Should I go on this trip?

[Pink Petals]

So I take my students on a 5 day trip each year to the coast. Now that I am pregnant with my first, I am nervous about going this year.

I am not sure whether to go or not. I will be 5 months PG at the time of the trip if I go.

Here are the details of the trip:
-there is a flight and a long bus ride, which includes logging roads
-long hours on our feet, mostly outside. Sometimes it is hours between bathrooms. Will likely only get 6-7 hours sleep. Beds are camp bunks.
-involves boating, hiking on rocky and muddy terrain, climbing across rocks along the coastline
-there is a nearby nurses station, but doctors are a couple hours away

I have 2 concerns. The first one is safety and the second is comfort level.

At the same time, I love going on the trip and it is important to me to stick to my work commitments despite being pregnant.

Thoughts? Advice? Feeling very conflicted! And I have never been PG, so I don't know what being 5 months pregnant is like...

 

[kassiaethne]

You could probably do it, Id be taking a matress to go over the bed and an extra pillow for between your legs. Remember to drink tons of water the whole time. And don't be afraid to deligate so you can go to the bathroom when needed. The whole no doc thing might freak me out though but I'd talk to your doctor closer to the date to be sure he thinks its okay.

 

[Bethi22]

I just did a trip at 22 weeks across the country (8 hrs of flying each way) and it was incredibly uncomfortable! I had the luxury of sleeping in a bed and we definitely did not do any hiking so I can't really comment on that part. But if you are going to do a trip during your pregnancy 20ish weeks is probably the best time.

 

[Nimyra]

I think you *could* do it, but I'm not sure I would. You may be dealing with fatigue, a weak bladder, loose ligaments (making injury more common when scrambling over rocks), constipation, and a host of other things that might make the trip uncomfortable. You sound tough, so if its really in your heart to go and you are willing to deal with the discomfort, I'm sure you'll manage. Personally, I'd give it a pass.

 

[Amygdala]

If it was a private trip, I'd probably say go for it, you'll most likely be fine. But with it being a school trip and you being responsible for others, I wouldn't do it. Like someone said, you have a somewhat increased risk of injury and you might also get unwell for other reasons (even just Braxton Higgs or other pregnancy niggles). What would happen if you did need a doctor or had to cut the trip short? I'm assuming it would be a huge inconvenience to everyone else, so personally I wouldn't risk it in the first place.

 

[lynnikins]

id go, lol but then again even when suffering bad SPD with Ds2 I was away for several days out in the countryside with ds1 at 15months old sleeping on camp beds, most women can carry on as normal till 8ish months when the weight of bump gets more difficult to handle some women arent even showing at 5 months in fact something like 45% of first time mothers arent showing at that stage