Should I try to conceive next week?

August 25, 2016 6:43 AM

That's the question, but complicated by a two-week long trip to Asia coming up and Zika.

My partner and I were planning to start trying to conceive next Spring. We live in NYC where there are some Zika cases but nothing endemic. We are thinking about pushing our timeline up to now so we can maybe conceive without having to worry about any mosquito months. (Obviously, I don't know if it will take a month or take a year but I do track my cycle now, so I know when my fertile days are).

The issue is we have a two-week trip planned to Asia in October. So I could be anywhere from 0-8 weeks pregnant at that time. It is crazy to travel at that stage of pregnancy? I'm more worried about having a crappy/nauseated/overly fatigued time than getting sick over there.

I'm leaning towards trying anyway because who knows?! But would like some group feedback on the validity of that choice.

Thanks!

posted by neematoad to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

Where in Asia? The CDC has a travel notice page. There are some Pacific Islands on the list.

They don't have travel notice for places that are endemic (Zika's been around but it's not a current epidemic). Q&A here.

Pesronally, I would check in with my ob-gyn and other than that follow the CDC travel notices.
posted by typecloud at 7:05 AM on August 25, 2016

You're ready to be pregnant. Go ahead and try. There's no way of knowing what your early pregnancy will be like. Odds are, you can make a trip work. Just don't over schedule yourself in advance. Good luck!
posted by crazycanuck at 7:20 AM on August 25, 2016

Best answer: There's about a 30% chance that you can conceive (and keep the pregnancy going) each month that you have sex when you are most fertile (source: Expecting Better). So there's not a very high chance that you will even be pregnant in October. If you conceive in the second month, you will most likely not have any symptoms at 4 weeks pregnant. If you do conceive in the first month and are 8 weeks pregnant, you might not even have any bad symptoms then. I didn't get bad morning sickness etc until about 8-9 weeks anyway.

If you're not traveling to a Zika region, I would absolutely go for it now.
posted by permiechickie at 7:20 AM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yes, morning sickness is more likely to hit closer to the 8-10 mark I think (at least for me and anecdotally among friends). So even if you conceived immediately I think you'd be in a pretty safe zone as far as feeling sick goes (not everyone gets ill feeling, so there's a chance you're a lucky one anyway). Same goes for fatigue. You might feel a little more run down, I would bet on nothing major until a little later in the game.
posted by LKWorking at 7:33 AM on August 25, 2016

Under very similar circumstances we waited. Travel is difficult and complicated enough as it is without growing a brain stem at the same time.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:48 AM on August 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

Early pregnancy varies so much between people that it's impossible to predict what your experience will be. At 8 weeks I was so ill I was off work and they were thinking about hospitalising me, but my friend who is at a similar stage of pregnancy was fine.
posted by kadia_a at 8:00 AM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Okay, thanks everyone! We are not traveling to a Zika region, so I think we'll just try now (eek!) and see how it goes.
posted by neematoad at 8:09 AM on August 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

Also, ask your mother if she was sick when she was pregnant with you. My mother was very ill from the week that she conceived all three of her kids, as was her mother, which leads me to believe that thing can be genetic.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:16 AM on August 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

Seconding that you should ask your mom and/or any sisters about their experiences with morning sickness and fatigue during the first trimester. I had basically no symptoms during my first trimester which is exactly what happened with my mom, even when she was pregnant with twins (which usually cause more severe morning sickness and fatigue). My SIL had a terribly rough first and second trimester with nausea, which was the same experience her mother and her sister had.

Also, I've been obsessively reading the statistics on chances of conceiving (no reason why) and while 30% per cycle isn't a bad rule of thumb, the more precise estimates show the the chances are highest during the first cycle you try--something like 40% if you're timing sex correctly with your fertile period--and then slightly lower each subsequent cycle (25% for the second cycle, 15% for the third cycle, and so on). I know that for my first pregnancy, I heard the statistics about most women in their early thirties conceiving within 6 months and was shocked when I got pregnant during my first cycle. I met many women that had the same experience - getting pregnant immediately despite thinking it would take a while. (I also met lots of women who that didn't happen to, but 40% in the first cycle lines up with my anecdotal experience among my friend group.) In retrospect I wish I hadn't been so certain that it would take a few months, and that I would have waited the extra month or two so that my kid didn't end up with a Christmas birthday.
posted by iminurmefi at 9:00 AM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

If there is any risk of Zika for you on your travels, well... pack your DEET bugspray. Frankly, food-borne illnesses are probably going to be more of a concern.

As to whether you'll be too nauseous to travel - hard to say, even when asking the women of your family. Everyone's pregnancies are different - I'm 37 weeks now, and my pregnancy has definitely been easier than what my mom experienced. I had little nausea in my first trimester, whereas apparently my mom could barely get out of bed for the nausea she had with us.
posted by lizbunny at 9:23 AM on August 25, 2016

Yeah I was desperately horribly sick immediately. I would delay trying until on the trip if it were me. But everyone has a different experience.
posted by Kalmya at 12:26 PM on August 25, 2016

Another person here who got very fatigued immediately. For me it wasn't as much vomiting as wishing I could sleep 18 hours a day. I had to cancel a week long trip I had planned months earlier. Your mileage will vary but I would wait until I got home.
posted by hungrytiger at 12:50 PM on August 25, 2016

Response by poster: Hmmm...more food for thought. It seems like everyone has their own experience so there is no way to predict beforehand. Mom didn't have any morning sickness so I may take my chances anyway. Really appreciate everyone's input!
posted by neematoad at 1:11 PM on August 25, 2016

Since it's not very much of a delay I'd probably just wait a month to rule out effects on the trip. I had no morning sickness whatsoever myself but I know a number of people who essentially got hit hard with nausea practically at the moment of implantation.

Also, is the location in Asia that you're traveling to a malaria endemic locale? Most of the malaria prophylaxis meds aren't friendly in pregnancy, so that would be another big reason to wait.

After that I'd say no need to worry. There may be an off chance of Zika cases in New York but Aedes mosquitoes just aren't really found there, even in mosquito months (until climate change rolls along far past the point it will matter for your conception), despite the current range maps published by the CDC (the CDC specifically states that their maps should not be interpreted as showing geographic areas where you are at risk for contracting Zika). That's why you also don't see local cases of dengue or chikungunya in NYC either.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 6:08 PM on August 25, 2016