The Crib: A Blog for New Parents

Posted by pecuellar on 12/04/07 - 03:45 PM

You are expecting your child soon, maybe in just a few weeks and all your thoughts are consumed with organizing your pantry and cleaning out your fridge. You shutter at the thought of dust bunnies living under the beds. What is going on here? Shouldn’t you be relaxing, taking warm baths and getting as much sleep as you can before the baby arrives? Maybe, but what you are doing instead is commonly called nesting.

Nesting is not a myth. It is the overwhelming instinct to clean, organize and get everything put into order that hits near the end of your pregnancy. While no one is completely sure what causes it, most likely it is a surge of pregnancy hormones. I always thought of it as nature’s way of keeping my mind off “waiting for baby”. So, formerly exhausted expectant mothers everywhere spend the last few weeks scrubbing, dusting and organizing dresser drawers with neat rows of tiny socks.

While you are following your natural instincts remember you still need to take care of yourself. Avoid breathing in too many harsh fumes. Try not to exhausts yourself, save some of that energy for the birth. Get dads help with the strenuous tasks like moping if it causes your back to ache. Also enlist Dad's help if there is still some last minute painting to do. Oh, and don't get too used to your spotless abode, thiscleaning obsessionwill completely vanish as soon as the baby is born, most likely replaced once more with exhaustion and days filled with more things to do than there is time.