15 Moms Confess the Weirdest Things Their Nesting Instinct Made Them Do
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The American Pregnancy Association calls nesting "the overwhelming desire to get a home ready for a baby." Overwhelming is putting it lightly -- we call it losing our damn minds. We're talking going from "I'll unload the dish washer tomorrow" to "I must scrub every mite of dust from the inside of all my kitchen cabinets" crazy. When one refers to it as pregnancy brain or even just the third trimester crazies, either way, the nesting instinct is strong, people!
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Even if a mom tends to keep a neat house, the nesting phase of pregnancy can turn a woman into someone she may not recognize. A noncrafty mom may suddenly be hand-painting jungle animals on the nursery walls. Or she may become obsessed with tasks that aren't exactly at the top of the list for what the baby might need (organizing three decades worth of family photos, perhaps?). Still, these things become inexplicably necessary to a woman's sanity -- to the point where a mom will steamroll anyone who tells her to sit down and put up her swollen feet to rest.
Ever woken up at 3 a.m. and decided that the entire house needs a paint job? Or ever randomly chosen to reorganize all of the board games in the house? Take a look at women who did!
Here, 15 real moms share the wild ways their nesting instinct came out when they were pregnant.
Monopoly Madwoman
"We were living with my parents when I was pregnant with my first because we were building a house. I reorganized my old board games, not just in stacks but I opened up each board game and organized piece by piece, Monopoly money by Monopoly money. I made small piles of cards and rubber banded them." -- Julie B.
DIY Diva
"I insisted on doing EVERYTHING myself. From handmaking two entire crib sets to painting to sewing my own curtains. Then I organized the entire closet by sizes. All while pregnant with twins! Anyone who knows me, knows it is totally out of character." -- Denise F.
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You Got to Have Priorities
"I organized my shed, like somehow the baby was going to need to go in there and grab a rake or something. I took everything out -- lawn mower, hedge trimmer, shovels, etc. -- swept out the whole thing, hammered in some hooks to hang stuff, and put it all back in. Mind you, I hadn't finished prepping the baby's room or washing his new clothes but for some reason the shed was top priority." -- Jen F.
No Time to Soak
"I woke up in the middle of the night because the dishes absolutely had to be done IMMEDIATELY. Baby came the next day." - Megan S.
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On the Move
"My wife rearranged the furniture every month in every room while I was at work. Every time I came home and shot 'YOU'RE PREGNANT' lasers at her, she'd assure me she 'did it slowly.' Also, for the duration of her pregnancy, our bedding somehow quadrupled." -- Andy H.
Screen Queen
"When I was 37 weeks, my husband couldn't find me because I was outside, laying sideways on the back porch, removing our screen door to have it rescreened before the baby came. He couldn't figure out how to remove it and I refused to not be able to leave the door open once the baby came." -- Christine C.
Jewelry Madness
"I became obsessed with organizing my jewelry. I spent an entire weekend going through all the random boxes, bags, and racks of jewelry I have in my house, throwing out the no-needs, polishing (like beyond meticulously) my favorite pieces, and crying over nostalgic pieces. I even went to my mom's house and did the same with her jewelry, thinking if I need to borrow any of her jewelry I need to make sure it's organized. Crazy. My baby was so grab happy I didn't even wear jewelry until well past his first birthday." -- Bailey G.
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Completely Understandable
"My nesting instinct made me organize baby clothes into 'packets' -- a onesie, socks, pants, and a hat bundled together because I thought every diaper change would require an entire new outfit." -- Megan Z.
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Bottle Washer
"I went into labor at 1 a.m., while sterilizing all the baby bottles in boiling water. I was really at a 'tired all the time' point in the pregnancy, but something in me was like, Must. Sterilize. Bottles. Tonight! And then of course, she breastfed perfectly and we didn't use them until I went back to work. But you never know!" -- Courtenay S.
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