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A Girlfriend's guide to Pregnancy is good and definately clues you in on things not usually talked about in a straight forward manner. What To Expect When Your Expecting is good as it breaks down each month on what is "normal". It is definately a little more politically correct. i liked both of those.
I only read Girlfriend's Guide at first and then I went on information overload. I read the week by week development sites, just to know what's going on with the baby...
And I got the AAP baby guide that I'm reading through now before she gets here. It takes you through the first year of your baby's life.
I read What to expect when expecting and also registered on babycenter.com for my countdown calendar.
I liked What to Expect. It's pretty comprehensive.
I also really liked Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein. It's good information if you are interested in natural childbirth.
I'm currently reading Happiest Baby on the Block. I'd suggest picking up a few parenting books (What to Expect the First Year and a book on sleep habits) before your baby is born, because I'm struggling to find time to read now that she's here.
I read (and recommend) the following books:
The Pregnancy Book: Month-By-Month, Everything You Need to Know by America's Baby Experts by William and Marth Sears and Linda Holt
Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Glade Curtis and Judith Schuler
Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth
The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp
I also read The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy and parts of What to Expect When You're Expecting, but I didn't like either of them. I felt like What to Expect concentrated too much on the scary stuff that could happen during pregnancy/birth, and it felt a little condescending to me. Also, I know lots of people who RAVE about The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, but I didn't like that one either. I didn't find it very funny or relateable, and I felt like the chapters on birth, labor, and choosing a doctor to be condescending and demeaning to woman who aren't necessarily "mainstream."
We also read a couple nursery decorating books, which were fun, and we just ordered The Husband Coached Childbirth by Dr. Bradley. Omg, we're kinda baby book nuts, aren't we?! :)
There are too many books out there! I am glad i will have weddingbee to come to when i put a bun in the oven
I am glad others brought up websites. I really liked http://3dpregnancy.parentsconnect.com/. It gives a week to week guide of what the baby looks like and is developing.
I gave my friend Belly Laughs, which is more of a comical look at pregnancy. So far, she said it is the best book she's read and far more entertaining/interesting than the other ones
What to expect is amazing for pregnancy and then what to expect during the 1st year to follow! Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy was perfect! She's so honest and straight forward, it's great! I couldn't put it down! :)
I am currently reading, You and a Baby by Dr. Oz. Not too bad so far.
I know this sounds silly but my doctor recommended The Dummy's Guide to Pregnancy and Ireally like it! I also got the Mayo guide, which is dry but has a lot of good reference info. I haven't gotten What to Expect yet as I have heard that it can really freak you out...might go get it soon though.
I have read these books:
What to Expect When You're Expecting
I really liked all the information in the book. It reads like an auto manual, but even though it's very dry, I thought it was very informational. I prefer to be informed though, and I didn't think it was scary. It was a bit disorganized though. You have to read the whole book end to end since the information is scattered haphazardly throughout the months. Also not many photos, which would have been nice.
10,000 Baby Names - Bruce Lansky
You don't need to buy the book with the most names, but I liked to look through it for names, and when we finally picked a name I liked the easy reference to the meaning and origin.
Belly Laughs-Jenny McCarthy
This was a funny book, but I was done reading it in like a day. Not a lot of info, but still some funny anecdotes.
The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy-Vicki Iovine
I liked this much better than What to Expect, and it was more substantial than Belly Laughs. It's like a strange mix between the two. On the one hand she avoids any medical jargon, and on the other hand she's telling you good info, albeit sometimes completely useless info (but interesting all the same).
She's Having a Baby and I'm Having a Breakdown-James Douglas Barron
Great book for my husband! He's not a reader, but I wanted him to read something about what I am going through. This book is funny and cute and has some sweet suggestions for how to handle your pregnant wife. He may not know the ins and outs of pregnancy from this book, but he knows how to keep me happy, which I think is more important for now.
Here are some books on my Amazon wishlist. I'm not sure if they're good but they look like they're up my alley.
Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth-Dr. Miriam Stoppard
I'm Pregnant!-Lesley Regan
Easy Labor: Every Woman's Guide to Choosing Less Pain and More Joy During Childbirth-Kathryn Alexander William Camann
For an interesting perspective on parenting infants, check out "Our Babies, Ourselves" (not Our Bodies) - I read it for a class I took on women's biology, it's a book about parenting practices in different cultures. There's some really interesting food for thought, and fascinating little facts, like when a mother and baby fall asleep together, their heartbeats & breathing patterns synchronize!
