Moving house at 27 weeks

[Katietatie123]

Hi all,
I'm moving house next weekend and approaching it with a sense of impending doom. DH is slim to say the least, and not very practical when it comes to all things moving related. I know the advice all says don't lift things, but realistically, what do you think I could get away with without doing myself any damage? Obviously I'll err on the side of caution, but literally doing nothing apart from make tea and direct will drive me nuts!

i moved house at 37.5 weeks. i went to a spa for the day and left DP and some friends to get on with it.

they'd done the big stuff (more or less where it needed to be) i still unpacked most of the boxes, slowly. i moved things around a bit and put up curtain poles and curtains and blinds and pictures, made up the beds etc.

it was fine, i was a bit slow, and a bit frustrated by not being able to just pick things up and move them.

went on to give birth at 38 weeks though, make of that what you will

I moved at about 30 weeks. I am a bit of a control freak so can kind of understand your frustration at not being able to do too much. I sat with DH and wrote lists of exactly what I wanted him to do as I knew he woudl get annoyed with me for doing too much and I would get annoyed if things weren't where I wanted them :)

As for actual moving day I would call in favours from as many friends/ family as you can so you are not tempted to lift anything. You'll be surprised just how many people are willing to help out. I made myself useful by supplying a constant stream of tea and bacon butties and doing some cleaning.

Also label boxes with the rooms they are to go into and then direct movers in the right direction when they get there so you can just stand and unpack things rather than shift boxes or furniture around.

To be honest, I don't think its worth taking any risks as far as your physical health or the baby's is concerned. I wouldn't have wanted to go through labour with any pre-existing injuries or aching muscles.

Hope the move goes smoothly.

I'm moving sometime between now (also 27 weeks) and shortly after baby is born. My rule is that'll I'll lift anything as heavy as a two year old because when we have a second I figure I'll be lifting the first. That's about two stone. But I won't be lifting the whole day and not carrying too far if I can help it, I don't think it's a good idea to get too knackered!

I'm planning on doing the packing of clothes, the kitchen etc and cleaning. We're hiring a "man and van" to lift the heavy stuff with DH.

I moved at about 24 weeks (having spent the preceding 10 weeks doing up gutting the house) and am also a total control freak. I had most of the boxes packed in advance - all well labeled. We had lots of lovely friends to help us with the lifting and I mostly just directed. It was fine. I accepted that most of the boxes got dumped where there was a space and concentrated on things that we couldn't shift between DH & I once people left. The rest I mostly unpacked over the next few weeks.

Just be careful how/what you lift. Keep well within you capability and accept that it will take longer that it would have otherwise.

btw we look like doing the same thing again so it must not have been that bad (with a 2yr old!)!!

I moved house at 36 weeks while DH was on holiday with his parents in Italy at a wedding. I was considered too late on to fly.

I can't offer any advice re lifting I just am still so incensed at his behaviour (DD now 3) I wanted to mention it!

Don't do it! I mean do move, but don't lift anything. The reason you're not supposed to lift stuff when you're pregnant is twofold:

• your ligaments are softer and if you stretch them - unlike muscles - they don't ever go back how they were;
• your stomach muscles can separate, similar to a hernia

Suppress your control freak tendencies and get any friends/family you can in to help!

Thanks for all of your wisdom ladies - I'll put my inner control freak back in its box! :o

It's almost a sign - I've woken up today with backache and an ache down my side - something is telling me to step away from those boxes....

I moved at 36 weeks after having spent 4 weeks decorating. There is plenty to do that doesn't involve lifting. I was shocked at how much cleaning needed doing!

And there will surely there will lots that needs doing apart from heavy lifting?

Labelling
Lists
Packing and unpacking boxes for things like kitchen stuff, books, CDs, clothes etc.
Cleaning

The 'heavy' stuff you should probably leave to others, but there's still stacks to do!

D

Just adding my twopence worth here. I moved over new year when I was about 32 weeks. I was told by mw and physio (have back problems) not to do ANYTHING. Not even pack or unpack light boxes (because this aggrevates my bad back problem). I'm a total control freak. If I wern't pg I would have had every box packed weeks before moving and colour coded every room with the boxes headed to the corresponding room and had plans of each room and where the furniture should be placed (you get the idea!). Dhs way of moving turned out to be to get his dad and brother over and literally throw everything into random boxes on move day. It has meant that it took ages to unpack (nearly there now!) and a few things got a bit more wear and tear from the move than I would have allowed. On the day of the move I knew I was better off not being around as I'd just panic at all my furniture getting scuffed etc so I went to my parents for the day. I came home to a new house full of boxes (but a very appealing bed to dive into!).

I'd say do less than you think you can manage. I've got backache from unpacking a few bits and even sitting on the floor to sort out things I found really painful - it ended up that DH had to hold up every iten from each box and I had to instruct him as to where to put it.

I'd also advice not getting lots of workmen in to do all sorts of noisy and stresful works on your new house (unlike what we did!). The day after moving we had all the floor boards up in the sitting room to replace the joists which were rotten (and cue disguisting woodworm killer chemical fumes all over the house, a plumber to sort out bits and a handyman to help out DH with various bits and pieces. I awoke on my first morning in the new house to all this going on and spent the entire day in bed with terrible braxton hicks style feelings (never had them before or since) and feeling utterly terrible - I honestly thought the stress would send me into early labour then and there!

Personally, I'd go out for the day. If you're anything like me, irrational guilt at not helping will kick in and stress you out. This is a one-off, after all. I moved at 27 weeks btw. Good luck with it!

Helpiammoving has a whole section on moving when pregnant which may help:

www.helpiammoving.com/moving_house/moving_house_when_pregnant.php

I moved at 36 weeks, and did as much as I was allowed to by DH and the MIL. Mainly I cleaned rather than lifted boxes (the previous owners left the place in a shocking state - I refused to use the toilet before I'd cleaned it...), but I doubt I'd have done a lot of heavy lifting anyway (that's what the removal men were there for). Oh and I cooked dinner for everyone at the end of the day.

Unless you're really struggling with your pregnancy or have some medical complications, I reckon you can do most things - just listen to your body...