Would this be crazy at 31 weeks

[RMarieClaire]

Hello. I am 13+3 with my first pregnancy.

OH and I both love walking and nature and it's long been our plan to go to the highlands in spring. I'd love to arrange this for his birthday, going when the weather should hopefully be a little dryer and warmer at end of April/first week of May.

But... I'll be 30/31 weeks then.

Would a fairly remote holiday walking maybe 3-5 miles a day be crazy? I'm a fairly active person and still running and walking a fair bit during the week now, but I have no idea what I'll be like at 30 weeks.

What do you think?

I think as a previous poster says the car journey will be the worst bit. Maybe train so you can get up/stretch/walk around.

I walked round Dovedale and up and down Thorpe Cloud at 41+5 trying to get myself into labour - it didn’t work, and I can do it much quicker when I’m not full of baby, but we had a lovely day and it was nice to be out.

If you can accept going everywhere slowly and having to wee in hedges due to a bladder the size and shape of a scotch pancake, definitely go for it!

It definitely depends - at 30 weeks I was walking >10 miles a day on holiday in Oslo, at 31 weeks I mysteriously developed SPD almost overnight and couldn't turn over in bed/go up or down stairs. You should be fine but maybe book somewhere refundable or have a low-activity back-up plan!

I would also recommend a support band to help with back/pelvic discomfort if you're going to be walking lots.

Enjoy!

I have fairly mild SPD with DC2 at 30 weeks and wouldn’t be able to do it- when I have a bad day even walking up the shallow steps to our front door is very painful.

However, bad joint pain doesn’t just happen overnight, it usually ramps up over a few weeks- mine started niggling at about 20 weeks this time. So you’ll have a good idea whether you’ll be capable of that kind of activity well before the actual trip.

Whelp, my experience of SPD is the complete opposite of magdela’s !

Just goes to show, no one is the same.

Unfortunately, no one can answer this for you. Every pregnancy is different for every woman - no matter how fit you are beforehand. I’d wait and book nearer the time if I were you.

Another one here who suffered from spd, could barely walk round the supermarket never mind the highlands! Maybe wait until you're past 20wks before you book anything unless you can get a full refund

Baby 1 arrived very quickly at 32 weeks with no warning, and with baby 2 I had such bad spd I was on crutches from about 20 weeks, but every pregnancy is different so you'll get lots and lots of different answers!

I walked up Ben Nevis at about that point. And back the wrong trail so like 7 extra miles on walk down.
Listen to your body. Only do it if you feel fine. Keep hydrated.

I ran up until 30 weeks then walked after that - walked at least 20k steps a day with no issues. You’ll be absolutely fine I’m sure - I swear it was my walking that made me go early (38 plus 3)

I was pretty fit when I got pregnant, but certainly stopped running before 30 weeks as I found it too hard to keep up with my club. I was otherwise quite active during my pregnancy but at around the 30/31 week point I was forced to slow right down. We went on a short break and stayed in a moderately hilly town and I found it really hard to keep walking up and down hills all the time. I remember overtaking a woman who looked about 80 and feeling relieved about that, as I wasn't sure I could.

Plan a holiday by all means but make sure you take it easy and give yourself some easy days or have ideas of things to do if it all gets a bit much.

I was really fit and active in my first pregnancy - daily long walks etc. and would have been fine to do this kind of holiday at 31 week mark. May not have been able to do HUGE hikes, but certainly would have been enjoyable and worthwhile.

This time around I would have struggled. But that's due to just generally not being as fit and active, nothing necessarily to do with the pregnancy itself IYSWIM? I never g95 my fitness level back up to scratch after DC1 was born. Although I do have more pelvic pain and aches this time, which have rendered me almost immobile a few times - but again could be an artefact of general unfitness, I'll never know.

The only issue is you don't know what complications you might have with the pregnancy. SPD/PGP could put you out or action and then you would probably struggle. Or you could end up with complications that mean it would be unwise to travel/stay remotely away from a hospital. But that aspect of pregnancy is an unknown unfortunately.

I'm 30+4 at the moment and I did a 2.5 mile walk on Boxing Day and I'm currently packing my house up to move. I'm tired by the end of the day but I'm okay if I spend the evening relaxing. It all depends on you and how your pregnancy progresses!!

Unless your pregnancy is high risk, I can see no reason why not.

I stayed really fit and active all the way through. In fact, I attributed a 5 mile hike for finally starting my labour at 41 weeks!

Thanks all. I'll be honest, had never heard of SPD. It sounds awful.

Think I might book flights but confirm actual plans nearer the time, so we can do something more spa/food based if needs be.

I think it's personal preference. I went to the lakes when I was about 24 weeks and really struggled with being out of breath walking up hills. I was also really hormonal and kept crying haha. I would still do it again if I had to make the decision again.

I would just say to carry on doing exercise and walking until you go and don't be upset if you can't do what you originally planned.

First pregnancy I’d have been fine. I’m
Currently 29 weeks and I couldn’t do it. I’ve got bad SPD, very anemic, weeing every 30 mins and just struggling more than I expected.

It sounds like a lovely break away if there’s alternatives incase you aren’t as mobile. With my first I had terrible SPD and walking was a huge struggle from 30ish weeks, this pregnancy I’m finding walking on a flat surface fine but it’s leaving me sore the next day. I’d also check out where the nearest maternity hospital is and how easy it’d be to get to, I don’t want to scare you but I was in triage today and a lady came in at 32 weeks in labour.

Yes definitely book the flights if there’s alternatives!

I’ll be honest - I could have easily done this during my first pregnancy at 26, however at 30 with my second I was really quite unwell, severely anaemic and had god awful pelvic pain, low blood pressure that made me feel faint and I struggled to even get out the car!! I am quite fit usually. Hopefully it won’t happen to you but just to be aware - it’s so unpredictable and came as a huge shock to me!

I think it’s impossible to know really. I’m 28 weeks and I’ve been fine up until the last week, now I get really bad backache if I stand up or walk for too long so personally I wouldn’t manage it. But I’m not as physically fit as what you sound either! X