Skiing when pregnant?

[teacherecw]

Hi Ladies! I have a trip to Colorado planned April 1. I will be about 6 weeks pregnant. We just found out we are expecting but have had the trip planned for a long time. I am already a slow and cautious skier. I was thinking I would just see how I feel and how crowded it gets. What do you think? Any tips or advice?

 

[zoomamyd]

Congratulations @teacherecw! I was pregnant last ski season and I was wondering the same thing as you. I was pretty cautious, but skiing is a big part of my life (my husband and I own a shop in CO), I had friends that skied through pregnancy, and being outside makes me happy...so I wanted to give it a shot. My OB was very supportive and said skiing up to 20 weeks was relatively "safe."

I only skied about 7 days total, all midweek (crowds scare me even when I'm not pregnant!) and I was lucky enough that 3-4 of those days were powder days.

A lot of women chimed in on this thread here, myself included. There are a ton of very supportive experienced mamas around here! Feel free to message me if you have any questions. I hope you have a great trip to CO -- even if you decide not to ski there's a lot of fun to be had wherever you go.

 

[Kimmyt]

Hi Ladies! I have a trip to Colorado planned April 1. I will be about 6 weeks pregnant. We just found out we are expecting but have had the trip planned for a long time. I am already a slow and cautious skier. I was thinking I would just see how I feel and how crowded it gets. What do you think? Any tips or advice?

It definitely will depend on your comfort zone, how you're feeling, and crowds etc. FWIW I have skied in the first tri and felt ok. I do feel that during the first tri the fetus is pretty well protected within the pelvic bowl so if anything were to happen it would probably be pretty unlikely to damage the fetus without severely damaging you. I didn't downhill ski beyond the end of the first tri because right around then I started feeling my balance was a bit off and the motion of it irritated me. I did however do several solo touring days in very low risk to no risk terrain all the way up to my 35th week. I also spend a good portion of my 'ski season' on snowshoes and it felt amazing to get outside.

So I guess my advice is just to listen to your body, do what feels right to you. If you do buy a lift ticket, make sure that you and your SO are ok with the possibility that you may do one run and decide you don't feel comfortable and call it a day.

Congrats!

 

[mustski]

Congratulations! I would say that it's a pretty personal decision. IMHO - if you are cautious, there is no reason why not. Sure skiing is risky, but so is crossing the street, driving a car, etc. It does need to be a decision that you and your DH make together. For the record - I did not. But, I had a history of multiple miscarriages (not skiing related) and wasn't taking any chances.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Ask your doctor about ALTITUDE. I see you're from SC, so low elevation. Had a friend once who was early-on and somewhat restricted in terms of what elevation her OB/GYN wanted her to ascend. You may be advised to do a more gradual ascent? At least call and ask. The elevations out there make some people from low elevations prone to altitude sickness (and > it's not nice).