Week 35: When is it best to nest?

By Published On: February 10th, 2015

As I close out on week 35 of pregnancy, I […]

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Trying to get motivated to get my nesting on! The big belly makes it sort of difficult though.

As I close out on week 35 of pregnancy, I keep waiting for my nesting phase to kick in. Come on organization kick … any day now will do!
With having preterm labor the first time around, I never really had the nesting period, so I’ve been waiting to feel that surge of energy and motivation this go around. But, my husband would tell you that sometimes I handle stressful situations with an “out of sight, out of mind” approach. For instance, we move quite a bit, and every time the movers show up to pull apart our house and pack it into boxes all day, I quickly find a way to need to be conveniently out of house. The thought of all that preparation and craziness makes me want to climb the walls, so I just avoid it.
And the more I think about nesting, I’m not quite sure when is the best time to nest. You don’t want to necessarily do it TOO early. Packing a hospital bag, for instance, is not something I want to do too soon because I’ll just eventually keep pulling things out of it to use throughout the remaining weeks and that defeats the whole purpose of packing it. And if I try to deep clean the house now, the 2-year-old tornado I live with will quickly find a way to make it look like I haven’t picked up a mop in years. But maybe, that’s just rationalizing my avoidance … hard to tell at this point.
Also, full on tiredness has set in once again. I counted myself as someone who was relatively in shape prior to this pregnancy, but, phew, everything makes me tired nowadays. Climbing the stairs, picking up things off the floor and carrying the laundry basket should all be considered pregnant Olympic sports at eight months along.
I’m guessing that my body is somehow just avoiding the nesting phase because I think once I sit down and make a list of everything that still needs to be done, I’ll be overwhelmed with so much left to do. It was almost like it was better the first time when we were caught off guard and didn’t have time to have a hospital bag ready or have casseroles prepared in the freezer. I showed up to the hospital with the clothes on my back and my purse—and guess what? We survived!
But, I know that I NEED to use these precious few weeks left because soon my house will look like a war zone, and sleep will be incredibly hard to find. So, I figured, might as well get a list ready and share it with you so that when all this sleepiness wears off and I start to feel like a super-human Energizer bunny, I’ll be ready for it.
  1. Finish up the nursery. (The baby laundry is pretty much done, so this is just organizing and decorating.)
  2. Keep bathrooms/kitchen clean and tidy. The rest of the house can fluctuate between disaster and organization.
  3. Get out the infant car seat, and pack the baby’s hospital bag.
  4. Double-check on hospital paperwork.
  5. Stay on top of laundry (Wouldn’t want a pile of dirty clothes sitting around when we head to the hospital, would we?)
  6. Gather a pile of stuff for the hospital to at least have it in one area. (Then I can just throw it in a bag when it’s “go time,” right?)

So, when did the nesting urge hit you? Anyone else like me have some nesting-delay syndrome?