That would seem to be the logical case for flying while pregnant, but it isn’t totally accurate. Many women, me included, would find the first trimester distinctly uncomfortable to be on a plane. I had a lot of morning sickness (or “all the time nausea” as I prefer to call it) during my first 12 weeks of pregnancy, along with a host of other minor discomforts– headaches, extreme fatigue, heartburn, etc. For women in similar circumstances, flying in the first trimester can be a huge problem.

Many doctors and experts say that the second trimester is the best time to travel, since you’re not so huge that moving around is problematic but you’re past all of the early uncomfortable things that occur before the placenta takes over many of the pregnancy functions. I heartily agree with this assessment. Traveling at 28 weeks was definitely not too pregnant to fly.

I do, however, have a few tips for anyone planning a trip during their second trimester.

First, make sure you ask for all the perks. I was occasionally hesitant to do this, but most of the airlines and airports are fairly accommodating to pregnant women and make things available to us that we wouldn’t get otherwise. I was routed into the special “VIP” line at customs, which helped me get through a lot quicker and prevented me from needing to stand around for a long time. Play the pregnancy card when asking if you can board the plane in the first group or if you can get a ride across the airport on one of those little carts to get to the other terminal and don’t feel bad about it!

Remember, you’re responsible for keeping yourself healthy and unstressed because it’s good for your baby, so asking for perks like these isn’t anything to worry about.

The second tip I’d give is to make sure you move around a bit when on the plane. It’s easy to just stay seated, but I made this mistake on one of my flights and ended up with swollen feet. If you do somehow manage to lose your ankles, don’t worry, the swelling will subside once you’re off the plane and back on solid ground. (Although I can’t promise you won’t see swelling again once third trimester hits!)

Lastly, stock up on healthy snacks. A few pieces of fruit and a small bag of nuts can go a long way to keeping you full without having to worry about the airline attendants’ schedule for providing snacks or how healthy those snacks may or may not be for your baby.  And while you’re snacking on your healthy fruit, don’t forget to request lots of water or juice from the attendants. Every time they came around, I would ask for a glass of juice and a glass of water, just to keep hydrated.

All in all, flying while pregnant doesn’t have to be a pain, especially not in the second trimester. If you have to or choose to fly during this time, enjoy your trip!

I’d love for this to have been an exaggeration, but it really wasn’t, at least not for me. My morning sickness ranged from a general mild nausea throughout most days to a severe reaction whenever I’d encounter certain smells. Living in a country with a vast tradition of street food didn’t exactly help, either. I also tended to get extremely nauseous after taking my prenatal vitamins, which seemed really counter-intuitive on my body’s part. I kept trying to convince myself “I’m taking this to HELP the baby! Don’t reject it!”

Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as some people have it. I didn’t need to be ready to run to a bathroom and throw up multiple times a day, like some people I knew. The biggest issue for me was how constant it was. I truly felt like there was never a moment when my stomach actually felt ok. It was always either mildly bad, moderately bad or really awful. No respite.

One of the tips I found helpful to ease my churning pregnancy stomach was to eat a small amount of crackers whenever I anticipated severe nausea coming on. This was especially helpful when taken along with my daily prenatal and just before I went to bed. Early mornings were another time for crackers, and I kept a little packet of them at my bedside table just in case I needed them when I woke up.

I also carried around a packet of extremely sweet candy, which I’d eat whenever I wandered into an area that had potentially stomach-upsetting scents. No matter how adventurous eating grilled squid had once seemed to my non-pregnant adventuresome self, now whenever I got close to a cart of it, I’d pull out the candy. I found that holding a hand over my mouth and nose ensured that the candy scent and taste would drown out any other potential problem smells lingering in the air around me. It got to a point where Justin would see a cart ahead and tell me “pop a candy” before we got too close.

Despite the problems of morning sickness, I actually got off pretty lucky in the end. When my second trimester rolled around, my morning sickness dissipated. Turns out this is fairly common, since at about 16 weeks the placenta takes over most of the hormonal functions that cause or add to morning sickness, so the mom’s body isn’t flooded with them anymore. For me it was like waking up from a constant nagging nauseous dream into a pregnancy that actually felt good!