Moving at end of pregnancy and homebirth?

[summer rain]

it looks very likely we are doing a homeswap* we have been looking for ages; but nothing has been suitable; now a suitable swap comes along and its cutting it fine to say the least! We don't think another opportunity like this will come along especially with all the changes to social housing legislation and rents that are up and coming; and for various reasons we are deeply unhappy with our current place. Our current place has very restricted parking and they are now going to clamp anyone parking outside the development; which I worried would mean a midwife would deem this place unsuitable for a homebirth anyway.

We have heard it can take up to 8 weeks for the swap to be completed paperwork et al, although it can take as little as two. If it takes 8 weeks I will nearly be term when moving and it will be a totally different area so while I could still technically give birth at my now local hospital if I chose that route; the midwives around here are fixed to very specific local areas so I wouldn't be able to get them to come to my new place. The new place needs little work before moving in and nothing on the ground floor needs doing, but just unpacking etc is going to be a nightmare; but I could see it being more of a nightmare with a newborn to take care of while moving; plus the other family are keen to move by xmas so this is why we don't want to delay it. Anyone moved right at the end of their pregnancy and had a homebirth amongst the clutter and lived to tell the tale? Also does anyone have experience of homebirth under the care of Homerton or royal London hospitals as that is the area where the new place will be...?

*For those unaware or outside of the UK a homeswap is where you permanently swap homes with another social housing tenant overseen by your landlord, its not a holiday home swap.

 

[keava]

I wouldn't worry - we are moving to our new house next sat - I will be 37 weeks. I have already registered with a new doc and midwife in that area and everything is still goign to plan.
Hope that helps
K xx

 

[babydustcass]

we moved when i was 30 weeks and it was fine! I didnt do any of the lifting but i did co-ordinate, direct and unpack! Get family and friends to chip in unpacking and assembling. It was our first home so everything was new and had to be assembled from scratch, it took a few days to get everything set up but it was exciting more than stressfull

 

[summer rain]

thanks ladies; unfortunately family are not very helpful (even though we have helped them to move many a time, grr) but should be able to get friends to chip in. We are quite minimalist so I'm hoping its not too much upheaval! The housing association have reassured us that usually everything is completed in 6 weeks; if not sooner.

 

[9isDivine]

The best advice I could give is to get as much as as possible from anywhere you can!

I would unpack the necessities and leave the rest until after birth if possible. The two biggest problems I see would be 1) becoming overtired and worn out, which could lead to a more difficult or prolonged labor, and 2) being stressed, which can wear out your adrenals which you will need in great shape for labor.

Please be cautious and pay closer attention to your body. The end of a pregnancy is not a good time to push. Some women do fine with it and others don't. You won't know if you can handle it until a little too late.
I wish I lived in the UK to come and help you move...my kids are excellent movers.

Best of wishes!
Kim
mom of 9

 

[summer rain]

Hi

thanks Kim (btw my MIL is mum of 11 ); I always go a bit mad with the home improvement and such right at the end and so far its led to precipitous labours, with my youngest although we didn't move just then I rearranged some furniture and took down all my curtains, washed and ironed them and steam cleaned everywhere the day before haha, I really had to stop myself doing anything more strenuous. Its like I get this burst of energy and a compulsive nesting instinct. That labour was approx 1hr 45 minutes in total. We've been back to see the house again and there is less needing doing than we first thought; and hopefully since its larger than this place and we have got rid of a lot of clutter; all our clothes etc can just be bunged into the spare room for now. There are also several built in and fitted wardrobes (closets); whereas we will have to dismantle and trash the freestanding wardrobes we have now as they will surely disintegrate on moving; they were cheap self assembly ones. So with most of the clothing (which is actually most of our stuff; hehe) its just a question of putting on hangers and putting away in the cupboards built into that place. We've handed in all our paperwork now and the other party should be doing so on Monday so its just a question of when the housing powers that be approve things. Wish us luck!