What to Expect When You're Expecting

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Summary: Pregnant womans bible....
Review: I am expecting my first child soon and when my husband and I found out we were expecting, we immediatly went and bought this book. I have looked up everything in this book that I don't understand. When it comes to how big baby is they don't say much, but how can they possibly tell you how big your baby is at any given point. I found the index to be the greatest thing. They tell you everypage that the subject your looking for is on. HOW GREAT IS THAT!!! I loved this I even bought a copy for my husband, to take with him overseas.

I would recomend this book to everyone I know.

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Summary: Good resource -- but don't let it make you feel guilty!!
Review: I have owned 2 copies of this book -- one for each of my first two pregnancies. I devoured it during my first pregnancy, but ended up tossing it because of how "tsk-tsk" the authors are toward women who might even consider eating a piece of chocolate cake (all that sugar? Think of the baby!), during pregnancy (even if that's all you can manage to keep down during the first trimester). Once you've actually been through a real pregnancy, you realize how differently reality is from the ideal. You eat WHAT you can, WHEN you can. And if your midwife gives you a prescription to help relieve your nausea, YOU TAKE IT, with gratitude!

At the start of my second pregnancy, however, I realized how easy it was to find things in What to Expect, that the chronological layout really is quite useful. So I ended up buying another copy (used).

All in all, I do recommend it as one of the better pregnancy reference books, although I do have reservations about it simply due to the guilt-inducing nature of the opinions of the authors. Be forewarned: the authors seem to think we are all capable of eating a perfectly balanced diet everyday (morning sickness anyone?), we should not even CONSIDER taking anything that might help relieve nausea, and we should all expect to have a perfectly wonderful pregnancy experience! All of this can be a little heavy handed, especially for women in their first pregnancy who find that pregnancy is not always all it's idealized to be.

I am in my third pregnancy (I have 2 wonderful, healthy children) and will probably not need to resort to pregnancy books this time. Unless someone happens to give me a used copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting.

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Summary: The BEST mom-to-be resource
Review: This book stayed on my nightstand throughout my pregnancy. It answered so many questions, reassured me, and helped me look forward to each new stage of pregnancy. I recommend it to every expectant mom!

Sheryl Gurrentz, author
"The Guilt-Free Guide to Your New Life as a Mom: Practical ways to take care of yourself, your life and your baby--all at the same time"

Rating:
Summary: Buy it used
Review: or see if you can get someone to give you a copy if you feel the need to keep this "pregnancy bible" close at hand.

The month-by-month format is helpful (then again, your experiences may vary somewhat).

However, like many readers here, what really annoys me about this book is the tone in which it is written -- like all pregnant women are morons who jettisoned their sense of humor the minute the test came back positive.

And the nutrition section is kind of a joke. I went from four months of morning sickness straight into persistent heartburn, so I made food choices based on what (1) didn't make me gag or (2) didn't keep me up all night belching. (Sometimes it was grapefruit, sometimes it was potato chips.)

Relax a little bit -- constantly worrying about your weight or if you stood downwind from a car with a bad exhaust system isn't good for the baby either.

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Summary: What I Expected was a Better book!
Review: I have had 3 children and am most likely prego with #4. I am an avid reader and have read many pregancy, birthing, baby, and childcare books and magazines. I don't consider myself an expert, but I do know what a good pregnancy book is, and this isn't one.

I borrowed this book from my SIL who used it through her prego. My sister had swore by her book through her prego, as well. I had heard nothing but great reviews. Well, I was highly disappointed. I didn't agree with many of her discussions she brought up. While much of the books was interesting and helpful in a general information of what was going on, it didn't give me any real answers! My OB and friends who have already given birth gave me all the information this book gave me. I was glad I hadn't purchased it!

I highly recommend: Your Pregnancy Week by Week. It gives you great descriptions for what is going on inside your body, what changes you'll face and are facing, why certain things happen, what your baby looks like, what size your baby is, what is happening to your baby, when certain things develop, why you feel this or that, what this pain is, what that feeling is, etc. It's incredible!

If you want a great book that is similar to What to Expect... then get The Pregnancy Book by Dr. William Sears and Martha Sears, RN. Dr. Sears is a Pediatrician with a great website. Martha is a Pediatric Nurse and La Leche League leader. They have had 8 children together and practice what they preach. I have this in my permanent library and recommend it to friends who are moms-to-be quite frequently.

I don't recommend any of the What to Expect books... Dr. Sears has great books that are all great alternatives to What to Expect... What to Expect was so popular because it was the first and only book of its kind for so long. Now there are a ton of great options out there. It filled a need, but now it's no longer needed!

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Summary: Save your Money!
Review: This book is a guide to pregnancy and childbirth for women who really don't care to be truly informed. It is only slightly more information than the average doctor will divulge, and glosses over many of the risks of some of the procedures discussed. In particular, it doesn't give an adequate description of the risks a cesarian has for the mom and baby, and also for future pregnancies and deliveries. It also has misinformation regarding breastfeeding. When I was pregnant with my first, I bought this book thinking it was the "bible" of childbirth books. After my first birth, and my subsequent research, I won't even *give* it away-- I don't want anyone else running around with this kind of misinformation at her fingertips. A much better book for those who truly want to be informed is Henci Goer's "Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Childbirth."

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Summary: Use as a reference book
Review: This is the "mother" of all pregnancy books...and it talks as if it is your mother, guilt and all. That said, it is a good as reference when you want some quick info. Read what you need on the bookshelf, or buy it used.

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Summary: the best book ever
Review: i don't care what anyone says whether you are a pro at being pregnant or not! this book was well informing exspecially for first time pregnancies. it told you every ache and pain and what you will most likely be feeling. also i took you through every inch of labor and told you ... well what to expect. i recomend this book to anyone that is pregnant or getting ready to be. also after the baby is born there are also what to expect the first years and what to expect the toddler years. also great reads and great deals of helpfulness

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Summary: A lot of unnecessary scare
Review: Althoug this is the one you hear about over and over again, I have heard several doctors advise against it... now I know why. It is a lot of unnecessarily scary stories and "what ifs." There are many better books out there. My personal favorite was the new one put out by the Mayo clinic.

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Summary: The Perfect Hint for A Tubby Wife
Review: I gave this delightful book to my increasingly angry (and rotund) wife Bessie for our 5th wedding anniversary. She's not pregnant, but I thought this book (presented at a celebratory gathering of twenty or so close friends and too-close family) might just be the subtle tip she needs to start shedding those pounds she put on about 4 years ago when she was pregnant. I lovingly inscribed it to "Beautifully BIG Bessie: When are the quintuplets due? Try Exercise. Love, Hops." A worthy attempt, but yet another failure.