Traveling with a Baby: Pregnancy

As many of our readers and Facebook followers may know, we welcomed our first child into the world on August 24th!  Kinley Stockhausen joined our family and has been exploring the San Juan mountains surrounding Durango, CO (our home base) with us ever since.

But as easy as post-pregnancy has been (and its not all that easy) the past nine months have had their respective challenges.

We initially found out that Ellen was pregnant while completing an assignment on the Central Coast of California.  Being an unplanned pregnancy it is undeniable that we had some considerable emotional hurdles to overcome.  We had recently met some huge financial goals and were in the middle of planning some epic running adventures both here in the states and abroad.  Needless to say the running was put on hold and our next set of financial goals seemed unattainable given the cost of child care.  We had our fair share of dark moments and tearful discussions as we attempted to grasp for some aspect of our future that we could feel solidly in control of. 

It was not as if the entire first trimester was one big sob-fest.  Don’t get me wrong, we were super stoked to be bringing a little adventure buddy into the world.  But anyone who has been through a surprise pregnancy could likely tell you, there is a whole myriad of emotions that you run through. 

For Ellen and I, we found consolation in our ability to set new goals and plan out as much of the next 40 weeks as we could. 

One of the biggest decisions we made was to take a planned 8 weeks off together.  Four weeks before the birth and a month after.  While it took some semi-strict budgeting for us to afford the unpaid break, it has been completely worth it.  We have been able to surround ourselves with friends back home who have been incredibly supportive during these past few weeks. 

An ancillary benefit of this plan was that it gave us a target to aim for.  Once we discovered we were pregnant all of our plans and goals were temporarily suspended.  The path we once thought we were on suddenly veered out of view.  Saving up two extra months worth of expenses gave us a direction that we had felt we lacked and we once again felt that we had a way to move forward as a family. 

Besides planning, as best we could, for our time off with baby, there were a few key discoveries that helped us (Ellen really) along the way.

Scrubs

One of the beauties of working in the home health setting is that the dress code is surprisingly flexible.  We have always gravitated towards the simple solution, and for home health the obvious answer is to wear scrubs every day.  The solid colors are easily interchangeable and as comfortable as pajamas to wear for eight hours a day.  But another benefit was for the ever bulging pregnant belly.  The always ill-fitting scrub tops made for the perfect cover to disguise Ellen’s baby bump which was exceedingly helpful in deflecting topics that are far too personal to delve into with every patient and co-worker.  She was even able to wear Steve’s extra tops around the 6-7 month mark, so work related pregnancy purchases were negligible.

 

Maternity Belly Bands

Keeping with our minimalist approach to life, Ellen dreaded the search for maternity clothes that she would wear for a few months only to give them away after the baby was born.  Then she found Maternity Belly Bands.  These belly bands boast their supportive capabilities and claim to alleviate pregnancy related back pain.  Ellen had no such experience.  The pain relief is quite minimal and the breathable, flexible fabric does little to support a growing baby. However, the huge perk for Ellen was that these non-slip bands served to bridge the gap between her rising shirt hem and drooping belt line.  Coming in common colors El was able to use these bands instead of purchasing maternity shirts or pants.  Because of these bands she was able to extend he wardrobe throughout the pregnancy and never needed extra maternity outfits other than a couple extra yoga pants from REI that have blended into her wardrobe following pregnancy.

 

AZ Med Maternity Belt

Finally something I can take credit for!

At the 6 month mark Ellen’s increasing belly and decreasing ligamentous support around her pelvis finally were at an impasse.  Running, hiking, even getting in and out of a chair had all become painful.  The final straw was watching how uncomfortable she was when an intended 6 mile hike with our traveling nurse friend turned into 11 miles and Ellen was hardly able to make it back down the mountain. Frustrated at seeing how bothered she was that she could no longer participate in the activities she loves the most, I recommended this belt as numerous patients of mine have had tremendous results with it in the past. At under $25 it was hands down worth every penny!  Ellen was immediately able to resume running and continued to do so until the last few weeks before giving birth.  She was also able to hike again, and even climbed up to 12,000ft in the Rockies the week before having the baby, all because of this belt.

 

Even though we were initially thrown a curve ball with pregnancy while traveling, we were able to adjust our plans and regain perspective with some incredible support and wisdom from friends and family. And contrary to what popular marketing will say, you can make it through pregnancy with very minimal maternity gear!

Written by: Stephen Stockhausen