A Need to Nest

Excited about prepping your home for your infant? Give in to the urge without going overboard.

By Taryn Mohrman

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The "Nesting Instinct"

Your due date is getting closer, and suddenly you're feeling a burst of high energy -- and an inexplicable desire to clean every closet in the house. Or to color-code your baby's layette. Or maybe even to renovate your entire kitchen, which up until now has suited you just fine. What's going on? Relax! You're experiencing the infamous "nesting instinct," a domestic urge that can strike pregnant women around the start of the third trimester and intensify in the days before birth. Weird? Definitely. But it's a very real phenomenon -- and knowing why it happens and how to keep it in check will make preparing for your new little one a healthy, stress-free, and enjoyable experience.

Next: Blame It on Biology

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