\n \n \n “. concat(self. i18n. t(‘search. voice. recognition_retry’), “\n
As a writer, I have visited more than 50 countries and lived in five.
It is a hobby that I pursued in my first pregnancy and was not in a position to give up.
I’m glad my unborn baby had some special moments with me, but I wish I had felt more at ease.
I have spent a part of my life traveling and living in other countries. I even made it my job.
I have traveled to more than 50 countries and lived in five. I do it because I love it, but also because it’s part of my and my husband’s task. I am an editor and he works for Make Life Skate Life, a company that builds skateparks in countries around the world.
So in early 2021, when I learned I was pregnant with my first child, I sought to continue doing what I love, which is traveling.
When I started telling other people I was pregnant, a lot of other people reacted by saying things like “Well, it’s a smart thing you traveled when you did it” or “Wow, your life is about to change. “
And while I understood that feeling, I knew I would never completely give up my nomadic way of life for an SUV and a suburban house. My love for navigating new places and adapting to new cultures runs deep; it’s my satisfied place.
But before I made plans, I talked to my doctor.
I tried to keep traveling during my pregnancy, but I also didn’t want to put my unborn baby at risk. So, before I did anything, I sat down with my doctor.
She gave me a review of what I deserve and don’t deserve to do, and a list of appointments I deserve to be on in the coming months, many appointments can be made via video calls due to COVID-19. He also lent me a central fetal Doppler monitor so I can check my baby’s center rate at any time.
However, it should be noted that everyone’s cases are different, so what was right for me won’t be right for everyone, and anyone who makes plans to travel pregnant deserves to contact their own doctor first.
After receiving his blessing, I began to travel. During my pregnancy, I spent time in Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Lebanon and France.
My pleasure of traveling abroad, my pregnancy began with a last minute opportunity to go to work in the Galapapass Islands. I was five months pregnant and my husband and I spent 10 days exploring the western Galapapass Islands on a luxury cruise and were able to swing. with baby sea lions, watch the blue-footed bridal parade dance and see how baby sharks feed. After the cruise, we spent a week exploring Ecuador.
In the seven months of pregnancy, we went to Beirut, Lebanon for 4 weeks and our fun was the opposite of the Galapagos vacation. My husband and I spent our time carrying skateboards in and out of taxis and helping to build their skate park. , he spent more time seeking to escape the heat in the shade of a tree than working.
Then, at 8 months pregnant, we arrived in Paris, in France, where we felt that we were returning home. I lived there for a while in 2016 and then in 2019. This time we were traveling for work, but for ourselves. We visited our old frequented places, saw friends, and ate at our favorite place to take falafel, The Ace of Fallafel.
I enjoyed my unborn daughter discovering the world with me, through me.
All those reports were the ones I felt I shared with my daughter.
When I was five months pregnant, my daughter and I were swimming with many baby sea lions in Galapagos. And I like to think that she felt my worry turned to courage when a shark slipped under us and my joy when a sea turtle swam to say Hello.
Traveling during pregnancy set the tone for the adventure of a lifetime to come.
From the beginning of my pregnancy, I struggled with the idea that, as a mother, I encounter a handful of stereotypes set by society at large: a three-bedroom house, an SUV, and an organization of friends pushing strollers.
Traveling through pregnancy has shown me that fatherhood has many paths. I didn’t take the path society expected of me, and I don’t plan to take the path that is expected of me now that I’m a mom.
This mindset, combined with my fondness for traveling, led me to get my daughter’s passport just a few months after she was born. That’s why we also took her on her first trip abroad just five months away, and why we plan to take her to a three-month trip to France this fall.
Traveling has also exposed me to parents around the world who give birth and raise their children in many other ways.
I recognize that it is much less difficult and more comfortable to stay at home pregnancy, to be in a position where you know the language and the quality of hospitals.
