Can ya do it when your pregnant?

“Through much arduous effort, and determination, MRS Tahoe is in a family way now. We were just wondering, is it resonably safe for her to continue backpacking? And if so, is there some point at which she should absolutley stop backpacking? Your advice and experiences would be greatly appreciated.”

“congrats tahoe!
exercise is great when you're pregnant.(make sure mom to be stretches before starting) As long as she can get the pack belt done up, then bpacking is ok & there are belt extentions available. Swollen feet later on may limit trips to shorter hikes. I found that by 7months, I was too big to use my pack. Also I was so huge, that I couldn't get up off the ground without a forklift, which ruled out sleeping in a tent.
And get her to use poles-they'll stop any falls. and help with the extra weight.”

“BTW she will have to eat & drink (& pee) way more now! That last one can be kinda hard in the woods.”

“Take her shoes away and keep her in the kitchen.”

“Beware, if'n ya poke the kid in the eye, it'll hate ya for life, LOL!”

“On a volleyball team I played on, a gal was pregnant and insisted on playing till the very end. (which helped us none in trying to chase down spikes!) She played when she was even dilated. EEEEEEEEK!!!”

“They say unless she lives in higher elevation. She should probably not go over 8000' The lower oxygen levels can be harmful to the Baby.”

“Based only on our experience, I would say the discomforts mentioned by helinka (e.g., sleeping discomfort and lots of potty breaks) will get to you long before the actual medical limitations do.

Maybe switching to moderate day hikes and strolls for the last 3-4 months would be a worthy substitute.”

“As long as she is willing to go continue bp, and if your doctor advises rest get a new doctor. She should not have any problems other than what has already been said. However remember she's eating for two now, so stock up. And you just might half to carry everything out including all your gear, your wife and your new born so brush up on natural child birth and keep you leatherman sharp.”

“I backpacked until 6mos, then the midwife asked that I stop carrying a pack. Matter of fact, there's a pregger picture of me on Phil's page. Had to limit the pack weight to 30 lbs also. I read an article about a woman who went to isle royale at 7mos. That's kinda remote though. Ask the doctor, all women are different. If the Mrs was active before she got pregnant there's no reason for her to not be now, unless she's high risk or something. I didn't have any problems comfort wise until 8-10mos....sleeping on the ground was fine. I did get tired alot faster though and napped everytime we set up camp, immediately.”

“I agree with Sass - they recommend you keeping the same level of physical activity while pregnant (with slight modifications) that you had prior to. I wouldn't suggest that she START backpacking now, if she wasn't in shape before to do it!

Just remember as the pregnancy progresses her center of gravity changes drastically and steeper slopes or rockier trails could prove quite dangerous.

Good Luck and hope you and the Mrs enjoy sharing this pregnancy with each other!

God Bless Y'all!

Tex”

“helinka said hard.....”

“Oh yeah, btw....CONGRATULATIONS!!!! =D”

“they figured out what causes that, ya know......




















mosquito bites!”

“Thanks for the great advice, it confirms what the doctor said anyway. I was just looking for some real life experience.
Hey, does anyone know if they make a pee bottle for women? It would cut down on her having to get out of the sleeping bag to go pee!!”

“Even during the earlier months, be cautious.

Few years back Ms. tekapo and I were mountain biking at a pretty good clip near here. Emphysema mountain, I think it was. Anyway, I was right behind her when she hit a rock and went over the handle bars face first. We're not sure if that caused the miscarriage or not.

Take no unnecessary chances.”

“I don't know about a 'female pee bottle' but have seen in Campmor catalogue the "Freshette" (sp?)”

“Congrats tahoe!”

“There is a bottle called the "Lady J".

My wife went with me in January to West Virginia when she was about 4.5 months.
The temperature was 8 degrees whem we woke up in the tent.
And the snow just kept getting deeper, so we got the hell out of there.”

“I'm sorry Tekapo; good advice to Mrs. Tahoe. Biking was the one of the few things I was told absolutely do not do.”

“I was told backpacking was out but dayhiking was acceptible as long as I didn't do more than 6 miles a day.
I was also told to never carry more than 20 lbs.
I hope all goes well with the pregnancy, and that she doesn't get gestational carpal tunnel problems like I had.
But hey, I'm already below pre-preg weight! Woo hoo!”

“A couple a years ago Runner's World ran an article about running while pregnant. The article made mention of a lady who ran a marathon (unknowing that she was pregnant) in here second trimester. Although the article didn’t condone her in racing in such a strenuous event, it recommended women only to reduce their normal activity, pay extraordinary attention to their bodies, and use common sense.”