I hate flying while pregnant.
DESPISE flying while pregnant.
It is a little slice of hell.
Mind you, this is mostly because I have irrational fears of going into preterm labor on the plane...but nevertheless...still hate it.
And yet...I keep doing it.
No matter how many times I say I'M DONE, I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE ELSE WHILE I'M PREGNANT, somehow I get roped in (ok, willingly plan) to go somewhere else a little bit further along in this pregnancy.
Remember back at 17 weeks when I gave you this little list of all the different instances of flying messing with my cervical mucus? And it led to the No Good Horrible Very Bad Day? Well, after that I was convinced I would never fly while pregnant EVER AGAIN. I was done. I was staying close to my midwives for the rest of my pregnancy.
Well...that didn't last very long.
At 23 weeks I flew the hour and a half home to Oregon. No problems other than I couldn't NOT pee for that hour and a half and those tiny planes have the smallest bathrooms EVER. It was torture waiting for the chatty stewardess to hurry up and serve drinks with her giant aisle clogging tray so that I could rush to the bathroom half an hour into the flight.
Then at 29 weeks I decided to accept the offer of a baby shower thrown in my honor in NYC and hopped on a plane again.
In a nutshell, it was completely fine, but I hated every moment of it.
It starts with the airport. It seems that they have started putting those full body X-ray machines in ALL major airports these days and since I'm not convinced those are safe for pregnancy I have to get a pat down.
Great...I love getting felt up at the airport.
Kuddos to JFK airport on the way home, they had the old school scanners (which are fine, they're not X-rays) available for children and preggos and I didn't have to get a pat down at JFK.
Why can't all airports do this? They all still have the scanners set up for their own personnel to go through, why can't the preggo ladies go through rather than get a pat down?
Anyway, after getting felt up at the airport, the flight itself wasn't HORRIBLE as I was in first class (purchased with air miles!) and the flight attendant gave me a HUGE bottle of water without me having to ask for it. But because of said bottle of water I was up to pee A LOT, at least once an hour, so every time I would get comfy and settle back down to watch my movie I would then need to get up and pee again...and REPEAT.
Other than that I really have nothing to complain about. I wasn't uncomfortable, except for always needing to pee, the Braxton Hicks stayed at a minimum, just a few the whole flight, no swelling, and since I was in first class obviously the seats were pretty comfortable.
But I still hated it.
And wouldn't you know it...I'm still not done.
In 3 weeks...at 34 weeks pregnant I'm doing it again.
I'm going back home to Oregon one last time before we have this kiddo for another baby shower being thrown for me.
No first class, just a tiny little plane with a tiny little seat and a tiny little bathroom...I hope I fit.
Anyone else hate flying as much as I do during pregnancy?
Or have you all kept your feet firmly planted on the ground?
Anyone else hate flying as much as I do during pregnancy?
Or have you all kept your feet firmly planted on the ground?
Just flew at 22 weeks for what I hope was the last time. Made sure to get aisle seats for easy trips to the bathroom. The whole experience makes me paranoid. I've had luck though in Boston, Chicago and DC with always have regular metal detectors available. Not one pat down yet. The trick I learned is not to say "I opt out" as I tried to once in Boston. The TSA lady looked at me and said, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear anything. You are pregnant, right?" and sent me through old school. Very time after that, I've always just looked at them with a sweet look and said "I'm pregnant," implying there's no way in hell you are making me go through that thing!
ReplyDeleteYou made me literally laugh out loud with “I hope I fit” :) I’m glad that I won’t be flying AT ALL this pregnancy. I’m already a paranoid freak of nature, I’d probably have a complete breakdown. It sounds horrible.
ReplyDeleteI told myself I wouldn't be traveling this pregnancy after my trip at 12 weeks. I have a wedding in July that's in Connecticut and I was like, oh, that's probably an hour away. Just kidding! It's THREE hours away. Great! One way I'm taking a train, which is good because I have huge seats and can get up to pee whenever I want (and train bathrooms are decent sizes), but the way back I'm riding in a car. Which means we are stopping for frequent pee breaks and so I can stretch my legs and get blood flowing again. Yep. Traveling while pregnant is a joy and a half. At least it will only be 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine how much of a pain it is. Road trips are difficult enough. I haven't flown anywhere while pregnant, mostly because all my family is close enough to drive to. Good luck with this last flight!
ReplyDeleteThe two times I've flown so far have been fine, but I'll let you know how the two international trips go. Especially since my belly will be bigger.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of freaking out now because I went through the scanner in Des Moines a couple weeks ago. I'd spent 45 minutes in the security line and was about to miss my plane and it didn't even occur to me. What a shitty time to forget I'm pregnant.