The need to nest

I've heard about the nesting instinct before but had no clue it would hit me this early in pregnancy. While I’ve always been a neat freak and generally abhor clutter, I suddenly felt like our small home and all its contents were closing in on me this weekend.

On Saturday, I awoke with an overwhelming urge to deep clean the fridge and start removing everything from the nursery-to-be. Despite having made excellent progress, that afternoon brought about an attack of nerves, a sobbing fit and a big lesson on patience and understanding from my poor hubby. I still have another 10-12 weeks of gestation and yet I felt overwhelmed and far behind schedule in preparations. To make matters worse, I was convinced that I was a failure for not having everything 100% ready. Presto – I was hit with the infamous raging hormones of pregnancy.

In retrospect, both hubby (bless his soul) and I managed to get a heap of work accomplished this weekend: Deep clean the fridge, vacuum, wash the floors, dusting, laundry, weed the garden, cut the grass and do groceries. On top of all this, we also managed to sell the guest bed that was occupying the nursery; it was purchased and picked up within five hours of posting it on the internet for sale. Hubby also moved an old bookcase out of the room and into the basement to make way for new furniture. Mom and I also went on the hunt for a glider to put in the nursery; in the end we settled for a very comfy and beautiful set at BRU. The glider and ottoman are a gift from Mom and Dad and we are so grateful for the generous offer, which will undoubtedly be put to good use during those late night feedings and lulling baby to sleep.

I still have these anxious feelings that things need to be done “pronto,” but I keep telling myself to relax and take a deep breath. With a near-empty room, we’ll be able to start installing chair rail and painting the nursery soon (I think a small part of me will relax when that is done). To help me through this strange nesting process, I decided to draft up a “To Do” list of all the big items I hope to have accomplished by October. If anything, just checking off items on the list will bring me comfort and hopefully this will curb any future Mommy meltdowns.