Moving to a new place whilst pregnant

[staycaysandvacays]

For those of you that have moved whilst pregnant/with a newborn how did you find it?

We are considering doing this to be closer to both mine and DH's jobs, but we would have no family nearby. They would be 1.5hrs+ away. The idea of this is making me quite uneasy and I find it daunting, the idea of being a new mum but not having a support network.

I'd love to hear the experiences of those who have done it and how they have found it!

I moved at 8 months pregnant. We don't have family support here, and friends are now 45 minutes away, so haven't really met the baby (who is now nearly 2). That was a bit of a surprise!

But overall it's been great. We love where we live, DS has thrived here. I threw myself into baby groups, tested loads, and found some great friends that I've known from the newborn days and still see a couple of times a week now.

The lack of family support wasn't expected - it's more to do with the in-laws deciding they preferred DH before he was a Dad than our location - but we've done fine. You build a bit of a network you can rely on if needs be, and it works out. I've never known any different, which I think might be useful - I can imagine it'd be harder if you moved from people who'd provided a load of help and then didn't. As it is, I was pregnant and then our baby arrived and we've done it all ourselves, pretty much, and so that was our "normal".

I wouldn't be daunted. I'm glad that we made the move, and I'd make it again, even with the hard bits. Fair enough I've lost some childhood friends that I thought would be like family to DS, but we've gained a lot, in terms of new friends and access to things for him, better quality of life, etc.

Both my recent house moves were whilst pregnant. It was so much easier! The movers wouldn't let me lift anything at all, and were so sympathetic and helpful, and everyone was just generally nicer. And I have a severe case of resting bitch face.

Honestly, it's not generally much of a problem. But make sure you have a trolley for moving boxes if you have to, and clearly label all boxes with where they're going so you don't have to drag upstairs stuff by yourself afterwards.

@YouveGotAFastCar that all makes sense. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I think not knowing any different would be better actually, rather than having everyone rallying around and then nothing. That would definitely be much worse.

I would have to just throw myself into NCT classes and mummy and baby classes!

@VikingLady sounds ideal!

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@johnnydoe ?

If you think your family will be really hands-on, helpful and involved (in a nice way) I would think twice. Good family support is invaluable and I have friends with no network who are really struggling. But if it’s a move you really want to make and would likely make in the future anyway, it’s probably better to do it now before you get accustomed to local help.

We personally decided to stay local to family when I was pregnant and I’m so glad we did, but we also wfh and live in a lovely area so it wasn’t a really hard choice (we were considering moving for a cheaper, bigger house).

@AtLeastThreeDrinks we have to move anyway as I commute to work about 2 hours one way currently and DH will be moving jobs too so no point both of us commuting so far.

Would love to have the family help and always thought we would have but it's now impractical.

I agree that moving earlier rather than later would be better