bringing baby home to a building site

[louisenew]

Help! I'm in a bit of a state. My husband and I bought a wreck of a house about a year ago and have had to do everything to it. The plan was to have it all finished by the time baby comes - I am 34 weeks along now - and with Christmas in the way all our builders are letting us down and the boiler has given out meaning we are without hot water or heating until the new year.

I go on maternity leave on Friday and was desperate for a rest but face dealing with a procession of builders and still having a mess of a house to bring baby home to.

I'm a really organised person but this house we have bought has thrown everything it has at us and I simply can't organise for this all to be done by the time the baby arrives. I am sat here at work and can't even face going home I hate it so much / its so cold.

I see everyone else setting up their nurseries and gathering baby stuff together and I can't do that.

Please someone else tell me they have experienced something like this. We'll have a baby in 6 weeks...!

You have my utter sympathy! I'm 33 weeks, and we too bought a wreck of a house last year. We've finally got rid of the trades, but everything is covered in plaster dust, and there's lots still to do. I put DH on a deadline to finish the nursery and our bedroom this week, and he's worked really hard to achieve it.

We still have more to do but I'm really really hoping we'll have done everything by the time baby arrives. Even if it involves working really late in the evenings (as DH is doing tonight).

We've sunk more money than we can afford into getting things moving.

Oh poor you, I really feel for you! My house is a building site at the moment too. Im only 23+4 though so mine should all be sorted by xmas. (well it should be after I had a massive hysterical meltdown at them all on on Friday, no one can say they arent clear on my expectations now!)

We are getting through it by making each room habitable and 'normal' one by one and shutting the door on the others for now. How bad is it?! Its hard to separate hormones from being reasonable when theres so much going on, I was like you last week, not wanting to go home when really all I wanted was to get to bed for a nap!

I would suggest you sort the boiler out asap, it's got to be done. No hot water/heating is dire.
If you're anywhere near SE London give me a pm and I'll point you towards a reliable plumber.

I hope everything else I assume is more or less cosmetic?

Is your bedroom nice and decorated? Or the living room or ideally both? Somewhere for you to snuggle up with baby when it arrives is crucial.

We moved into a wreck last year and I'm still struggling with it. Ideally wanted hallway decorated before xmas, but a bad neck has kept me from sanding the woodwork for the last 2 days. Sanding, then painting woodwork, then painting walls... it's never ending.

When we moved in the youngest was 3. I think living on a building site with baby is much easier, before they start crawling.

Hope you get it all sorted soon.

I'd also suggest getting any plastering done before baby arrives, as the dust is really not good for it to be breathing in.

Thank you so much everyone. I have just commuted home from work and made dinner and plan to go straight to bed. As you say greentshirt there is probably a big dose of hormones in there.

We have a done bedroom and with a bit of luck a sitting room by CinnamonPorridge so I can nest in these rooms I guess. Will have to get boiler sorted I agree. I think we just might struggle to sort before Christmas which is a pain.

Need to keep calm for baby but its tough. I'm tired but sort of wish I was at work a bit longer to escape all this!!

Thanks again!