nesting vs. ocd

lately, many women have been telling me their personal stories of this pregnancy side effect called "nesting". they tell me their various horror stories of going crazy on old cooking pans and scrubbing them raw or wildly ironing anything they can get their hands on or scrubbing their floor till their hands blistered or throwing away perfectly fine towels or sheets because they weren't new or matching. they tell me of this irrational behavior that takes over and makes them do all sorts of mad things. sure, i laugh when they tell me the things they did while nesting, and i agree when they tell me its crazy, but all the while i'm (ashamedly) thinking in my head "oops, thats nesting? i did that when i wasn't pregnant" or "hmm, thats a good idea, i should do that on tuesday".

so lately ive been expecting this so called "nesting" instinct to kick in. but honestly, i think i'm going to have trouble discerning between what is nesting and what is my usual obsessive cleaning and/or organizing self.

for example, this morning, i found myself taking apart my vacuum cleaner into as many possible pieces, and proceeded to clean it with soap, water, scrub brush, toothpick, and hair dryer (in that order). or yesterday, i cleaned the whole bathroom with a toothbrush.  or last week, when i vacuumed under everything and dusted on top of everything. or a few weeks ago, when i took everything out of the spare closet, vacuumed it, scrubbed it, painted it all white (every nook and cranny), then put everything back in in a reorganized fashion. or last month, when i emptied out the pantry and divided everything into relative categories and put it back accordingly. the list goes on, i mean, i can go back months, years even. to the days long before pregnancy! am i crazy that i do these things on a regular basis? that i "spring clean" almost monthly? you think i'm making this up don't you? i dont lie! you can even ask the person who knows me best, who sees my madness on a daily basis, my (ever loving, supportive, patient!) husband!

now, i know it can be a lot worse, and i don't think i actually have a diagnosable condition. its not really all that bad (although writing this, and not having any trouble coming up with past ocd happenings, and looking around at my house now, maybe it is??). i can let things go pretty easily, its not like everything HAS to be in its place all the time, or things NEED to be cleaned up straight away, or my house is ALWAYS in a perfectly clean and organized state. i can assure you, its not!

anyway, i guess the big question is, is the craziest nesting case anyone can imagine going to come upon me in these next six weeks or will things stay just the way they always have been?