Painkillers help. :)

weight gain ;)

From a Father/Husband point of view, I'll tell you how I think it's similar.
The more research you do, the more confused you become. For every helpful piece of advice and expert opinion there is an equal and opposite viewpoint. As parents, you go through a similar experience when trying to address issues like... how long to let a baby cry when you put them down to bed, how long MUST a mother nurse the new baby, what do you do for colic, etc, etc. There are innumerable web-sites and forums that are invaluable for the amount of help they provide and I recommend that people use them as a resource, but everyone has different tastes, expectations, values and experiences (oh yeah, and BUDGETS!). You finally have to just make a decision on what you're going to do and how you're going to do it and keep moving forward. I still torture myself by searching on topics that concern things that I am no longer in a position to change (e.g. appliance selection, cabinet layout, etc.).

Cheers, Dean

How about soon after it's 'born' you forget about all the pain and discomfort and consider making another?
:-)

it requires labor [pun intended]... and money ... and a hope for the future

You lose your ability to converse on other topics and bore your friends and family.

Initial elation and excitement. Having fun planning as the "project" begins to take shape. Really uncomfortable towards the end. Anxious, impatient too at this point. Which is where I am at now. Both my babies were weeks early, this project is overdue.

I tell my friends, "You're having a baby. I'm having a kitchen." I now have data to support my assertion. I love this site.

Cracking up at "you lose your ability to converse on other topics and bore your friends and family." So true!! Thank goodness for this forum...I can talk about my kitchen to my hearts content and no one rolls their eyes at me! (that I know of!) :)

Rhome had my idea!!! Those great minds again....
while you're going through it you swear you'll never do it again. As soon as you see it, you can't wait imagining what it'll be like next time.

These are great comparison; they gave me a good chuckle!

However, just for contrast, you get to drink all you want when remodeling!!

Also, I never screamed at my husband while I was in labor.

LOL to Rhome and Waterdamage!

I'll add that the incubation period can make you vomit.

Two words sum it up for me:
sleep deprivation

If I were to expand on that I'd add in the not caring what you look like while in labor and being in a need of a shower much of the time. And ponytails.

Yeah, well, so far my reno experience has been a little different.

I'd say, you plan, prepare, and try to do everything right. Then when the time comes, you still **** the bed while your whole family is watching.

You let your kids watch more movies than you normally would.

"They say it only takes 9 months", but we all know better on both accounts. Although my kitchen reno is more like an elephant's pregnancy....2 years?

AND most if not all of us think about "resale" at some point. That might be like the name we choose to give the baby....will it be "dated" in 10 years, or will it be timeless.

and as Rhome said, obviously the pain, but miraculously you DO forget it and want to do it again.

for me - by the time you realized just what you've got yourself into, it's way too late to turn back!

LOL and more LOLing as I read these..

I would say that you spend months imagining and dreaming what it's going to look like when it's all done, flipping through magazines, books, researching etc....then about 8 1/2 months in..

You dont care what it's going to look like!! You just want it over with!!
~ D ~

The detrimental effect on your bank account.

You guys are hysterical.

Like children, does it all turn out in the end that they're just perfect regardless? (sort of)

I think the greatest shame of my whole entire life was wishing I could have opposite-gendered children. I can't stop shaking my head at the idiocy of this. Quite obviously your entire life simply molds around what you have; there is no other way.

I'm guessing that all this whinging and worrying and whining and measuring and on and on and on will recede to complete inconsequentiality right quick upon completion.

Anyone know if that happens to be true?

As noted above, can't turn back. Painkillers help. Nausea is overwhelming. Bank acct is depleted... tell me there will be joy and bliss at the other end. Will I get to sleep when the baby sleeps? Will I have to cook only organic food for it? Oh what a joy that will be! The bad food we've been subsisting on in the interim is enough to strain a lifetime's worth of organic-food-banking.

Remodeling is just like childbirth !!

Beautiful, but not pretty.

But do you sneak in, in the middle of the night, just to watch it?

Having a baby is WAAAAY simpler.

From the moment of conception money oozes out if your wallet.

You sometimes take drugs that make you lose your inhibitions, you curse at complete strangers and you sometimes lose control of your bowels and bladder?

DH and I rarely felt the same way about it at the same time.

A few months of worry and discomfort, then a short amount of pain, then absolute joy and tears when the finished product arrives!

Much easier cleaning up a kitchen though:)

because the conception is all fun and the delivery is a pain. If only they had an epidural for the remodeling version.

There is one big difference, though, depending on your vendors and suppliers.

A number of kitchen remodels *end* with someone getting screwed.

My not so official job title is Remodel Doula.

I always thought my bathroom remodel was more like having a baby than my kitchen remodel...but maybe that's because I gave birth in the tub ;).

Just when you think you can't take the discomfort anymore, it gets much worse before it's done. And then you promptly forget how bad it was and simply enjoy before starting on the next.

Can you tell I'm 8 months preggo with my second child? And that we're trying to survive a 1600 sqft addition remodel? No kitchen, but 3 bathrooms are making me reminiscent...

These were fantastic and just the laughs I needed to put the project into perspective. Thanks everyone! ;)

And of course...

You spend an inordinate amount of time researching online. Then, feeling rather overwhelmed by the entire process, you join an online forum for advice and moral support.

Also-pictures,pictures, pictures!! Although, I must say that I certainly took WAY more pictures of both the kitchen and the first grandchild (who is 8 today!!!) than we did of the first child because who has TIME??!! (with a newborn; pre- digital, of course)