Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Ready or Not

Lately people have been asking me if I'm ready for the baby to be here. If I'm being particularly truthy, I respond with an emphatic "JESUS GOD NO!"

I understand that hardly anyone is ever really ready for the kinds of curveballs that having a kid throws your way, but I feel particularly unprepared. We have a few ideas about what we want to teach the kid and how we want to raise him. We've picked out paint chips for the studio/nursery. We've purchased some furniture, but it's not yet assembled. Most of my yarn and fabric stash remains unpacked. The baby blanket is not yet done.

I guess I feel so unprepared because there's so much I want to have done RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND, and it's causing a lot of anxiety. Is that normal?

4 comments:

Brittney said...

Though I don't have children, I would assume so? I think it's hard to prepare for such a large event and FEEL prepared enough - maybe just breathe and then make up a list of the things you can control before they arrive -- and work from there! :)

The Jemison Family said...

Girl...call me! Yes, it is completely normal! Why? Because you are experiencing something that you know will change your life. While having LIly is more than anything I could have asked for, I remember feeling so out of control and had a ton of anxiety. (not normal for me at ALL). The best advise I can give you is to reach out to have people help you. Also, most people go through a nesting period where I swear... you become something like a superwoman. You will find yourself cleaning the house, painting, and putting the last bit of decorations up all at 2:00 in the morning and still have enough energy to do it all again the next night. So PLEASE, call me if you need, anytime. There are a ton of things that people don't really share about being pregnant and it can be overwhelming. Love you guys and you will be great parents...one day at a time.

Miss Dallas said...

Jemison Fam: I will be calling YOU!

Brittney: I can't believe that I didn't think to make a list. I seriously need to do that. Everything is just a disorganized pile of to-do items and it's kind of giving me a panic attack just thinking about it!

Frugal Vegan Mom said...

Hi, just came over from Maiden Metallurgist's blog after seeing your comment there - I was crying with joy at her general birth story, but in anger at how she was treated by the nurses. You're right to reconsider a hospital birth, or at least reconsider which hospital! I just had my first baby 7 weeks ago, in a huge hospital, but with a great group of midwives who never tried to push any agenda on me. Birth story here: http://frugalveganmom.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/janes-natural-birth-story/