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Pregnancy and the Nesting Instinct: Sometimes it's all about the food |
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by Kristen  (November 2006) (rank 6th) |
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We have all heard about the nesting instinct and how it supposedly kicks in right before you give birth. Women tell stories of washing all the windows in their house or cleaning all the floors the day before they gave birth. My husband kept asking me when the "house
cleaning nesting instinct" was going to kick in when I was pregnant with Ethan. For me, it never did. However, my nesting came in the form of cooking and it started several months before I gave birth to Ethan. I began cooking, cooking, cooking and I couldn't seem to stop. For me, I was so concerned that I would give birth and somehow we would starve in our house. As a result, our freezer filled up.
- Make a big pot of soup. Soup will last at least 2 months in your freezer. If frozen in individual containers, you can pop it out at any time, throw it in the microwave and have a healthy meal in just under 10 minutes. This worked great for us because the day we came home from the hospital with Ethan we didn't even have to think twice. I had also thought ahead (shockingly enough) and made several kinds of soup.
- Keep the spices to a minimum if you are going to nurse. Any sort of spicy food I had tended to give Ethan gas. And everyone who has had a newborn knows that a gassy baby is not a very happy baby.
- Make foods high in protein. You are going to need your energy with a new baby. Having chili or stew that can just be heated up will give you the push you need to get you through a particularly rough day.
- Freeze foods that are season-appropriate. I had my baby during the winter, so soups and other "comfort" foods were just right for a cold or rainy day. Keep in mind that if you are going to bring a baby home in the heat of summer, you would probably rather have a lighter dish.
Although my husband bemoaned the fact that I didn't want to scrub the floors with a toothbrush, he never once complained about not having to cook because I was just too busy with our newborn. Just another idea that may help save your sanity on the other end of giving birth.
