Do you have a trip coming up and are you aware of the regulations that you need to meet?
If you are traveling with a car or train, there is no clearance needed. However, if you are traveling with a plane, then there are some flying restrictions you need to be mindful of. You can always check with your airline when you purchase your ticket. I traveled when I was 29 weeks pregnant, and here are the regulations I had to meet during my travel:
- No health report is necessary until the end of the 27th week of pregnancy.
- Pregnant women expecting one baby can fly with a doctors report that states that they are for to fly by air carriage between 28-35 weeks. Past 35 weeks, you cannot fly even with medical clearance.
- Pregnant women expecting twins or more can fly with a doctors report that states that they are for to fly by air carriage between 28-31 weeks. Past 31 weeks, they cannot fly even with medical clearance.
- Medical clearance must be dated maximum 7 days prior to the flight.
- Report must include doctors full name, license number and signature.
I would like to hear about your perspective. What do you think? Please comment and let me know!
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Due to your growing baby and increased amount of relaxin in your system, your posture, your laxity and the way you move will start changing. You all have heard of Newtons third law: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When you are carrying a baby in your belly, the weight of the baby will change the way your spine is. You arch will get exaggerated, your core stabilizers will be inhibited, then your hamstrings will tighen up to put the “breaks on” to stop that forward pull. These are just some of the changes in your lower half.
An important tip to keep in mind to avoid holding your breath during exercising since it can also affect your blood pressure. You cannot vocalize, without taking a breath so easiest trick is to count out loud while you are exercising.
As you move along your pregnancy, your activity tolerance will change. As nausea and fatigue slow you down in your first trimester, your growing belly will limit your activity tolerance in your last trimester. Today, we all are used multi tasking where we go non-stop all day long. My advice to you is take it easy and take breaks to make it more manageable and less painful for your body. Avoid prolonged activity such as sitting or standing for too long. Being in a position for an extended period of time will increase the stiffness in your back. If you are sitting for an hour, getting up may be harder. If you are standing for an hour, you may start getting radiating pains from your back to your legs. Remember to give yourself adequate rest breaks.
A low back pillow such as OPTP lumbar support can also prolong your sitting tolerance. You can purchase it on Ebay or Amazon for under $20. This hot dog shaped pillow fits in the curvature of your back and supports your spine during sitting in front of TV, while you are at the dinner table or even while driving. You can take it with you anywhere. A little support for your back, will make it also complain less.
Seeing a health care professional throughout your pregnancy is a great idea. Even though, your ongoing aches and pains will stop once you give birth, alleviating those symptoms can be as simple as seeing a physical therapist or chiropractor as little as once a week, regularly. A health care professional can address any misalignments in your body, can use manual techniques to decrease muscle spasms, correct misalignments, and unlock aching joints. They can use tape to support your growing belly to alleviate your pelvic and back pain, give you tips on which exercises to perform to keep your musculoskeletal system as strong and efficient as possible.
Pre-pregnancy, I worked out 3 times a week that consisted of cardio and lifting. When I stopped working out in my first trimester, I lost some of my muscle mass. That was not a good outcome for my body since I started developing some back, neck and pelvic pain. Four factors that can create back pain during pregnancy are losing muscle mass, postural changes, developing baby and hormones. Lets look at each one of them in more detail.
In this case, 1+2 is not equal 2. In many cultures, pregnant women are encouraged to eat more since there is a baby growing inside of them. 1+1= 2 right? So many people believe when you are pregnant, you need to be eating twice as much since you need to gain weight and also supply for your baby.
Babyhood: A to Z 
