There is a wacky phenomenon that is associated with pregnancy. A woman is preparing to grow her family and there’s a switch inside that gets turned on and causes her to go around her house changing things, tidying up, getting rid of stuff. This phenomenon is known as nesting.
This happened to me when I was pregnant with Hudson, but I had the urge to do some crazy things like shave Boudreaux bald because I wanted to protect our baby from all the dog hair. I didn’t do it and that’s mostly thanks to TC and his level-headed way of thinking.
With this pregnancy, I’m not really doing anything much to prepare a room for our baby. But I am starting to think about getting all of the baby boy clothes out of storage to wash them, organize them by size, and hang them in the closet. I know that as soon as I see all of those soft Kissy Kissy gowns and sweet little footed pajamas that I’ll feel like a baby is going to be sleeping in that room.
To make up for my lack of nesting in the nursery department, I’ve gone a little wild with the purging of the stuff. In a random moment, I began emptying out our pantry and tossing anything that we didn’t need. I know this seems wasteful, but there was a time when I would prepare my weekly menu and put some random dish on there that called for a random ingredient. So that ingredient got used once and that just took up space in my pantry. And then it expired. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I filled up 4 large trash bags full of expired dry pantry products. Sick!
I cleaned out my closet, which is not a great idea when you’re stuck to a strict maternity clothes wardrobe. But I took some stuff to be donated and have a pile of stuff that I’m going to sell on my blog. These are nicer things that I wore to wedding showers or other people’s weddings. But I just know that keeping them as a reminder of the size I used to be isn’t a great idea.
I’m an impulsive person. So when I get it in my head that a piece of furniture needs to be moved or a pantry needs to be cleaned out, I do it right then. I could wait a while for some help, but in my mind, no one else is operating on my timeline. I mean, hello? I have a ticking time bomb growing inside of me! I only have 13 weeks to clean out the pantry! If no one is going to help me right now, I’m just going to do it myself.
When I was pregnant with Hudson and our rocking chair was delivered, the UPS man wouldn’t bring it inside. And it was about to rain. So I moved the crazy thing inside like the insane pregnant person that I was. And I moved a chair in our bedroom yesterday. And at the time I was proud of myself for getting it done. (When I look back at those two wacky moments, I know that it was probably the stupidest thing I could have done.)
I was cleaning out one of the catch-all junk baskets in our house the other day that tends to hold things like magazines, birthday cards, fabric swatches, etc. I came across the notebook I used to write everything down when I was pregnant with Hudson. It was my to-do list notebook. But while looking in it, I found my hospital packing list! What a gem! I saved that sucker and put it in a safe place. I’ll be needing it in a few weeks.
After I found my notebook, I tore out the old pages and made a new list of things I would like to get done before baby #2 arrives in May. Want to see the list?
- Get baby clothes out of storage. Wash, organize, and put in closet.
- Finish cleaning out my closet and t-shirt drawer.
- Print out all of the pictures of Hudson from January 2010 to date.
- Order more photo albums from Exposures for Hudson’s photos.
- Make a “best of Hudson for 6 months-1 year” and another “best of Hudson for 1 year-2 years” digital photo album.
- Order a baby book and keepsake box for baby #2
- Clean out the guest bedroom closet and the closet in Hudson’s new room
- Have a garage sale
Some of these things aren’t time-sensitive, but a lot of them are things I’ve been putting off as long as possible. And they are all things that I won’t want to do when I’m busy playing with my babies!
What kinds of things did you do to get ready for a new baby? If you’re not pregnant, what wacky habits do you have when it comes to tidying up and purging stuff?
Also, I’m craving a bucket of fried chicken. I know what’s for dinner tonight!
I cleaned like crazy before I delivered Kate. I mean, using a tooth brush to clean tile grout cleaning crazy. I also had it in my head that I wanted to spray paint this old rocking chair. So 37 weeks pregnant, I lugged that rocking chair out into my back yard, doned a mask, and spray painted that chair. It turned out lovely. But my husband was kind of mad 😉 Oh well! I wanted it done!
You are so on top of things, that is awesome! I feel so much better when I’m organized, too, like mentally at peace. And I’m the same way when I get going on a project, a tornado of efficiency & order! Good luck with everything.
I haven’t done anything- but I definitely need to! Luckily I still have 19 weeks and I know we’ll be moving sometime before then {hopefully!} thank you, Army. So I can’t do much in the way of a nursery… I feel like I’m just in limbo and I’m not loving it all that much.
Nesting hit my husband 3 weeks before our baby was due. He had all of these appointments for people to come and do things around our house. Then the baby came two and a half weeks early! The day that I went into labor he and my brother in law moved all of the furniture out of our bedroom and the nursery. He had someone come in and pull up all of the (2 year old) carpets and put screws into the subflooring where it squeaked. He did not want to ask his brother to come back over at the end of the day, so there was no furniture in either room. He wanted to put the mattress on the floor for us to sleep on, but I (angrily) explained that a pregnant worman could not be expected to get up off of the floor every time she needed to go to the bathroom during the night, so he set up the bed. I went to bed cursing him out in my head and said, out loud, “you know this is going to cause me to go into labor during the night.” 45 minutes later I woke up and my water had broken.
