packing for my first-EVER holiday pregnant: what to prepare 🧳🌴

chapters:

• pregnant-friendly holiday destinations

• where I am travelling to !

• which trimester to travel in?

• flight-day essentials

• holiday essentials

• encouraging reminder

I am about to give you EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW to make your life as easy as possible, preparing to fly your first flight pregnant, so you can spend more time enjoying and planning your cute outfits, rather than worrying about forgetting anything that might be ‘pregnancy-essential’.

pregnant-friendly holiday destinations

When you are pregnant, you want to make sure that the holiday destination you pick is pregnant-friendly.

By this, I’m not referring to the people or the types of food. I am referring solely to the types of things you CAN DO there.

This comes with establishing what kind of holiday you would like to have; maybe it’s an all-inclusive beach resort or maybe it’s a sightseeing city break.

The LAST thing you want is to pick a country or destination where you find yourself feeling like you are missing out. TO ME, an example looked like:

• Avoiding destinations like Dubai, since I would want to quad-bike or go shisha lounges (which is not advised when pregnant)

• Instead, looking into all-inclusive beach resorts like in Greece or Morrocco, where I can relax, soak-up some sun and eat lots of good food!

So, make sure you are looking up destinations you would still love, but with your pregnancy IN-MIND.

Another way of looking at this, is by carefully selecting holiday destinations where the primary attractions don’t go against the nature, of pregnancy, that you are in. Instead, looking at places that encapsulate pregnancy-safe ways for you to have fun.

FOR EXAMPLE:

• staying away from camel-riding, quad-biking, bungee jumping, zip-lining, extreme sports

• looking for calmer BUT FUN activities, such as boat rides, sight-seeing, helicopter rides, swimming in crystal-clear waters, visiting jaw-dropping viewpoints like rooftops, for sunrise or sunsets

Might sound obvious, but specially to girlies like me, who had an unplanned pregnancy, it can be easy to sometimes forget the certain limitations that temporarily come with pregnancy; out of safety.

Another thing to consider when picking where to travel to, whilst pregnant, is the flight duration: so how long would it take you to travel there?

When pregnant, you want to make your travel smooth, and chances are, you don’t quite know how you will feel in a flight, whilst pregnant.

If it’s your first-time travelling pregnant, as it is for me, you probably can’t predict how “normal” or comfortable you will feel.

So, if we already know this, jumping on a 12-hour flight is probably not going to make us feel at-ease… if anything, it might make us feel more anxious about flying since a long flight can be quite challenging when you’re not pregnant, let alone when YOU ARE.

You might be wondering, well “how long is too long for a flight?”. This one is quite subjective…

FOR ME:

• I opted for any flight duration that is around 5 hours or LESS

• Personally, I am used to being on a flight for 3 to 4 hours maximum, at-a-time. So the idea of anything longer, when pregnant, doesn’t make me feel too good

From the above, I would also take it a step-further to consider the temperature of the place you want to travel to, given the time of year.

As a pregnant girlie, it is likely you will feel flustered more easily, and less tolerant to extreme levels of heat. So, going to somewhere like Brazil during their summer-time, is quite risky; given that you might feel a lot more overwhelmed by this heat whilst pregnant.

THEN AGAIN, it really does depend on your personal reaction too, since if you are used to heat, this may not be one that affects you too much.

FOR ME, I’m used to London weather, which if you didn’t know, is very COLD and wet. Tackling a Brazilian summer, whilst pregnant, even though potentially fun, sounds very challenging…ahahaha.

OKAY…

So, we have spoken about quite a few things to make it easier for you to choose your pregnant-friendly holiday destination!

Let’s put all 3 tips to choose the best holiday destination for you to travel to, whilst pregnant, below:

1. Choose a destination that ENABLES you to do things you enjoy, whilst also being safe for your pregnancy

2. Consider shorter flight durations

3. Go to a place where you think you can adapt well to the temperatures

TO NOTE: Of course, this is all just advice or what I have personally found useful and do myself, when choosing where to travel to as my FIRST-TIME EVER travelling pregnant. However, feel completely free to do as you wish so you have the most fun in the way that means to you!

This is simply a guide of advice, and not something you should feel you “should do”.

where I am travelling to !

If you’re not interested, just skip further for all-you-need-to-know for your first travel during pregnancy, below! But, for myself, I knew I wanted to tick the following boxes:

• somewhere warm, but not too hot (for me: in the range of the 20s for °C)

• somewhere I can relax, dress-up cute and eat good food

• somewhere gorgeous to see and be in, something very different to London! Preferably on the coast!

By the time you read this blog post, we would have flown and come back! Since your girl is batching content ahead for maternity, but I will not skip-out on sharing all the details of everything-possible!

Given my preferences, we ended up choosing… EGYPT!!!

I can’t even tell you how excited I am! We’re opting for:

• an all-inclusive beach resort vibe

• temperatures should average-out to 22°C, lowest being about 15°C at night

• by the Red Sea, the gorgeous weather, the amazing food-reputation, and the array of beautiful attractions around Egypt, it was a no-brainer

• also! It’s only about a 5-and-a-half-hour flight; direct from London, which is perfect!

Here’s my current mood-board to get my hyped for my travel to Egypt, from my Pinterest:

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This is my kind-of perfect, but make sure you take some time to research all those destinations on your bucket-list girlie, so you can find yours too!

which trimester to travel in?

Quick one to say I am not medically trained, but this purely from my research and just general intuition. If you are unsure, please consult with your midwife (UK) or healthcare consultant (anywhere else)!

From what I have seen, the basic premise for safe-travelling during pregnancy is:

• the SECOND TRIMESTER seems to be the safest to travel during pregnancy

• travel is not advised from 33 weeks

• don’t travel if you have a high—risk pregnancy, or check with your midwife

It seems like the range between 4-to-6 months seems to be ideal, but each pregnancy, and each woman, is unique.

