It’s been a little while since we last blogged, but for good reason… Earlier this year, we found out we were pregnant (again) and this time it really and truly stuck! We’re just a few weeks from meeting our first and only little one that we’ve wished for for several years and it’s been an emotional roller coaster, as you might imagine. One thing that we did though during the past ten months was make the commitment to maintain and nourish *US,* our relationship.
As travel agents, trust me when I say that we hear it PLENTY from people: “When you have kids you’re not going to travel [as much/at all] anymore.” Our refute to that is a whole other blog post entirely! But during the pregnancy, it is SUPER easy to always talk about the baby. Baby needs this gadget. Oh, we need to interview pediatricians. Then, for someone my age, there were two doctors visits every month. Our lives seemed to evaporate in baby planning, so it was easy to see how one could lose their marriage in the process.
When I suggested doing a babymoon, hubby was a bit skeptical. He couldn’t believe that was actual term. (Why, yes, yes it is. Even if defined by the less-credible-than-Merriam-Webster-Dictionary site Urban Dictionary.) Heck, you’ve probably also heard about babymoons from here, here, and here among others. Just like a couple celebrates their marriage with a honeymoon, so too can a couple celebrate their upcoming birth with a babymoon.
We can give you plenty of ideas on WHERE to go, but I don’t want to focus on that here. Instead, I’d rather tell you WHY you should consider this investment. Read on!
1. IT REALLY IS THE LAST TIME IT’S TRULY JUST THE TWO OF YOU
I had to lead off with the most obvious reason. Yes, you can still travel together as a couple without your child(ren) in the future. (You absolutely should, too!) But that travel will always be shadowed by what your kid is up to at home, are they behaving, are they physically okay, who’s going to babysit them, is that babysitter okay, and so on. You may likely even change the types of travel and excursions you participate in in order to be “safer” because you’re parents now. Before that baby arrives, you are still YOU and not “mom” or “dad.” Your train of thought will be different than what it will become. Go and take a trip before you enter into that next stage in life.
2. SET THE RULE: NO BABY TALK
I know, I know. That’s a tall order. But seriously, to make this worthwhile you gotta make it as baby-free as possible. You are spending approximately ten months talking, looking, crying, anticipating, worrying, and running every type of emotion possible about your pregnancy and baby. You can stand a few days NOT talking about him/her/them to just focus on the two of you as a couple. The freedom from not talking about the baby will actually feel good and be refreshing, I promise. (Yes, you will likely tell people why you are on vacation. And mom will have to say why she’s declining that frozen fruity adult beverage from the bar, but I mean no baby talk from the point of discussing nursery themes, whose mother is going to be in the birthing suite when mom is in labor, are you getting a widwife, doula or both, will you hire a birth photographer, etc. Ohhh, you even get away from the crazy in-laws talking about the baby, too. Nod your head with me and say it out loud, no baby talk for the duration of a vacation...ahhhhhhhhh!)
The point is to treat yourselves and your relationship.
3. CONSIDER IT AS MANDATORY RELATIONSHIP MAINTENANCE
I can’t count the number of times that I’ve heard that having a baby doesn’t save a marriage. In fact, having kids puts additional strain on marriages. If you want to be the best parents you can, you need to nourish the relationship you have. The best advice we’ve been given since becoming pregnant has been to show our child the love we have for one another. That’s powerful stuff. And that only happens with effort. If what we experience and feel emotionally while pregnant truly does impact the baby, then I know our little one felt that happiness, love and respect that we have for each other during our 5-night babymoon in Jamaica.
4. YOUR RELATIONSHIP IS WORTH SOMETHING
You knew I’d get to the money at some point, right? You’ve been waiting. That little thought in the back of your mind saying, oh no we can’t afford to do a babymoon. Insider alert: The babymoon doesn’t need to cost thousands of dollars. Or tens of thousands of dollars. Sure, I’d love to send you to Bora Bora for a 14-night stay in an over-the-water bungalow, but you can still get the same effect if I send you to the Caribbean or a nice hotel somewhere to go toodle around for a long weekend. The point is to treat yourselves and your relationship. You are about to embark on a new journey where instead of being partners or husband and wife you are becoming parents to a new being. Don’t you deserve to treat that relationship to something special and honor where it’s been and where it’s going?
5. SLEEP, RELAXATION, AND FUN!
Those are going to be in short demand as a pregnancy wears on for all of you. Taking a babymoon after the throes of the first trimester just plain feels GOOD. You can sleep still on your back (you will miss this dearly, future-moms). You can eat stuff again. Future-moms, you’re not ungainly and finding it hard to bend or move quite yet. And, heck, when WAS the last time you took a vacation??
In summary, the babymoon is about YOU and YOUR RELATIONSHIP. You shouldn’t feel forced into overspending or feeling like it’s not something you have the possibility of ever doing. If you work with a great travel agent who’s been there and understands, then you, too, can share in the benefits stemming from a babymoon. A great agent will help you navigate all vacation options in consideration of both what you want to spend,what experience you want, and provide some advice on location considerations. If you’ve taken a babymoon, we’d love to hear to hear from you in the comments!
Contact us to help plan your babymoon or next Dream Vacation. Go There With Us,