pregnancy brings yet another new reality

I think that pregnancy nesting instinct is already kicking in for d.w. For some reason I thought this held off until RIGHT BEFORE giving birth, but apparently not. The biggest clue, and the one that set me to blogging today, came this morning. We are having a sofa bed delivered in a few weeks, in anticipation of friends and family visiting us after the zygote hatches, which means our current sofa and loveseat need to find new homes. What I didn't realize is that apparently for d.w. this means RIGHT NOW.

She is desperate to clean the house, set up the zygote's room, reorganize EVERYTHING, etc., etc. And it seems that even cleaning the house is impossible with our current loveseat sitting in the living room. A loveseat we have been living with, and cleaning around, for three years.

[By the way, the picture at left, of said loveseat, was taken when we were inundated with kittens last year. It's not like we're weird cat people or anything. Yet.]

So it is upon me now to somehow, by myself, fit (wow! that was a really split infinitive — even E.B. White would be impressed with that one!) the thing into the ZygoteCube and drive it on down to our local consignment place. Today. Because of course it couldn't wait until after I hand my thesis into my major professor on Monday. No, it has to be done today.

It's not that I mind doing things around the house, but the consignment store is run by this kind of scary old lady with hair several shades too dark. And the permanent makeup is kind of freaky. But I guess that's neither here nor there.

So anyway, is this normal? Is this what they mean by the pregnancy nesting instinct? Or is this just d.w. turning into a crazy, irrational, obsessive-compulsive control freak?

And I mean that in the best possible way, of course...

Comments

[mama]

How about another scenario? This is not actually about pregnancy, but the fact that d.w. is a nascent decorator. From having spent the better part of your years on earth living in a home with such a one, you know that when something is suddenly aesthetically intolerable it needs to be dealt with NOW.

[Papa Bradstein]

I'm surprised she waited that long. No, not that the aesthetics are that bad, but Mama had to have the house painted before we started life with 3B, even in the womb, paint fumes being what they are.

So at T-minus six months from possible dates of conception, she started painting our place, and didn't stop until every wall and ceiling had a fresh coat or three. Along the way, painting somehow required us to also refurnish our bathroom, including a new sink and cabinet, new mirror, new shelves, new towel bars, and a new shower curtain. We also had to reorganize our closets once or a dozen times, put in a new floor, and remodel our kitchen (OK, that last one was really a "destroy and replace" more than a remodel, but same basic idea).

On the other hand, I didn't have a thesis to write, so we may be even. I do recall, however, enjoying my workdays for the eight-hour break they provided me.

My suggestion: load it up, get it out (perhaps wear sunglasses when conversing with scary consignment woman), and wait for your next assignment. 'Cause, yeah, it's supposed to get worse toward the end, which we're close to. I'll try to give you some warning, if I have enough free time to write.

[zygote daddy]

You know PB, just today I came to realize it is no accident that yours is a pregnancy/remodeling blog... :)

[dear wife]

I was actually in the process of getting all the rooms finished up when I got pregnant. We have been remodeling for the last three years, so it is mostly touch-up. I thought I would have a bit more time, this pregnancy was a bit of a surprise. And then the smell of paint made me sick in the first trimester, so we have been halted for awhile.

[Teacher Lady]

Never been with child, but I've heard this nesting thing is quite common. Then again, she may have just "had it" with the loveseat and sometimes those things have to go yesterday.

[Danielle in Iowa]

You look like you have a kitten infestation! The cutest infestation ever!

[Lauren]

What's the story with the kittens?

My sister was a master nester. She started early, too, along the timeline of DW's descent into nesting hell. You might just be in for it, my friend.

When I was writing my thesis, as a matter of fact, I had a huge nesting surge. Or maybe it was avoidance. Can't be sure.

[the weirdgirl]

I had nesting in spurts and stops throughout my entire pregnancy, whether it made sense or not. I remember clearly freaking out right around 6 months because I didn't have crib sheets. I didn't notice it getting worse, for me, as I neared my due date, but that's probably because I was so darn tired at that point I stopped caring.