A New Chapter: Moving While Pregnant and Navigating Toddler Life

Moving is HARD. Especially being 7 months pregnant with a toddler in tow. When we decided as a family that we were going to make the cross-state move to Charlotte after living in Florida together for over a decade, I knew there was going to be a lot of work ahead of us. 

To start - knowing the move out/move in date made it easy to create a timeline and work backwards on what we needed to organize for the move. From there, I created a ‘Moving Task Checklist’ to stay aligned and know what the priorities are.

Out of everything listed above, getting estimates from moving companies was the most challenging. The industry is tough and can scam you - so you really need to do your research and find a trustworthy contact to give an accurate quote. I selected 3 vendors. The first vendor did an in-person estimate, the other two were on the phone. 

Lesson learned - GO WITH THE IN PERSON VENDOR. I ended up selecting one that was on the phone. On the move-out date, we got charged double the estimate. For a fun visual: when I found this out, I was in the kitchen trying to negotiate with the mover while my toddler was grabbing at my legs to grab her a snack. (Make sure you pack your pantry last ha!). 

Moving estimates are all quoted on how many cubic feet your things take up on a truck. So if they don’t actually see your things, the quote is beyond inaccurate. I wish I knew how important that was so reiterating it here in case I can save one person’s expenses and sanity.

Thankfully the rest of the move went smoothly and we received our things pretty quickly - but we were prepared with a pack & play set for our tot and a new queen mattress we got for the guest room once we moved in…I wasn’t going to be sleeping on the floor!