Next time we’re going to nest earlier.
I thought you might like this combination baby book/keepsake box:
http://www.amazon.com/Petit-Collage-Deluxe-Baby-Memory/dp/0811868117/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1296760040&sr=8-2#reader_0811868117
I just think it’s adorable and it’s a neat little package!
My list looks a lot like yours and keeps growing (although my time is shortening too!). My additions this week so far: make some meals and freeze for easy dinners after the family help leaves, get my carpet in the living room cleaned, buy last minute baby things like Mylicon, breast pads, etc. I also need to add packing a hospital bag!
I love that you’re talking more about your pregnancy lately! I love hearing about baby preparation!
I am a huge “i have to purge this right now” kind of person. If I am procrastinating something then it’s all the better – purge, reorganize and move on. I have the most organized “under the bed” containers and backyard storage area… now if only I can get control of my mail pile…
3 weeks before I had Hudson I decided it would be a good idea to drive down to my parents rental property in Greenville, NC and rake the leaves and do other housework in preparation for new renters. That night my feet and ankles were unrecognizable! I will not be doing that again if we have another!
Enjoy this season of preparation and nesting before the little one arrives!
I’m a few weeks behind you pregnancy-wise, but I am totally starting to nest! I kind of love it because I feel productive when I get stuff done! I’m the same way with impulsivity, and if it’s a task that I need my husband’s help with, I drive the poor man nuts until he helps me. I expect him to operate on my timeline and do it the second I ask, which is so unrealistic lol
I do not have a baby yet! But I do tend do have those purging moments. I am such a neat freak and with all of these snow days, I have been organizing like a crazy person! I know exactly how you feel!
I bet you feel GREAT after the purges! That is so awesome. I had to do that in my pantry as well and it is so nice afterward! I also have to do things RIGHT AWAY like that and that was one of the things that was so upsetting about my pregnancy was it made me somewhat reliant on others and I had to be patient. It about drive me mad! ha
I’m very much an instant gratification person. If I want something moved or done, gosh darn it, it better get done RIGHT THIS SECOND. The other day I decided we needed to move out crazy heavy sofa across the room. I have no idea why. So there I was, pushin’ and pullin’ that thing around. Turns out, I’m not thrilled with the new location and there’s so way I can push it back. Not my idea….ha!
Pregnancy cracks me up…when I was pregnant with my first…my husband and I had discussed pulling out our carpet because there were wood floors underneath…an having those refinished since it would be cleaner for the new baby….well, one night when my husband was at work (and I was 6 months pregnant)…I just started pulling up carpet and taking out tack boards…when he got home that night…the hall was pulled up, the living room was pulled up an the to-be nursery was carpet free…then another night I decided the hall needed to be repainted (trim and all)…I was quite impulsive!! I wasn’t quite as bad with my two other pregnancies!! Have fun preparing!!
i am currently 24 wks pregnant and we are moving into our new house on saturday. oh man, as i pack all i do is throw stuff away! i am the purging queen right now. and i fear i might be throwing away stuff we still use but in my crazed-pregnancy-nesting state I DON’T CARE. and i’m pushing around full boxes, shoving around garbage bags and doing all this insane stuff that in retrospect isn’t the best idea but at the moment it’s like i’m possessed! pregnancy is so weird…
Ah, yes! The pregnancy crazies! I could identify with so much of what you said…especially moving and doing things that you probably shouldn’t be doing while carrying precious cargo. When I was pregnant, I couldn’t sleep, so I would get up really early. I would find projects that needed to be done right then and there…just couldn’t wait. There were some huge potted plants on our deck that needed to be moved. Instead of waiting an hour or two for my hubby to wake up and do it, I tiptoed outside and tried to quietly move them myself. I knew he would get mad if I was lifting or tugging on anything too heavy. Apparently, I wasn’t quiet enough because he came to the back door in his boxers and just stared at me with that ol’ disapproving look. Oh, well. In mind the pots needed to be moved…RIGHT NOW.
I, too, went through my closet when I was pregnant and got rid of a lot of stuff. I wish I hadn’t. I wasn’t thinking straight and got rid of some really good clothes that I could’ve probably worn again. Oh, well!
Good luck on getting through your “to do” list before baby #2 arrives!
Like you, I’m very impulsive…when I decide something needs to be done, it needed to be done yesterday! Two weeks before my due date, Jim came home to empty kitchen cabinets and drawers. Every.single.one. They needed to be washed and purged and organized, gosh-darnit! Just this week, I purged all of our pantry stuff, too. The sitter told me today that she was impressed that she could actually find the crackers when she was looking for them! Ha!
