Time for a Babymoon?

Planning a 'Last Hurrah'

Enjoy the perks of being pregnant and some relaxing bonding time with your partner in one of the growing number of babymoon packages being offered by resorts and spa destinations across the country.

By Carolyn Graham

I was in my 32nd week of what felt like an endless pregnancy. My poor husband had finally managed to move the last of the boxes into our newly purchased home, which, our real estate agent had assured us, would be fine without air conditioning. I don't know too many pregnant women in their eighth month who are "fine without air conditioning" in the summertime. I was definitely far from "fine."

My ankles bore the shape of turnips, my feet fit only in one very unfashionable pair of Teva sandals and my tank top rolled up off my bloated belly like cheap window shades. Despite the momentous and wildly romantic occasion of moving into a new home, the only thing I wanted to do was have my husband, Steve, drive me around so I could enjoy a luxuriously air-conditioned traffic jam.

On a whim, Steve called up a hotel on the beach and booked the least expensive ocean-view room he could find to fit our depleted travel budget. In an instant, since we already were sitting on the highway, I was enjoying what would in just a few years become known officially as a "babymoon."

Like thousands of other couples who recognize the value of some serious one-on-one time before diaper duties take over, we reveled in having some time to reflect on why we decided to become parents in the first place. The travel industry has only recently gotten on the stork wagon, however, and savvy travel industry folks are finding that babymooning is almost as popular among pregnant women as banana splits. According to a 2005 Liberty Travel/Baby Center survey, $80 million in annual revenue can be attributed to babymooning couples.

Unable to ignore the ca-ching'ing in their ears, resorts, boutique hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns are offering cleverly named packages with everything from special menus to full-scale prenatal programs, thus ensuring that parents enter this new phase of life relaxed and ready for all those 2 a.m. feedings.

Babymoon: What Is It?

While the honeymoon is the traditional time for couples to celebrate the joining of two souls, the babymoon can be both a refresher course in romance and a time for reflecting on the new journey into parenthood.