Taking down the vinyl shower curtain liner and throwing it away, then putting the fabric curtain and the shower curtain rings into a long soak followed by a vigorous wash cycle, then wiping down the shower curtain rod, then putting the shower curtain back up with a brand-new liner. That is just good housekeeping.
Buying four 12-packs of toilet paper. That is just being prepared.
Baking one hundred and forty-four muffins and freezing them. That is smart meal-planning.
Insisting to Paul that the oil in the minivan must be changed before the 31st. That is sensible automobile maintenance and will prolong the life of our vehicle.
Keeping up with the laundry so relentlessly I am almost but not quite washing individual pairs of socks. That is merely an improvement over the usual Mt. Laundry situation.
Do you think that nesting is biological? That is, do you think it’s motivated by the various chemicals of pregnancy, and/or that it is connected to the nearness of labor? Or do you think nesting is a result of the natural restlessness that comes with intense waiting, and/or the sensible realization that after the baby comes there will be less time to devote to baking and cleaning?
hahaha. I think there’s probably a little of both the biological and the rational in nesting. But I know that in the end of my pregnancies, I typically go BONKERS with needing things perfect–things that I don’t normally obsess over. I don’t know how to explain it. But it’s a good thing, otherwise the pregnancy exhaustion and discomfort would keep me from being AT ALL READY for the big day!!!
Well, it does help pass the time. And it’s so great to feel like things are in order when you come home from the hospital. It’s so much easier to recover when things are in order! I was obsessed about that during the last weeks of my last pregnancy. I was so worried about what the house would be like after my husband and twins were home alone for a few days. As it turned out, the twins stayed with family for my entire hospital stay, so I did get my dream of coming home to a pristine house. It was divine! Hope your recovery is just as lovely! You will post pics of the little one, right?
My mom was doing some ironing while in the early stages of labor with me. Granted…it was the 60s and I think people actually ironed a little more than I do these days but that image has always make me laugh. I guess she figured she wouldn’t want to be ironing afterwards. Less than a week to go now, girl!
Oh also, I made some muffins last week and froze a couple dozen. Whenever I open the freezer and see them waiting there for me in their nice ziploc bags, I think of you. Hehe!
I think I am the only woman on the planet who didn’t nest before labor. Perhaps an indication of what a clueless mother I was going to be?
I vote for those weird chemical changes that pregnancy hormones cause. That’s the only rational explanation for why at almost 9 months pregnant I suddenly decided that the kitchen floor HAD to be washed right at that moment. By hand.
When I was pregnant with my first I said, this isn’t nesting it’s I don’t have a f*cking thing done! It was the same with my second’s birth. I washed everything we own to get ready for the baby. I think it’s a combination of the two.
I think Trena and I are twins because I did the same exact thing with both of my kids. A few days before each due date I HAD to scrub the kitchen and bathroom floors by hand. I’d never had the desire to do that before. Of course, imagine my husband’s horror to find me doing it again yesterday (six months post-partum)…we may be in for a “surprise” if washing the floors truly is my biological response to being pregnant.
Coming out of lurkville to comment on Nesting because I truly damaged my mother for good this time! We moved when I was 8 months pregnant & the amount of effort that I put & demanded that my mother put into making sure the linen closet was just right still makes me cringe when I open it & since my mother often brings it up, I cannot forget it anytime soon!
Never nested, so no clue. Perhaps it is simply a way to pass the microseconds until sleep has left the building and another little human being has joined?
I think my husband is doing some odd post-baby nesting. Who in the world sweeps before they go to work in the morning?
My entire family came over and nested for me. They would let me get off the couch. It was insane.
I never felt compelled or nested (then again I never went into labor on my own either)
But… the sensible side of me forced things to get done because I knew if I didn’t do them then, they’d never freaking get done till the kid was 6 months old.
I remember being 9 mos preg w/my daugher and we HAD to clean the freaking dirt and cobwebs off the front porch. It just looked totally awful and I hated opening the windows. Plus sitting out there was just a nightmare with all the spiders and bugs. My husband was being limp wristed about it and after 20 minutes of instruction I finally just grabbed the damn brush and did it myself while he sat on the couch and watched me.
My mother in law will forever annoy me by insisting this was nesting. (nevermind she didn’t even care her son sat there and watched me!) But if I didn’t do it I’d have had to sit on the front porch like that all summer. Yuck.
I think it’s innate. There is no nest to build, so one must spiff up the nest she has. I’ll never forget recaulking our tub when I could barely reach over to do it. Because how could someone bathe their baby in a tub that was so filthy (knowing full-well we’d be using the plastic infant tub). Rewashing the tiny onesies ONE MORE TIME. I think it’s biological. Good luck with that!
It’s a combination of all the factors you mentioned, but I do think if you tend to get OCD about things even un-pregnant, you’re definitely a lot more likely to go crazy with it when you ARE awaiting the arrival of a baby. I nested like a madwoman last time, and I’m already doing it with this one, since I’m anticipating another round with bedrest. (Think of all the time I’ll have on my hands if I get all that cleaning and baby clothes sorting done and then I DON’T go early!)
This is hilarious! You aren’t nesting. Just doing what we all should be doing, but never do, because only people who are 9 months pregnant, and/or out of their minds do it, so it IS nesting! :)
Isn’t it funny how men view all the day-to-day, humdrum chores as some kind of phenomenon we women go through? Geniuses, aren’t they? Personally I think it’s a good mix of both our natural instincts and just plain common sense. It’s just that it seems more manic to somebody whose not toting a watermelon around WHILE trying to get the house in order for the new arrival.
Great blog here! So glad I visited (though I’m not quite sure how I got here). I’ll be back to see how things are going! BTW, I’ve linked you on my Monday Morning Munchies post this week!
Happy Monday!
Yes, I believe this is nesting.
I didn’t do one bit of nesting, now I’m paying for it.
Nesting is harder when you already have kids in the nest. Which means nesting is more like “keeping up with the every day stuff.”
im a crazy freak who likes for everything to be done all of the time so that the to-do list slate is clean so this is me on a normal day. AND I DONT HAVE KIDS! my husband is a good man to live like this! :)