I am excited to see your clothes for sale. In many of your pre-prego pictures you are wearing precious dresses that I just love so bring on the blog sale!!!
I know that I’m in full-on nesting mode, also fueled on by our move. I’m throwing things away/donating/making a garage sale pile like no other. I feel the clock ticking away until she gets here and want everything organized/in place. So I totally get it!
shame on that ups guy! mine always puts things inside my door if it is really heavy or going to rain and we have a covered porch! when preg last time, I got on a chair and installed curtains in our guest room (where my parents would stay) b/c my dh would not get up and do it when I wanted one night. prob not the smartest idea. I also helped my dh move couches into our house when I was 37 weeks. but he did most of the work and I just mostly pushed it. I felt like I was pretty much term and if I went into labor, it was fine… but prob wouldn’t do that again!
I am almost 20 wks now and already planning the nursery and ordering some clothes(the ones that take 8-10 wks to be made). last time it was really hard depending on others to getthings done and I also tend to be a perfectionist, so it was really frustrating.
I am thinking about a newport cottage crib and was wondering- do you remember if your crib is white or cream? I like the color of yours. I want to make sure it looks not bright white but not too yellow either. went to look at the swatch today and thought the cream looked like antique white. but I don’t want to make an expensive mistake!
oh and I ate LOTS of fried chicken when pregn last time. it was so satisfying! that and choc milk!
I can completely relate to your sense of urgency and it soooo bugs me when the people around me don’t relate to mine!
We hosted a block party about a week before I was due with #4 and my husband put the deck furniture out on the lawn. 10 days later he still hadn’t moved the stuff back to the deck so I did it myself, even getting UNDER the table and carrying it on my back. Yes, I was 2 days overdue at that point. The baby stayed in for another 4 days after that.
I am JUST like you are when I get an idea in my head. It has to happen RIGHT NOW!! I have never had any patience and I don’t think that’s going to change! I am also really bad about just throwing everything away. I like to “clean out” closets and cabinets several times a year and my husband always moans and groans when I start asking him if he “needs” this or that. Haha, with good reason, I have to admit that I HAVE gotten rid of some things before, just to turn around and have to buy those same things fairly soon after. Oh well 🙂
I do the same- when I need to do something, it needs to happen right then! Anyways before my 1st child- Dec. 2nd of this year, I needed to decorate for Christmas. I’m known for Christmas and my house wouldn’t be right if I didn’t get it done. So at the beginning of November I started transforming my house with all 5 full sized Christmas trees. The only problem was getting all of it down AFTER Christmas with a new baby. I finally put the last piece away (the Christmas dog bowls) just 2 days ago, ha! Also before the baby was born- the week before, I decided that we would have a birthday party for him even though I would be all drugged up and in c section pain. I ordered cupcake toppers off of etsy, got a banner for people to sign when they came to visit, had napkins made. My sisters think that I’m nuts but it made for cute memories.
I want to see your baby memory box, I need one of those. I have a baby book from this lady, she is popular in Dallas but I know that they sell her stuff all over the place. http://www.jansevadjian.com/
When I was 35 weeks pregnant with my son (and HUGE), I shaved both of our dogs BALD! I was obsessed with the fact that they needed to be hair free and clean for the baby. My daughter (almost 8 at the time) was sitting on the front porch steps when my husband got home from work. She looked at him and said “I don’t think you want to go in there, Mom has lost her mind”. He loves telling people about that! The dogs survived and I didn’t have to battle dog hair when I had a newborn 🙂 Good luck!
I too am in the nesting phase! Just got fans installed, about to paint baby’s room- so much fun 🙂
haha. this is so funny! i did the exact same thing with my pantry. i filled up around 3 bags. it looks amazing now. i can find everything. i’ve just felt the need to simplify my life lately and get rid of all the excess. happy weekend!
Please share the hospital packing list! I need to pack in the next few weeks and have no idea what I’ll need/want.
yay for another blog sale…i can’t wait!
-kelly f.
Where are you getting your memory box from? I need to get one. Thanks!
I am 23 weeks pregnant with our first child…After reading your blog I realized I must be entering the nesting stage as well. Our extra bedroom that will be the baby’s room has turned into our storage room over the last year and a half that we lived in our house. I have been snowed in for 4 days and decided today to start to tackle it by myself. It somewhat exploded into the hall and guest bedroom but I have a huge pile to donate tomorrow and several trash bags and boxes to trash. It needed to be done, but tonight I found myself cleaning out other things such as the guest bath under the sink and have the strong desire to start going through my closet as well so I can make one big trip to goodwill tomorrow! If you have any suggestions for where to find a good baby memory book I would love them! I enjoy reading your blog!
I want to see your hospital packing list!
I too purged many of my pre-pregnancy clothing! Now that my baby is 6months old, I feel like my wardrobe is incomplete. I am anxious to see what you have for sale on your blog. There are two dresses that you wore to wedding showers that I looked high and low for! Hope you are in good health with baby #2!