Nesting, a.k.a. I’m Not Crazy, I Swear

I know we aren’t going to have a baby for five months.  I know there is absolutely no reason why I need to be setting anything up yet…

Except that we got an actual bookshelf for Nora, so we moved the changing table out of her room and upstairs, where it sat for the last two weeks covered in junk and it was driving me crazy.  Also, in my defense, we are just about maxed out of storage space and I needed to empty some Rubbermaid containers so that I could refill them with other things.  

So, it only made sense for Nora and me to spend the afternoon oohing and ahhing over tiny baby socks and hats, right?

(Especially the hat Nora wore home from the hospital.)

Not to mention, this was perfect proof of concept that we can fit another (itty-bitty) human in this house.  I feel like I could write a whole post about preparing for a baby and what you (don’t!) need.  Not that we were too excessive before, but we definitely had a complete matching nursery for Nora in our New York house (right down to the coordinated light switch plates), that she never even used.  This time around, I actually understand how little a newborn requires:

clothes,

diapers, 

burp rags or wash cloths, a place to lay them down occasionally (like the middle of your bed…they can’t roll),a couple of blankets, a car seat (if you have a car), a baby carrier.  And that’s about it.

(Aside from the wipes and socks, all of this is basically useless to a newborn.)

Once again, I was reminded just how different pregnancy is the second time around.  Not only could I not tell you how many weeks along I am (unless I looked at a calendar and counted), I’m also less stressed about getting stuff.  We have clothes covered up to 9 months no matter what sex our baby is.  Thanks to the wonders of cloth we don’t need to buy diapers.  Since I am lucky enough to not be working out of the home this time around, I might not pump or think about bottles a single time.  And lucky me, I already have a double stroller.

So now that I’ve spent a nerdy day organizing baby things, all we have to do as it gets closer it put out the pack-n-play with bassinet top and we’ll call it a day.   I think I might buy some new washcloths since Nora’s are pretty much worn through and maybe buy a couple more swaddle blankets since we only had one for Nora; add in new bottles of my favorite baby soap and natural nipple butter, and we could have a baby tomorrow.

Except that we have five more months of anticipation, of which I am fully aware.  I’m not crazy, I’m nesting.  (That is, if normal people nest when they’re only 3-4 four (or whatever) months pregnant.)