Why do we do this to ourselves?

We’re moving.

Almost two years ago we changed jobs, got engaged, and moved halfway across the country within about a month. We somehow survived to joke about how crazy it all was, but now we are doing something similarly insane.

We are moving less than 5 weeks before my due date.

We needed a bigger apartment to house both our stuff and the influx of baby accoutrement, but our lease wasn’t going to be up until May. We figured a couple months of cramped living would be fine, particularly at a time when the baby isn’t crawling. Still, last fall we told our landlord that we wouldn’t be renewing the lease in our current place but that he should let us know if he had anything larger opening up. (We really like our landlord, and we knew he owned several other buildings in the area.)

Well, a couple of weeks ago he invited us to see an apartment that was opening up because the tenants are moving to Seattle. It was pretty much just what we needed. He wasn’t sure when the tenants would be leaving, so he said he’d get back to us on that. It turned out that they would be out by January 31.

Our landlord is willing to be flexible on our move date, but we decided that sooner is better than later. This way we will be fairly settled for when the baby arrives. (He’ll even have a real nursery!) Still, we only have a few weeks to orchestrate the move during a time that is already busy.

The hardest thing about this move is not the tight timeline, it’s accepting my own limits. I am typically prideful and stubborn in my independence. I am learning to ask for help from husband, but I’m still generally uncomfortable asking for help from other people. Under normal circumstances I would pack and move boxes myself; I would carry things up and down the stairs. But I’m not supposed to lift more that 25 lbs. And I can barely carry myself up and down the stairs. Although I will contribute to the packing and unpacking, the actual move will force me to do little else than point to where things should go.

All the baby books emphasize letting people do things for you. I guess this move will be practice for that.