But I think it’s easy for other people around the world to give birth every day, occasionally in different cases than we’re used to in our home countries. I really appreciated the opportunity to witness other parenting perspectives around the world.
In Paris, I took the subway with moms carrying their satisfied little children on their backs, tied with a scarf. It reminded me that everything society, businesses and other moms have told us they need, like high-end strollers, bathroom through central rate. Monitors, and dear carriers, are simply smart marketing.
I also felt safer in Beirut at seven months pregnant than at my home in Colorado because in Beirut I lived just one block from a hospital. At my home, the nearest hospital is a 30-minute drive away.
One of my favorite parts of the holiday pregnancy was being able to eat some of the most productive foods in the world at a time when my body really needed them.
Growing a baby requires a lot of energy, and smart nutrition and lots of food is more vital than ever.
As a result, food played a central role in my stay abroad. I ate well aboard the Galapagos cruise and our stay in Paris, but for me, nothing beats the food in Beirut.
I think the herbs and vegetables I ate tasted newer and I enjoyed the hand-rolled pita topped with za’atar, which is a special blend of spices and seasonings. And if you’ve never eaten labneh, a super thick yogurt. that I ate at breakfast, you are missing out on one of the wonderful joys of life, in my opinion.
I think other people were kinder to me during my pregnancy and I was able to skip a lot of lines.
Usually, when I travel, I realize that other people don’t pay much attention to me. This is not the case when I am pregnant.
In Beirut, merchants offered me a bloodless drink from their private reserve, without payment. In Paris, other people gave up their seats on the subway and avoided holding the door to me, and at each and every airport I was constantly driving. at the front of the row.
Traveling during my pregnancy made me realize how much I sought to be a mother and helped me overcome my fears.
It might seem like I’ve been all over the world without worries, but they all come with difficulties.
I’m afraid of catching COVID-19, trying too hard or pushing the baby too hard, having to give birth in a foreign country, or not getting quality medical care if something goes wrong.
But another part of me knew that if I gave in to those fears before my daughter was born, my adventure as a mother would be overwhelmed. I made the conscious decision to give up from the beginning because I didn’t need to be a fearful and a scared person. And I also don’t need my daughter to be a fearful and scared person.
That said, there are definitely things I wish I had done differently, like giving myself more time and enjoying my pregnancy.
From the beginning of my pregnancy, I felt like I was running for every party imaginable without children before giving birth. It wasn’t until the last month of my pregnancy that I went home and allowed myself to lift my feet and take a nap with my cat.
If I could go back in time, I would feel more comfortable from the beginning. I would like to give myself a space to marvel at my changing figure, be pampered by others and take more naps.
Towards the end of my pregnancy, I noticed more that traveling was uncomfortable for me.
Traveling pregnant was easy, until it was no longer the case. Towards the end of my travels, the seat on my budget luxury plane looked like a concrete slab and I couldn’t tie my shoes.
In the seven months of pregnancy, I think the heat and humidity of Beirut were oppressive. And on my flight back to the U. S. , I knew I was pushing the limits when the recommended deadline for traveling abroad during pregnancy came, but I did. Anyway
I faced constant anxiety during my time abroad and wish I had found more common ground.
I’m glad I traveled abroad during my pregnancy and I’m proud to have fought my fears, but it would be a lie if I told you that I wasn’t very attentive to myself and my baby’s safety.
Before arriving in each country, I searched for the nearest most productive hospitals, making plans for what would happen if something went wrong. I am hyperconscious of everything from busy roads to stray cats that can be carriers of disease.
In retrospect, I wish I had discovered a greater compromise between my preference for continuing while adjusting to biological adjustments that told me I had to slow down.
In the end, everything went well. My daughter was born in Colorado, as planned, in October 2021
After all the ups and downs of vacation pregnancy, I ended up having my daughter in Colorado, as I expected. It arrived a week early and is surely perfect.
I’m already on a quest to show you the world.
Read the article on Insider