Moving While Pregnant

It's happening. 

I'm 6 months pregnant and my husband found our dream house.

Porch at our old house, packed to capacity, waiting to be moved.

I had zero intention of uprooting our entire household, packing it in boxes, and trucking it to a new house (which would of course need cleaning). Then we got new neighbors. Don't get me wrong, they are perfectly nice neighbors. But my husband would prefer no neighbors at all.

These neighbors have four children under the age of 5. They themselves are from a large family, and the day they moved in, their crew of helpers included more than 10 little blonde boys too young to actually help. Those little boys spent the afternoon hooting and hollering and throwing a ball in the backyard- and frequently into our backyard.

My husband spent the afternoon in our back porch watching them, fuming.

"We have to move." was all he said when I came home from work. This was back in mid August, and I agreed, thinking it would wait until spring.

NOPE.

Two days later he sent me the web link to the house we've now purchased. It's a big house- much bigger than I ever thought we'd own (3,500 sq ft). And it has most of the things we want in a house (except an updated kitchen). We live here, in the Keweenaw, and houses younger than 100 years old are usually far outside the budget. We got really lucky that the couple selling the house was in a hurry to see it go before winter sets in.

We got this fantastic house which should have been light-years beyond our reach for a really good deal. I couldn't tell him no- not to the house that is the closest he'll ever get to his dream home. He doesn't live in a fantasy world like I do; he needs the tangible dreams. So I caved, sure, we could move while I was pregnant.

UGH.

Hubby's lucky I think he's cute and seeing him happy is worth the headaches. I like the new house a lot- but it's been a lot of work. The previous owner was a smoker- and smoked inside. EW. Removing smoke residue and odor has been a 3 week+ job at this point. I've had to wash every surface I could in vinegar water (5 gallons of vinegar so far and counting). I've repainted nearly every room (paint is not cheap). I have coated every carpet in baking soda to try and eliminate the odor- it persists. Even the dust on the overhead lighting cord is caked with thick tobacco tar, and the cross of Christ is embossed in tar on the walls.

Tar Dust

The tobacco embossed love of Christ

I don't recommend moving while pregnant, but I even more so do not recommend moving into a house that was owned by a smoker. Even if you aren't pregnant, cleaning up after a smoker is not fun.

Now, all that being said, I have made progress. I enlisted help from my friends and family. My husband, despite our complete differences in painting style, has managed to not annoy me too much in his attempts to help. And for Christmas, all I want is a professional to come in and clean the carpets.

In the meantime, I've been keeping myself awake at night running through the checklist of things still needing to get done. The clock is ticking before I'm too pregnant to do the work myself anymore. I already am working at a slowed pace because of the baby, and taking extra precaution with the cleaning ingredients. But the vinegar, baking soda, and stain/odor sealing primer is working!

So if you're planning to move while pregnant- don't. And if you absolutely have to move in order to get a better situation to bring baby home to- get as much help as you can.

In the end, I'm going to get to bring our new baby home to our forever home, clean and tobacco free. The stability that growing up in my family's forever home gave me is exactly what I've always wanted for my own children (and yes, my parents still live in that house).

The grumpy husband who was fuming that day I came home from work over some neighbor kids has brought me to a place in my life I didn't dream of seeing for another decade or more. It still blows me away how lucky I am to have him, and while I don't recommend adding the stress of moving to your pregnancy if you can avoid it, I can't recommend enough having a partner in life who shares your goals. Two heads are better than one- and I certainly never could have achieved what we have together if I had tried to go it alone.

And if you're cleaning up after a smoker- white vinegar, baking soda, and Kilz primer paint are your new best friends. They've been life savers for me.

Until next time,
Emma Leigh