Anyone else have to pack and move while pregnant? « Back to Group Discussions

[StartingAllOver]

I am not having any fun here! 

DP and I are moving into a new place at the beginning of Feb., so I am packing up half of the house I have lived in for 16 years. Half means that I am sorting and organizing everything before I can determine what goes into my box, the donate the box, or xDH's box. Lots of decision making. 

I am mostly on my own with it, because xDH isn't particularly cooperative, and DP doesn't want to step on his toes. 

It is exhausting. 

Being tired from pregnancy doesn't help much either. I don't feel like I am getting much time to nurture myself, and it is hard to feel connected to the baby. 

What have other mamas done to muddle through a move mid-pregnancy?

[NorthernFamily]

Yes, I have been there, and we moved twice! 

I don't have any tips, I think I just kind of left my body (lots of other things going on too) and Jesus took over... 

Praying for you darlin'!!! 

[CountryMommy]

Yes and it totally sucks! We just moved at the beginning of December from BC to AB, we lived in our BC house for 9yrs, had 2 little kids, 3 dogs, 5 horses and a cat to move and I was SO SO tired and exhausted during that time. BUT on a plus, at least it's done and over with now. Moving in Feb will be great too because you will be all unpacked and ready well before baby comes. Good luck mama!

[ashleybrook]

hugs mama. sounds like you are in a rough place. i am not going through a move now...but i did one my last pregnancy at 7 months. i honestly didn't find it that stressful, but then i was really excited about it and i love to organize. i did all the packing myself in about a month except the garage, and the unpacking in less than 7 days...but obviously none of the lifting at that point. to pack i just did a box or two boxes a day-- little by little it was done and that way i didn't have to a mountain of boxes at a time. took my time but stayed at it...i guess you could say i recommend like the story the tortoise and the hare...look at how much you have to do and pace yourself so the at end of your deadline it's just as smooth. also, the unpacking always goes much faster! i hope it turns out to be as smooth of a transition as possible for everyone involved...and the move! 

[rainbownurse]

my husband and I are looking for a new place right now and I'm not looking forward to moving while pregnant. But it's better than the alternative of having a baby in our little one bedroom apartment. 

[lolliegee]

We're planning on moving before baby arrives. We desperately need a bigger house, but due to some financial stuff right now, we can't start looking yet. Looking forward to a bigger house, but NOT looking forward to packing this house that we've been in for 7 1/2 years.

[StartingAllOver]

Thanks for the encouragement ladies!

I am trying to get 2-3 boxes packed per day. We have a ton of books and knick-knacks from all the years of living in one place and just accumulating things. Makes me wish I liked bare shelves and walls! lol
It is a pretty weird and kind of rough time in life, many transitions, lots of mixed emotions in the kids. I know that in a year, this will all be fading into a distant memory, and life will feel settled and happy again. We all deserve that. Sometimes I just wish life had a fast-forward button!


 

[Chipi]

I'm moving EARLY FebrUARY. I guess earlier in our pregnancies is better than later, right?? We're leaving my husband's Navy post (San Diego) and heading home to Seattle Wa. The most stressful part of our move is we're not sure where we're going to live when we get there! We'll be staying with family for a few weeks until we find an apartment. That part stresses me out the most since I'm concerned that my MIL will have strong opinions about my pregnancy. (She's a nurse and really PRO what I'm really CON.) 

Do you have people helping you move? Are you moving somewhere you're happy to move to?

[StartingAllOver]

Chipi~ sounds like we are in the same time frame of moving.

We love the house we are moving into. It is plenty big and was my parents house before my father died. My brother is living there, and may stay after we move in, which I like because we get along really well and are good friends as well as being siblings.

The day of the move, we will hopefully have some friends with strong arms and trucks here to help. Otherwise, it will be just the two of us (and my 14 year old) with one truck. :-\
I am hoping and planning on the the best case scenario, though. Don't want to borrow trouble!
 

[g&a]

a couple of thoughts:

1. in February you will probably have more energy being in the 2nd trimester, but you won't be huge and uncomfortable yet.  Perfect time to move if you must during pregnancy.  And won't it feel great to be out of the old house and starting the new life with the new baby.  good energy. 

2. last time we moved we got a big garbage bin in the driveway.  Threw out SO MUCH stuff.  It was awesome.

