Life
I'm already insane when it comes to organizing and cleaning. In fact, I'm one of those weirdly-messy-yet-extremely-organized people. My house can be super messy with toys and random items of clothing thrown about, but every cabinet, drawer, and closet is obsessively organized. I actually like cleaning, too. I find it therapeutic, and I think that's a symptom of my anxiety. When I was pregnant my anxiety was at its all-time high, which is probably why I did completely batsh*t things while I was nesting. In addition to the hours I spent shopping for the perfect everything — from clothes to gear — and the months I spent researching every site and every review for every purchase I made, I also mildly lost my sh*t and cleaned incessantly.
I found myself obsessing about everything in my house. At the time, my partner and I lived in a tiny apartment and everything about it annoyed me. I hated that place, and was convinced it was just old and grimy and filthy. I was angry I was bringing my precious baby into a place I did not want to live in. My anxiety and slight obsessive compulsiveness created a nesting monster. I drove myself, not to mention my husband, mad. I forced him to do things I was not physically able to do, like move the refrigerator so I could dust behind it. I would invent a new project for us to do on a daily basis. I forced him to build all of the baby stuff, paint the bedroom (and then repaint the bedroom because I did not like the color), and move furniture from one room to the other, and back again, so I could "see what it would look like prior to making up my mind."
Yes, I temporarily lost it. However, I was growing a human being inside my body at all hours of the day and night, so the following batsh*t crazy things are, in my opinion, totally justified.
I Cleaned Out The Basement
We used our unfinished basement as storage for everything that did not fit into our tiny apartment. It was dark and dingy and home to countless generations of centipedes. I stayed out of it for the majority of the time we lived in that apartment.
However, in the last few weeks of pregnancy, I waddled down there and cleaned out years of hoarding. I climbed ladders, fought off various insects, and disposed of enough useless stuff to fill a landfill.
I Washed All Bedding & Baby Clothes
While it may seem like the smart thing to do, washing all of the baby clothes and blankets and bedding is actually rather wasteful. It would have been sufficient to wash only a handful of onesies, sleep-and-plays, and some bedding. Washing it all meant I ripped tags off everything and, it turned out, I didn't need half of the clothes I washed. It would have been wiser to wash everything after I realized what I actually needed for the baby.
I Reorganized The Entire Kitchen
Because our kitchen was so tiny, the cabinets were overstuffed. I climbed on counters, washed the kitchen cabinets, cleaned out the stove and the fridge, and reorganized all of the cabinets. I made room for bottles I didn't know if I would need, and created space for the drying rack on the counter top.
I Scrubbed The Baseboards & Registers
At 39 weeks pregnant, I crawled throughout the house and scrubbed all of the baseboards and registers in the apartment. To be honest, they needed it. I don't know if I ever cleaned those things before or after.
I (We) Rearranged The Furniture
We had to rearrange all of our furniture to make room for the baby. Our apartment was so tiny and so overstuffed we didn't even have room for a bassinet, let alone all of the other baby gear we needed. So, my husband and I moved furniture. I'm still shocked I had to be induced, because I figured lifting and moving couches would send me directly into labor. It did not.
I Sorted Through Everything I Own
I went through my closet and donated a bunch of clothes. I sorted through my makeup and tossed items that were clearly way past their glory days. I cleaned out the laundry room, the pantry, the linen closet, and bathroom cabinets. Nothing was left unturned or untouched.
I Magic Erased The Walls
I love the magic eraser. I have no idea how it works and I'm positive it's actually magical. So, at 39 weeks, I used the magic eraser on all of the walls in our apartment. Oh, and on some furniture, too.
I Had The Carpets & Couches Deep Cleaned
I hate our carpet, but since we were renting I couldn't do much about it (although I really wanted the rip it all out with my bare hands). So I hired carpet cleaners to come clean the carpets and the couches because all I saw was filth and dirt everywhere.
I Attempted To Recaulk Our Bathtub
I kept asking my husband to recaulk our tub because that is where we would eventually be bathing the baby and the tub was so gross. He is a master procrastinator, so one day I said screw it and did it myself. I have never done anything like that before, and I did a terrible job, but I got it done.
So yeah, I lost my grip on sanity there for a minute, but I felt so much better after I accomplished it all. It was so peaceful in my heart. Well, right up until the baby came. Surprisingly, my newborn didn't care how clean the baseboards were. Newborns are so ungrateful.
