Nesting Stress

I’m halfway through my pregnancy, and I’ve noticed there are three things people love to ask about the most: do you know what you’re having (yes, a boy), do you crave anything weird (no, mostly Chipotle burritos) and have you started buying things for the baby yet (nope, I’m too scared).

I’m having mixed feelings during this nesting process. While I’m excited about preparing for my little man, I’m also feeling a bit overwhelmed by it.  It’s just…all the bouncers and boppies and bassinets, the doodads and diaper genies. All the things I need and all the things I don’t even know I need. It really kind of terrifies me.

I have a confession: I have zero first-hand knowledge about babies. All the information I have is either anecdotal or from books and blogs. I’ve never changed a diaper or given a bottle, and I get nervous holding newborns. If I don’t even have the simplest things down pat, how am I supposed to decipher the usefulness of a wipe warmer or an Itzbeen?

Buy Buy Baby is on my route home from work, and I find myself stopping there all the time just to walk around and drink it in. I don’t know why. I think I’m hoping to somehow build up immunity to the sheer overload of must-have baby items before I actually have to make any decisions about what to get. I become exhausted just thinking about them. I’m praying one day I walk in and magically have confidence to actually buy something.

Luckily, there are a lot of helpful Moms out there willing to post about what you really need. But it’s what has worked for them, not necessarily what will work for my baby and me. I’m told time and time again by other Moms that it’s a process of elimination and you have to keep an open mind.

Please tell me I’m not alone here. Did you feel clueless as a first-time Mom? Were you overwhelmed by baby gear?

Megan Brooks is a Sr. Public Relations Specialist for Texas Health Resources who is nearly 21 weeks pregnant and nearly ready to stop fearing Buy Buy Baby.