re over your sickness then you wake up to the smell of plane food... just a thought. I’d advise staying close enough for them not to deliver you the beautiful plane food!

Would recommend going somewhere in Northern Europe rather than south - don't know if sunburn affects you but found my skin burns a lot faster during pregnancy. Also got to remember that during pregnancy your body's normal temperature runs quite hotter (my partner could barely stand to be in the same bed with me) so with added heat on top of that you may struggle to be in Spain or Portugal that time of year. We went to Brussels at the end of November for our babymoon and stayed in a gorgeous airbnb however that was partially due to me having cousins in the area and the time of year for my second trimester meaning it was cosy Christmas markets and it being incredibly cheap flights (paid £160 for 2 of us for 4 days including airbnb cost). Bearing in mind however I've already done a lot of travelling and don't like to visit the same place twice until I've visited them all so don't know if it would have been my first choice however very short flight from Glasgow so very easy. I would recommend Krakow (do a day trip to Rabka, the mountains are gorgeous) or Ljubljana (Lake Bled was like nothing I'd ever seen before and Lake Bohinj was also gorgeous, daily spending all relatively cheap). I spent May/June last year backpacking through Europe solo and hit Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna (day trip as expensive), Ljubljana, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Skopje, Thessaloniki, Sofia and Istanbul so could give you advice on any of those cities, all of which were relatively warm at that time of year except Thessaloniki where it rained 2 days straight. Got sun burnt in Ljubljana.