I've got a huge dilemma... one of the biggest in my life. I'm part of an amazing non-profit organization's leadership program for women. We have a trip scheduled in January that is overseas, a total of 10 hours flying from New York. Obviously, we have to fly to New York first.
It's an opportunity of a lifetime. Paid trip with group of people I know and all the arrangements handled. I have to decide by next week if I am going to go or not.
I'll be in my 23rd week of pregnancy when we go, a time when the baby is viable. The idea of a 10 hour non-stop flight with no doctor on board is not comforting. Plus, the longest flight I've taken is five hours. I'm the kind of person who lives on eight hours of sleep and doesn't adjust to time well. People have told me the trip back is very hard on the system. The schedule is pretty filled up, leaving little time to rest. Then, there's making sure I can get bottled water and snacks to get me through between meals.
No one wants to decide for me. I can't decide. The baby is using my gut, so I've no instinct.
Hello. I think traveling 10 hours is more like 15 hours if you think of the travel time from door to door. I just flew a 3 hr. distance and it was more like 6 hours for me. The conditions on a cabin are not comfortable at all and 10 hours flight time is a long time for your stressed out body and your baby. If you are uncomfortable, your baby will be uncomfortable too. I would pass this opportunity, no matter how great it seems now, but 26th weeks is an advanced stage of pregnancy and I wouldn't risk it. Besides, if you are along the trip and you regret your decision to have gone, you can't come back, especially being in a foreign country. I am sure that another opportunity will come along in the near future. Better safe than sorry.
See if you can reach your gut somehow. If it tells you go, I think you should go. I'm 24 weeks tomorrow and last weekend we went on a brief trip to Las Vegas. Sure, it wasn't a 10-hour plane flight, but it was a 5.5-hour car trip each way. I've made the 10+-hour plane flight a couple of times (Britain, Germany, etc. from western US), but never when pregnant. Putting my experiences together, I'd say if you are NOT having any complications and this is the trip of a lifetime for you, why not go? If you have insurance, remember your cards and maybe call the co. for suggestions of practitioners overseas who can see you if something goes wrong while you're there. But if your gut says don't go... you might really want to listen to that. There might be a reason. I'd DEFINITELY ask your doctor what s/he thinks. Only you and s/he know your medical situation and whether it's a good idea to even consider.
Sorry. Just my $0.02 worth. :-) I hope you make a decision you're happy with, either way!