Nesting

In my OB nursing unit at St Olaf, I remember reading that when a pregnant woman has an urge to feverishly clean and organize, it means that she will be going into labor within 24-48 hours.
Which probably explains why Michael was eyeing me nervously about two weeks ago, when I woke up and inexplicably started cleaning. I turned on the shower in anticipation of getting ready for the day as I always do, but then began to take out and sort all of the bins that resided in our linen closet. I sorted, I pitched, I re-organized, and the water continued to run. "Would you take your shower already"? hubby asked nervously. "You're freakin' me out!" Truth be told, I was freakin' myself out, but this was drowned out by the pride I felt at my pretty new cupboards. They just looked so, neat.

Needless to say, I did not go into labor that day. Or the day after. According to multiple preggo reading materials, I guess nesting can also simply mean getting ready for the baby. Cleaning feverishly... for weeks before the birth. It's nature's way of helping us women, well, get the nest ready.

Papa bird is also hard at work. Mowing, planting flowers, painting, and at least talking about cleaning the leather sofa set. He put the crib together months ago. We're working hard to eat the contents of our freezer to make room for pre-made meals (lest we have Ramen every night for 12 weeks). I often find him in the nursery, repositioning the glider, admiring the mural our friends have painted on the wall, and the cutest thing of all: turning on the music box mobile that hangs over the crib.

Even after 4 loads of Dreft-cleaned laundry, we still have much to do. My mind often bolts ahead of me with checklists, and when I walk past our Delivery-Day overnight bag, I toss another thing in there to make me feel like I've done at least something today to get ready. But as I frequently remind myself, even if everything is not in its place, and things are not sparkling, we'll still get to bring home a sweet baby boy. And he won't care about my linen closet.