Therese’s Baby on Board: News, naps and nesting

It must be nice for owls. They find a barn to call home, cozy up inside a corner nook, and can rest assured that they have a place to call home. Mother owls probably don’t even think twice about building a nest for their owlets. They just do. It’s instinct.

Now that we’ve passed the halfway point in pregnancy, my husband, Brian, and I are hard at work trying to prepare our home for our little owlet. It’s been a work in progress, and right now, it feels like we may never dig ourselves out from under the mounds of belongings scattered across our condo.

A lot of what I’ve read online talks about how nesting is not just for the birds; it’s a natural instinct in expectant human mothers as well. Much of the feeling is triggered by hormones that start to kick in at some point during these 40 crazy weeks. I definitely felt the itch to begin “nesting” early on. But between getting up for work at 2:30 a.m., running around WINK until the afternoon, commuting 40 minutes back home, NEEDING to squeeze in a nap and somehow making it to the gym a couple times per week, there isn’t much time left to begin organizing the house on weekdays.

Weekends, meanwhile, have been reserved for catching up with friends and family, and even more so, trying to catch up on the sleep that I don’t get during the work week. But once I hit the 20-week mark in pregnancy two weeks ago, it really hit me: it’s time to get it together.

Right now, I have several close friends and even more acquaintances (the kind you’re friends with on Facebook but haven’t talked to in years, if ever) who are also pregnant and due within weeks of my little one. Many of them have already posted photos to their social media pages showing fully decorated nurseries, filled with baby gear, clothing and boxes of diapers. Brian and I have been lucky to be handed down a bunch of baby items from his brother and our sister-in-law, now that their two boys are getting older. That gives us at least a few things to get the ball rolling, so to speak. Other generous friends have passed along baby clothes that their little boys have outgrown. Others have already started getting us new clothes and gear – even a few packs of diapers to begin stocking up.

To me, the most important part of nesting, though, has been trying to get the baby’s room in order. We decided to turn what was an office-turned-junk room into the nursery. That way we could keep our guest bedroom intact for when visitors come to town. (I just hope they don’t mind sleeping down the hall with a restless infant!) About a month ago, my husband and I spent an entire weekend clearing and cleaning out the office…no easy task. Then there was painting the walls, moving the furniture and putting a ton of stuff we probably won’t see for years into storage.

Despite the nursery being painted, empty and ready to furnish, the rest of our main living space is currently turned upside down. Most of the items that used to live in the office have taken up space in the dining room and living room, and it’s likely going to take the next few months before the baby comes to get everything arranged and tidy.

Now it’s all about creating a space that not only will welcome our baby home in warmth and comfort, but will also provide some solace to my husband and I. I know we’ll spend many a sleepless night awake in that room, rocking baby boy to sleep, changing diapers, and drying his tears. Every time I think about those moments – both stressful and joyful – I can’t help but become overjoyed.

I think that’s the major drive behind my need to “nest” – not just the hormones kicking in. Picturing holding our little boy in my arms just four months from now makes this all the more real, and I want nothing more than for him to come home and feel loved, taken care of and protected.

I know that once he’s here, the post-work weekday naps will be few and far between (unless he’s napping, too!). Yet however sleep deprived I might be when the time comes, as long as our little owlet has the cozy nook he needs in our nest, it will all be worth it.

Now let me ask YOU– how did you find time to get your nursery, and your home in general together in time for baby? What are some ways you saved a few bucks when it came to prepping for your little one to come home? Any tips and tricks? Share them with me on my Facebook page.

From one mama to another– thank you, in advance!