Friday, January 8, 2010

Nesting, My Husband's Favorite Part of Pregnancy

Pregnancy....there are the awesome parts, like finding out you have a living being inside you, feeling him move for the first time, getting lots of attention and consideration for your "delicate" state, and people giving you extra servings of food at church pot-lucks because they think you need to eat for two, or in my case, when I was pregnant with the twins and nursing a 17-month-old, for four.

But then there are the not-so-awesome parts....the fatigue, the nausea, the hormones (oh, the hormones, probably John's LEAST favorite part of pregnancy), the aching back, not being able to sit on a soft couch, having to spread your legs apart like a giraffe when you have to pick up something off the floor, and the weird cravings, especially when you live in a tiny farm town in Mexico, where they are no stores open past 7:00, and all you can do is call your babysitter/Friday maid, who happens to make the best salsa in the world, at 10:30 at night, and say, in broken Spanish, "I need a big favor," and she answers, "Digame", which means "tell me" and you say that you really, really need to send your son over to her house to purchase one of her bottles of salsa, and she says that she will just give it to you and you say "thank you, but I'll pay you", and she says no, and the conversation continues in that vein, with polite arguing back and forth for 5 minutes, but you do end up getting the salsa and you add a large tip to her paycheck at the end of the week.

Okay, a deep breath....

So, as I said in the title, John's favorite part of pregnancy is the nesting. Even though I am due to deliver our 10th child in 8 weeks, he has only had the privilege of experiencing this once, as he was part of the conception process with only the last three pregnancies. With the second pregnancy, however, the twin pregnancy, I was as big as a 6-month pregnant woman when I was only 4 months along, so by the time the nesting instinct hit, I already looked like I was 10 months pregnant, and couldn't really do anything about it, except the bare necessities of raising the other seven kids and sleep and eat.

I am now 32 weeks along, and look somewhat like a woman who is 7 months pregnant this time, as you may remember from THIS post, although there are some dear souls at church who look me up and down and say things like, "You look like you're ready to pop any day now!" Don't say this to a pregnant woman...ever. We don't like it when we still have 8 or 12 or 14 weeks to go. And don't say that we look like we're retaining water....ever.

So, yes, the nesting instinct has begun, but what with getting ready to turn 40 in 3 weeks, and with 8 birds still in the nest, I can only accomplish a little each day. When we moved from our two-person apartment, all ten of us, into our larger home last fall, I had our co-sleeper transported into my bedroom without collapsing it, as I was too confused to remember how that was done. In turn, it has sat in our bedroom for 15 months now, and, because I am prone to stuffing things, it became filled with coats, jackets, hangers, packages of diapers, toys, a bottle of shampoo for some reason, a bag of cornmeal for another unknown reason, a lot of other things I can't remember, and a few small bits of trash. In my nesting enthusiasm, I not only cleaned it out, but I set up the top bassinet designed for newborn babies, and thoughtfully arranged soft baby blankets in sage, blue and yellow. Isn't is cute?...



I also cleared off a ledge in the 3 three and under's bedroom and placed this tiger, which has a small hole in his back in which stuffing is departing, and which I haven't gotten around to mending, on the ledge, artfully arranging him so that as he lounges, he looks over the 3 three and under while they slumber. Now, when the twins enter their bedroom, they enthusiastically grunt, ahh, coo and point when they see him, so it was all worth it...



I'll keep you posted on any further progress I make with the nesting. Wish me luck.

16 comments:

Luvmy9 said...

I always loved the nesting part, too. Isn't it a great feeling getting ready for a new baby? I love that the cornmeal was in the crib, too.

Unknown said...

I loved nesting. With my youngest I remember canning 2 dozen quarts of Blackberry jam and syrup, and then the same amount of blueberry as well as freezing blueberries for baking with.

I need to nest so I can get my cleaned :)

Cassie said...

Mostly when I am nesting, I am most concerned with setting up the baby's stuff. Right around seven months or so, I start to panic that I might not have enough clothes or that some essential part of the nursery is incomplete.

Cheryl B. said...

Guess what? Grandma's get the 'nesting instinct' too!! ;-p At least, according to my eldest son and husband that is what happens .... o;-b

I go there for a visit, and I just can not help myself/ resist straightening up the baby's room "just a bit", or packing up and carrying out the previous occupant's of the rooms stuff (the aunts now live a floor down), or once that was done, hanging things here and there, and arranging things here and there to make it really seem like a baby's room ....

Their right ... it's nesting ... from a new plato ... :-D

Cambria said...

I am nesting...bad. I have longer than you, not due until April. 15th, but it is bugging me. It is bad this time, not just cleaning. It is like, hmmmm....I want to paint the kitchen. Yes, it is a good part of pregnancy. FYI- it is a girl.

Jamie H said...

Unfortunately for my husband I never really got the nesting instinct with either of my pregnancies. Ok, maybe I did with my first but I couldn't do a whole lot about it since I was on bedrest.

Anonymous said...

Nesting is the best! Glad you are feeling good enough to get stuff done.

Tania @ Larger Family Life said...

I could do with the nesting part right now. Problem is I'm not pregnant. Am I really this lazy that I'm not doing any housework?! Only kidding... I think!

Cheryl B. said...

Hey Jen, I had another thought about this posting ... okay, okay, I know your not surprised ... o;-p

You need to start saving / tucking some money away now, so that next summer when it's about time for your 'Friday lady' to start making her wonderfulicious salsa, you can hire her to make your family a years supply of it {another item that the elders should add to their "years supply of list" personalized for your family. ;-b}

Let's see - doesn't that make four things now that we've found which should be added to your families list?
- Skippy Peanut Butter
- Choc. chips
- powdered sugar
- the 'Friday lady's' salsa

Just helping you keep track o;-b

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Haha, Cheryl, you are so funny! I'm glad someone is keeping track! Actually, that is an awesome idea! I think I'm going to do that. If summer comes and I forget, remind me. You are the best!

Emily said...

I have that same side sleeper and love it, glad you got it cleaned out for the new baby to sleep in. Happy Nesting!

roadrunner201 said...

Didn't even get a chance to have nesting since my son came at 35.5 weeks. Dear husband and my best friend's husband back in our room setting up the co sleeper on the same day the boy was born;-) How long do you use blankets in there with the baby? Everone's always yappin about how you're not supposed to put blankets in with the baby, but I was always so afraid he would get cold.

Love the tiger! Very skillfully done.

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Roadrunner, I usually swaddle my babies with a receiving blanket or two, then cover them up with a thicker blanket. Maybe I'm not supposed to, but I do!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Oh, and I swaddle them until they don't want to be swaddled anymore, which is after about 3 to 4 months, I think. I'll have to look into the no blanket advice.

roadrunner201 said...

Honestly, the no blanket thing bothers me. I would always be checking to see if he was cold, so I said forget it and just put a blanket on him. Of course, now he never keeps it on, but I've found some really thick sleepers for toddlers and if it's too cold, I put socks on under.

Panamamama said...

Awesome! Love the tiger. Good luck and don't get too tired nesting! :)