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I was 2 months pregnant when we went. We had already planned it before we found out we were pregnant and decided to keep to our plans as a last baby-free trip. We had not planned full-day itineraries, and it was a good thing because I was thoroughly pregnant-tired (it’s different from a normal tired, just believe me). We went to London, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, and Munich. I was so exhausted that by the time we got to Germany, six days into the trip, we rested a lot and I didn’t leave the hotel that first night. We took a red eye across the Atlantic but I was able to sleep on the plane which helped a lot. I am so thankful for my husband because while I am normally good with itineraries and keeping things straight the pregnant-brain affected me and I wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere (particularly with figuring out how the subway worked in Germany, I was so lost). One con was that I wasn’t able to try their adult beverages, so I guess we’ll just have to return one day. We loved the food, and baby did too!
DO take a neck pillow! (try to sleep as much as you can on the plane) I have this one – I love how it feels, and it inflates so it is more compact when you’re not on the plane.
DON’T over-plan. Make sure you’ll be able to rest – pregnant-tired is a different kind of tired; especially as a first-time mom I had no idea how little I could do pregnant. The bus tours helped a lot because it minimized the walking and when we were tired we could just sit on the bus and watch the sights go by rather than disembarking and exploring each one.
DO make sure you have whatever you need for morning sickness. Luckily, I didn’t struggle with it during our trip, but I was careful about hydration, eating, motion, etc (all things that made me nauseous).
DO try to get an aisle seat. When I fly I tend to drink less so I have to pee less (bad, I know) but couldn’t do that to my baby, especially because dehydration made me nauseous. We had a direct flight from Los Angeles to Zurich, then a connecting flight to London. That long direct flight was difficult. We took a red eye so I slept for a lot of it, but I felt really bad for the man in the aisle that had to keep letting me out. On the flight back, our flight wasn’t full so we got the aisle seat and an empty middle seat, making bathroom breaks easier for me.
DO include the baby in the trip if you want to – one of our favorite things was buying baby a souvenir everywhere we went. We just got little tourist things: a onesie, a pair of socks, a bib, a beanie baby, etc.
Great tips—especially about not over-scheduling! I found out I was pregnant during one of our trips to Europe, so I “get” a lot of these. 🙂
Aw wow you found out on one of your trips – how special!
you are one brave mama for traveling like that! and yes pregnancy tired is tired on a WHOLE other level… i remember trying to shop with my sister in law in the first trimester and i would sleep in the dressing room…haha!! getting souvenirs for baby is an awesome idea!
haha it’s amazing the places you can sleep when pregnant