Ahh. The nesting phase of pregnancy. If you haven't hit it quite yet, odds are good that sometime late in your third trimester, you'll suddenly find yourself incessantly cleaning, organizing, and/or disinfecting every square inch of your house to prepare for your little one's arrival. And believe it or not, the whole nesting thing isn't all in your head.
According to a new study published in the journal Evolution & Human Behavior, nesting is a primal instinct in pregnant women that stems from a desire to provide a safe environment for their unborn baby.
And while I can't really recall entering the nesting phase myself when I had my son, many moms admit going to extremes to make sure everything was in tip-top shape before they went into labor.
Here are eight crazy nesting stories that just go to show that nothing can stop a mom-to-be who's on a mission to prepare for the birth of her baby — even if she happens to be due the very next day.
- "I HAD to paint our master bedroom when I was nine months pregnant. I went to the store and picked out paint. (I think the guy at the store thought I was crazy.) I painted the entire room myself (including moving furniture) and went into labor the next day."
- "I decided we needed to bleach the garage floor and I did it! I thought that was totally normal until my mom told me otherwise."
- "When I was pregnant with baby number two, I re-organized our massive bookshelf by putting all the books in alphabetical order. They stayed that way for about a day before my oldest got into them."
- "With baby number one I was grossed out by all the grease stains on our kitchen ceiling. So I climbed on a step stool with a Magic Eraser, and several hours later, I had a very clean kitchen ceiling. With baby number two, we decided to sell our condo at the end of my pregnancy. I once again climbed on said step stool and cleaned all the dust off the top of the refrigerator. About three weeks after I gave birth, we moved out of that place."
- "I cleaned my entire living room carpet with a handheld scrub brush. I had to do it twice, once with cleaner and once with water. I was nine months pregnant! And I didn't even go into labor. However, I got an awesome biceps workout."
- "The last baby I spent an entire day organizing things and putting in Ziplock bags of varying sizes. My makeup bag was LITERALLY a mound of plastic. It was very OCD."
- "Oh, I went crazy. Cleaned every nook and cranny of my house. Window sills, radiators. I even took all the cushions off my IKEA couch and washed them!"
- "I didn't just nest. I redecorated the entire house. We had closed almost a year prior to that point. Got rid of the living room furniture and bought new stuff, painted the living room, painted and redid the playroom and included a study station, and created brand new rooms for all three of my kids from paint to themes to accessories. I even dragged my husband into it. It was my last baby, and the only time I went quite so crazy."
Have you hit the nesting phase yet?
Image via Rubbermaid Products/Flickr