FOR ME, I am travelling during the very end of my second trimester; LITERALLY. Like, I will be travelling at just-past 5-months and a half pregnant, and flying back when I turn 6-months pregnant.

UPDATE: I am back from my trip, what a DREAM. I’m glad to say nothing abnormal happened when travelling whilst pregnant, so just to try reassure any pregnant girlies who might be slightly nervous packing for their first trip pregnant!

flight-day essentials

Now, into the bits to pack for your flight-day!

Here is a straight-forward list of the most popular and common advice for flight-day essentials, when travelling pregnant:

• Wear COMPRESSION SOCKS: for you to wear on your flight to reduce your chances of blood-clots, and legs swelling, since pregnant women are more vulnerable to this. Combine with getting-up for a walk, or some movement, every 30-minutes, or so, during your flight.

• Carry a FILLED WATER BOTTLE with you at all times; travelling can be very exhausting and demanding on your pregnant body. This ensures you are hydrated, to help circulation, and avoid increased chances of weakness.

• Be stocked on SNACKS: your hunger is likely to be a lot higher than if you were not pregnant, so make sure you have some easy and filling snacks, accessible in your hand-bag, so you can fuel whenever. My personal favourites are cereal nut bars, protein bars, salted cashew nuts, grape or apple pots, and the banana chocolate yoghurt from Müller.

• Think COMFORT: anything that will make your travel more comfortable, so you can get the most pleasure out of your journey. To me, this is a neck pillow, a cosy hoodie, and a sleep mask.

• Have a Fit-to-Fly letter ready: if you are 28 weeks (7 months) pregnant or further ahead. Some airlines may ask for this, if you are unsure, get in-touch with the airline you have booked with to confirm.

Make these essentials into your own, but these are all a compilation of feel-good things that we need as pregnant girlies to make our travelling on flight-day so much smoother, and a breeze!

I, personally, will not need a fit-to-fly letter yet, at 23 weeks, so I will be doing everything else on the list.

holiday essentials

We have arrived to our holiday destination, and we are having the TIME OF OUR LIFE.

Is there anything we should know, whilst on holiday, as essentials whilst pregnant?

Well, there are a few things you could keep in-mind, but that are only essential if you wish it to be.

• Remind yourself to take your VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS. This one depends on if you are taking any, but for me, I am taking both iron and multi-vitamin tablets (from Pregnacare), so putting a reminder on my calendar allows me to mindlessly make sure my wellness is on fleek, whilst vacationing pregnant.

• Avoid eating FRESH SALADS. As well as what we know about not eating raw meats or raw fish, it is advised for you to avoid fresh salad when travelling abroad pregnant, since there’s always a chance of contamination during preparation.

• Drink from BOTTLED WATER ONLY. This one is for the same reasons as the above; not doing so might lead to water contamination symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, fever, headaches, fatigue, and muscle aches.

• Have emergency MEDICAL CONTACTS readily available. It’s a great idea to do a quick Google just to see how you could get medical care, if anything was to happen, whilst abroad. If you’re in the UK, I would just briefly check the UK NHS website for this here. However, if you are in an all-inclusive resort (like me!), then I am sure staff would be ready to help with that, if necessary.

• VACCINATIONS: make sure you have researched if any are required to where you are going, and whether it is SAFE for you to take these during pregnancy or if there are any risks to consider. I would strongly urge you to check with your midwife, GP, or healthcare consultant for this one, before taking any action.

These lists are here to help you, and not make you feel overwhelmed so don’t worry if you don’t do it all, or if you don’t do any at all!

I think the flight-day essentials are more of a priority for me, and then during your holiday, you can go-off how you FEEL. However, just in case any girlies like being fully prepared, I thought it could be useful to keep the above points in-mind whilst you are abroad pregnant.

I, personally, am researching and writing these all down for myself too, but I can’t say I will remember to do each thing since we want to make sure we are mostly having fun (safely) and switching off, am I right?!

encouraging reminder

With all this information, I want you to be packed and prepared for an amazing holiday-away, enjoying sights you have never seen before, or senses you have never experienced. I’m wishing you all of the greatest feelings of excitement on your travels, and to remind you that these tips are all precautionary; you are not sick. You are just pregnant.

Yes, being pregnant requires us to take some extra precautions, and think a lot more about everything; essentials, risks, even outfits!

But you can and WILL have a spectacular time, and most-of-the-time, so don’t get too caught-up in overthinking or overplanning. I’ve done the BULK of it FOR YOU.

Prioritise relaxation, self-care and FUN.

After all, for many of you girlies, this might be your last holiday before baby (like it is for me). Make sure to be present and simply let go of any worries.

It’s not every day that you are in a stunning all-inclusive beach resort in Egypt, am I right?!

Comment if you’d like to see a review of my Egypt trip (6 months pregnant); reviewing the resort, the experience, pregnancy outfits, and flight-day whilst pregnant!

That’s it from me, on this one, and just remember always…

Own your Womanhood. Own your Time.

♡

I’ll be logging updates throughout this whole journey as a mother-to-be, working to be an entrepreneur, but to also still preserve the girlhood within, to try and be her best self, and live her happiest life, so keep-up with me through the blog!

I release a new blog post every Friday at 1pm! (UK-time)

Let me know if you’re in a similar headspace (pregnant or not), being in our 20s is confusing, and taking control of our story is the only way we can take ownership of our happiness and live out our dream life.

I document my unwanted pregnancy journey at 25, taking control of my narrative, figuring out being a girl in my 20s, chasing my dream life, and conquering my boss babe dream of becoming a self-employed, entrepreneur / Blogger!