I didn't care for "Our Babies, Ourselves" because it seemed really preachy. Like if you didn't follow the cult of Attachment Parenting you must be a bad mother! I'm naturally defensive of the fact that I will be a working mother, and to read through a book that from beginning to end basically told me I will be doing it "wrong" ticked me off. Really bad. I burned that book in the barbeque grill! But my cousin DOES attachment parenting and she loved it. So if you're interested in that it's a good book.
I just want to warn you not to freak out if things don't happen along the exact same timeline as those books. They're a general guideline to what should happen and everyone develops at a different rate. Just please don't be like my FI's friend who would freak out over everything and call him continually about her and somebody else's baby...bleh...sorry, it totally burned me out on baby books and I didn't even read any. Mostly I'd check for local classes on parenting and that sort of thing as they can be very helpful.
My sister said that what to expect while expecting just made her more nervous.
She raved about Dr. Sears the Pregnancy book and Ina May's guide to childbirth.
what to expect when you're expecting
also check out i-am-pregnant.com
I read (and enjoyed):
Birthing From Within
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
Spritiual Midwifery
The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
and I'm working on:
The Baby Book (Dr. Sears)
The Vaccine Book
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
I'll add that I just finished a few birthing books. Here's my brief reviews:
Husband Coached Childbirth by Dr. Robert Bradley - I thought this one was ok, but it's more about the theory of natural childbirth than the actual method/specific techniques.
Natural Childbirth, The Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon-Rosegg, Erick Ingraham, and Robert A. Bradley - I thought this one was a much better guide to the Bradley method. It gives really specific directions for pre-labor exercises and gets down into the details of using the Bradley method to manage pain during labor. Very helpful.
The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin - I think this book was the best birth book I've read. It's very inclusive of all birthing methods (natural, using pain meds, and even c-sections) and goes into great detail about all the procedures you could be offered during birth. Plus, it has some super helpful reference areas that outline natural labor techniques, what happens during a c-section, how to decide on a pain medication, etc... I recommend this book above all the others.
I'm heading back to the library tonight, so I'll let you all know what I pick up. :)
My next read will be The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and how it has Undermined All Women.
I'm working really hard on setting realistic expectations for motherhood and this book came recommended by a friend. I haven't even gotten it yet, but it sounds like an interesting read (especially for overachievers).
Labor/Delivery: The Birth Partner was my favorite so far for labor-specific books--lots of good info on unmedicated childbirth and actual scietific info on the various medical procedures in what felt like an unbiased manner. I found Your Best Birth to be eye-opening but a little too biased in the anti-doc direction. I'm reading Natural Birth The Bradley Way now but so far I don't like it... condescending towards all other birth methods, even other natural methods, and 8 chapters in before you start getting to useful stuff (as opposed to why you should pick Bradley) -- and then the f irst useful chapter is filled with drawings of naked women, so I can't read it at work or on the train.
Never made it through any of the weekly or monthly books. :) I'm lazy.
Girfriends Guide was mildly funny but yes condescending towards non-mainstream births.
I've received several recommendations for the Nursing Mothers Companion from recently delivered friends and like it so far (halfway through).
Lastly, I love love love the pregnancy calendar here: http://www.alphamom.com/pregnancy-calendar/ (so funny! and useful! and short!) and pretty much anything else pregnancy or postpartum related on that website.
Also, on motherhood--I read Bad Mother and quite enjoyed it, although now my brain is pregnancy-fried and I don't remember much. :) http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Mother-Chronicle-Calamities-Occasional/dp/0385527934
I have some more recommendations based on my reading over the last couple of days. I was at my friend's house (also a pediatrician) and she has many of the baby books so I perused them all.
One book rose to the top as being easy to read, completely factually based and science oriented without being prescriptive, and lighthearted.
It's called Baby 411 and it answers so many of the questions that we've grappled with here (and also just grapples with us when there is no right answer).
Seems like a must have to me!
Here are some blurbs about it:
Review
You are having a baby! Congratulations! Now the reality hits you: what the heck am I doing? What if you could bottle the wisdom of all those parents who've come before you and mix it with the solid medical advice from an nationally-renowned pediatrician? Baby 411 is the answer! Think of it as the ultimate FAQ for new parents. Baby 411 hits today's hot-button issues head-on.
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What are the best books for pregnancy/first time moms?