a little q & a

one of my friends asked:
“How does setting up the nursery feel? Does it feel fun, hopeful or does it make you a little blue? Do you enjoy looking for the stuff, or does it feel like another hoop and something you need to check off a list? I can see how it could easily be some of everything.”

i thought that perhaps others of you might have wondered this same thing, so i’ll post my reply to her here:

It doesn’t feel like a “hoop” because it’s something that ALL expectant parents do. It makes me feel normal and like this is really going to happen. I was worried that setting up the nursery would be more depressing than it turned out to be. (I’m even having a little big of fun!) I think it’s because right now we’re in a really hopeful spot. Our agency says lots of really promising things about how quickly matches can sometimes happen. Of course, they don’t ALWAYS happen quickly, but I’ve decided to let myself be optimistic at this point. It’s not like being pessimistic will help me to feel any BETTER lately if a match doesn’t happen quickly. Plus, I AM optimistic that I’ll have plenty of things to keep me busy whether a baby comes or not. This coming semester, I’m adding a 140-hour practicum to my 80% work week, so I’ll in essence be working full-time for the first time in 4 years (i know, boo-hoo, right?). And if that’s not enough to keep my mind busy, I’ve got a big secret quilting project idea that I need to talk to a business-minded person about to see if I can make it work… So with my practicum starting up in about a month or so, I thought it would be a good idea to get a nursery at least somewhat put together now, while i actually have a little free time to think about it. I’m basically thinking of myself as “pregnant,” just with an unknown due date.