Traveling with extra baggage

During the first 3 months of my pregnancy, I traveled on 3 big trips!  All of these trips were, of course, booked before I was pregnant so once they came, I had to deal with whatever state I was in at the time and go for it.

Italy was obviously the biggest and the first, in which pregnancy hadn't yet affected my ability to travel and I was feeling great-able to do pretty much everything I could do pre-pregnancy.  This was during weeks 4-6 of pregnancy.

The next trip was a work trip to New Orleans for the Community Food Securities Coalition Conference.  This trip was during my 9th week of pregnancy, and it was a whole different experience than traveling to Italy.  The day after traveling cross-country, I felt so worn out and beat up that I spent the whole day in the hotel room feeling miserable (luckily the conference sessions hadn't yet started and I had a project I needed to work on).  This was officially the worst I had felt in my pregnancy.
My good friends Ali & Joel Broom arrived the following day and helped me so much through the next few days.  I got the "waves" of nausea during this time and they were so patient and helpful!  Somehow I made it through the conference too and managed to learn a lot of new things as well.

Fun times despite feeling yucky with the Brooms

The one night I felt good enough to go out for dinner; on Canal Street

How could you not feel better hanging out with these two?? :)

The last trip was another work trip to Florida for the Grant Professional Association Conference.  Boy, if I thought I felt sick in New Orleans, I had no idea how bad it could get!  This was now on week 12, and the gentle waves of nausea had progressed into sprints for the toilet.  I actually ran out of a conference event at one point for fear I was about to throw up in the middle of the luncheon.  Luckily, Jacob met me in Florida at the end of the conference and worked his 'magic' on me.  Strangely enough, even though by that point I had thrown up MANY times, it had never happened when I was with Jacob (he teased that I was making it all up).  And, sure enough, once he arrived, my morning toilet-hugging rituals subsided.  There was one day when he left to go pick up our rental car and I threw up while he was gone...after this I started to fear him being away at all!
Thankfully, despite it all, we were able to take a slower pace but still enjoy our mini-vacay in Florida with time at the beach, visiting Disney World, an Orlando Magic game, and lots of good time together.

On the beach in Florida at 12 weeks

At the Orlando Magic game-fun to be a part of an NBA game for the first time in years!

Driving at the Tomorrowland Speedway-somehow I managed not to get carsick

Best part of being pregnant at Disney World? If you go to Guest Services and tell them, they give you a Guest Assistance Card.  Flash that bad boy and it basically gets you to the front of every line!!

Enjoying all the Christmas decorations and lights at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World

Getting our last bit of Florida sun at the Hawaiian mini golf course

Moral of the story: traveling cross-country in the peak of your 1st trimester, is a rough road to take (at least if you're me)