3. I helped my (very) pregnant sister move last year.  Get as much help as possible. People love to be useful.

[Ruheling]

Did you wind up with any good ideas for now to handle moving? We're moving across country in a week (and then need to find a more permanent house), and I'm a little overwhelmed with everything that needs to somehow get done.

[StartingAllOver]

Originally Posted by Ruheling 

Did you wind up with any good ideas for now to handle moving? We're moving across country in a week (and then need to find a more permanent house), and I'm a little overwhelmed with everything that needs to somehow get done.

Oh boy! I do not envy you your cross country move!  Ours was only 10 minutes away.

It was completely overwhelming, and I never felt on top of things, but somehow we made it. lol  My only advice is to write lots of lists and keep them updated as you complete things/pack things. That and rest when you need to, then get up and keep plugging away. Be kind to yourself and allow yourself extra time to do things. Don't push too hard. It isn't worth the saeveral days it takes to get back on track. 
Remember~ you will get to the other side! It won't last forever! 

I wish you well mama. :)

[coalifetime]

I desire to move locally and I have been trying to get my house ready to sell.  That means that I have been packing up boxes but they aren't going anywhere.  I am trying to have dh help but it is not working yet.  I would love to be able to sell this house and find another one before the baby comes but I am trying to just be content with selling this house and being ready for the next one while we wait it out in an apartment.  I don't want to feel pressure to buy a house that isn't ideal since I want certain features.

[Ruheling]

@StartingAllOver and @coalifetime: Thanks for the encouragement and I totally feel your pain. There's lots of lists, but I keep doing things like putting the (full) rice cooker in the cabinet (which requires redoing a lot of already done things). My husband's trying to start a new job/wrap up the old job and I'm starting a new  project, so while we're trying to help each other, we're barely staying above water as individuals. I'm thankful we'll have a temporary apartment, but really want (like coallifetime) to be in a house by the time baby is born. I think that (at least) we decided to take 3.5-4 days to do the drive instead of 2 very very long days.

Our house (here) is under contract, but appears that the buyers due diligence check might have just bounced, which is NOT NOT NOT good. On the positive side (I guess?) I'm totally ready to start nesting, wherever we wind up.

[lolliegee]

We are going to have to move in the next couple months. Due to some poor decisions on our part and some deceptions from someone else, we're losing our house. We're mostly okay with it. This house is too small anyway. But, the crazy thing is, my hubby quit his job in January and we're both in the process of starting new businesses. So, right now, we have to no verifiable income. (Actually, we don't have any income yet. We're living off his 401k.) Hubby wants to get an RV instead of another house for now and travel around with the kids. I like the idea to some extent, but would feel better knowing we had a home base to come back to. Especially for when it's time for baby to make his appearance. Either way, we'll be packing up the house we've been living in for seven years. Not a task I'm looking forward to!

[cinderella08]

Yes.  In June!  I'll be *HUGE* and exhausted but that gives me an excuse to sit and order the hubby around - LOL

[phobiageek]

Sorry you're going through that! I just had to move out of the place I lived with my xDH and into a new place with my DP. xDH also wasn't cooperative so I just gave him a timeline on when to pick things up or they were going to Goodwill. That did the trick. But it really sucks to move while pregnant. I was SO tired and over it by the end of it. I've been in the new house for 3 weeks and still not done unpacking because I have no desire. I do a teeny bit (like 30 minutes) each day because I know when I hit the nesting phase I'll want it all done. Good luck!

[heyitskalista]

I moved at 38 weeks with my first. Honestly I found that move a zillion times easier than the move with a 3 year old and 6 month old!

Take your time unpacking. It'll get done eventually!

Lolliegee- sorry about your house! An tv sounds so fun! I'd love to do that. Then buy some land and build a house. But I doubt that'll ever happen!

[lolliegee]

I think it sounds fun, although a bit crazy too. Especially with all our boys! I would definitely like to do it if we already had a house and could do a month at a time, so no one would get too crazy. We're still trying to decide what we're doing. I'm starting to feel really antsy that we haven't started any packing yet, but we've been dealing with a nasty virus for two weeks! No one has any energy to do anything. It's been difficult just trying to take care of the kids' basic needs, let alone do anything extra.