Help I’m travelling and think I might be pregnant

[Babyjapan]

Help I’m travelling in Japan for work.
I haven’t told my husband as I want desperately to see his reaction we have been trying for a long time now.
But I’m travelling with my boss who is also my father.
I haven’t told him either. He will be thrilled but I don’t know how to avoid the raw fish and pork etc during our trip so conflicting please give some advice.

Let's start with the important things. Do you have travel insurance, and have you told the insurance company that you are pregnant?

How early are you? I’d just tell your father, especially in case something goes wrong

I didn’t think airlines liked you travelling in the first or third trimester?

Pork (cooked!) shouldn't be an issue.
Also, food standards in Japan are so high, I don't think I'd worry too much about sushi. I think the only things I'd watch would be alcohol and high mercury fish - so not too much tuna. Can't see much pasturised cheese being on the menu, so that's not a problem. Ditto cured meats.

Congratulations! I wouldn't tell your Dad. Wait to tell your husband first.

The first thing to do is surely a test to see if you are actually pregnant and then work from there.

It will be fine…just avoid alcohol and raw fish (look up NHS guidance what is safe and not safe to eat). You might want to check your travel insurance just in case you need medical attention, but hopefully that won’t be the case. Congrats!

Surely you can chose what you eat? Just stick to the cooked fish and veg and tell your Dad you have a dodgy tummy. He might suspect and politely ignore or might be totally oblivious.

Also you are fine to fly in the first trimester.

I'd tell my dad :) And probably video call my husband tbh. But that's not advice, that's just personal haha. Also I am vegetarian so that always avoids loads of food issues. If any clients ask you can just tell them you are trialling vegetarianism this year?

When I was in Japan there was always sushi options that were veggie (eg. Cucumber) and also some is made with cooked fish. I didn't eat raw fish sushi as I didn't like the slimey texture, but there were always others options available.

How long are you there for?kIf it’s only a few days could you fake a slight stomach bug or nausea and then say you can’t face any raw fish and stick to plain meals?

Unfortunately I think you have to tell your Father, purely from a safety point of view in case you are in a situation where you cant tell medical professionals and they need to know. I appreciate that its unlikley to happen but I would tell him just in case.
I had to travel for work while pg and while I HAD told DH we thought that it would be best if someone I was travelling with knew so I told a trusted colleague

You’ll be fine eating sushi and cooked pork, in Japan but also in the UK. Just watch the amount of oily fish and tuna.

www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid is very helpful. Absolutely no reason you can’t enjoy sushi in Japan!

What do you mean you 'think' you could be pregnant? Have you actually tested?Have you already been to a travel clinic for vaccines? You might need to return for your risk assessment to be re-done due to pregnancy, in particular zika risks etc.

If you only think you’re pregnant presumably you’re very early? So no need to panic as lots of women wouldn’t even know at this point? Just avoid raw fish and alcohol.

I think pp are skipping a few steps, with telling insurance, telling your dad and worrying about flying. You don’t even know you’re pregnant.
firstly, do a test if you can.
secondly do check your insurance, you didn’t know you were pregnant so you couldn’t tell them, but do see if you’re covered if you need it, though you shouldn’t.
next I think you’re fine to fly in first trimester it’s the later stages they become concerned.
finally the food and telling your dad, I’d tell your husband first personally just tell dad you have a dodgy stomach. Try to dodge too much mercury, but if you’re eating in good places I would assume the food is probably ok, I think it’d even encouraged for pregnant women to eat sushi there, but id go with cooked things where you can.

thanks so much for all the messages. And all the helpful advice. Will do my best to avoid what I can and thanks so much for the help.
i feel really strongly about telling my husband first once home. My father and I are extremely close but I feel my husband might be hurt if he isn’t first to know about the tests etc.

I had tested yes and had a very very faint positive. But this morning tested negative so I will wait a few days and see how another test goes I suppose. I’m 6 days over due for my period now. I’m normally very regular so this is why I’m also wondering if pregnant.
travelling for 8 more nights.
I do have travel insurance yes haven’t touched bases with them about this as yet I will look into if this is covered thanks.

@Babyjapan if you are 6 days overdue you should have very clear positives on a test by now. Sorry to say but a faint positive followed by a negative at this stage may be indicative of a chemical pregnancy. If that were the case, it might mean your period could start soon. People's experiences seem to vary. Mine was just like a normal period (I was 4+5 so almost a week overdue for AF) some people have a slightly heavier/more clots period than usual. You should be fine for travelling though. Hope all goes ok. X

lol how is it any of the airline's business if a woman is in early pregnancy? How would they know? You may need a medical certificate to fly after a certain time but before that it's nobody's business but the woman and her travel insurance provider

Yes, was thinking the same, funny that women should consider how comfortable an airline is with our early pregnancy and whether or not they ‘like’ us travelling 😂 I’ve never been asked whether I’m in early pregnancy, and if they had, I doubt that they would have liked my reply.

OP I would be booking an early scan. I didn't get a very faint positive until I was 5 days late and it turned out to be an ectopic pregnancy.

Yours probably isn't an ectopic but if it is you need to know as flying is risky with an ectopic, especially a long haul flight as it increases the risk of a rupture.

Don’t be ridiculous. She’s hardly going to break off her business trip and start trying to find an early scan in Japan just to double check against the very remote possibility that she has an ectopic pregnancy, or worry about risks of flying is she can’t get such a scan. That’s a huge overreaction.

You would never be asked this. Airlines couldn’t care less about whether or not a woman is in early pregnancy.

At the end, every airline has clear guidelines on how late you can fly.

When I took out travel insurance literally a few days ago it specifically said you don’t need to declare pregnancy. I also took out travel insurance while pregnant and it said the same thing. Plus, I’m sure it’s not entirely uncommon for women to find out/suspect they’re pregnant while abroad.

I would stick with veggie options if you can OP, maybe just say you’d like to try something new if you’ve been eating the fish up until this point? Your dad might guess, but there’s not much you can do about that!
Did the pregnancy test say when in your cycle you should take it? I am a bit surprised that the line wasn’t stronger at 6 days late on a normally regular cycle. I wonder if tests in Japan are less sensitive?

Edited to say that I missed you saying in your second post that you’d tested this morning and it was negative. I’m sorry for not noticing that.

This is very exciting for you OP.

You don't have to make a big thing about what you're eating, or what you're avoiding, with your Dad. Just have cooked fish and veggie sushi if you're worried. And there's no harm in eating cooked pork. Best of luck!