What to Expect When You're Expecting, Third Edition

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Summary: A must-read for all pregnant women!
Review: I received three copies of this book while I was pregnant, from other women who already had children. I was happy to see that the book answered all of the questions I had and fully explained everything that I needed to know, like what was going to happen to my body, what would happen at each month's doctor visit, etc. This book has a question-answer approach that really helps, since they were some of the same questions that were floating through my head (like, "Will I have to have an amniocentesis?"). I went into labor before I could read the final chapters though and I really wish I had been able to read those, about coming home and the first few days, how I was going to feel and all of that. This book was a lifesaver for 9 months!

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Summary: Chubby Moms be Aware
Review: If you are a chubby mom and have recently gotten pregnant, BEWARE! There's way too much emphasis put on diet and weight. Take the book with a grain of salt - (knowing of course, this is just a saying as we all know too much salt intake is bad for anyone - but especially pregnant women). What I mean to say is, ask your own doctor regarding your individual body and health concerns. People can be healthy with different body types - don't panic. Listen to your OB. The authors are kind of like Dear Abby and Ann Landers: out of touch. After it's all said and done - I would still have the book for a reference but don't feel obligated to implement each suggestion for your own personal maintenance. For serious readers regarding pregnancy: get "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth," For all other "life-with-your-children-and-spouse" challenges: get "Mommy-CEO (Constantly Evaluating Others) 5 Golden Rules" and "How To Talk So Kids Will Listen." Pregnancy goes by quickly - a little humor goes a long way in teaching us how to maintain our sense of balance which is what the other two books include. Think about it: what we feed our mind is directly connected to how we react to life. Thus, how we react to life is directly connected to what we feed our mind. Pregnancy is God's way of sharing the most precious gift available - giving birth to children. Don't get brainwashed into thinking it is too scary for words and you'll be FAT forever.

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Summary: Best selling, but not the best information!
Review: I was snaked in by the label that told me this book is the "Bestselling Book on Pregnancy." I quickly found out that doesn't mean it has the best information. The information is presented in a way that is very much in favor of "whatever your doctor says is right," and does not at all encourage intelligent, well-informed women to make their own decisions. The information is scanty on many subjects, and the part on diet makes you feel as though you're causing a birth defect every time you give into a craving. I'd recommend any of Dr. Sears' book over this one.

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Summary: Cloying, annoying and guaranteed to give you nightmares
Review: Am I the only person in the world who loathed this book? I found the syrupy-sweet tone cloying and irritating. The structure -- organizing topics via what month of pregnancy you're in -- was, to me, difficult to navigate; I seemed to spend an awful lot of time paging through the book to find what I was looking for, since my questions didn't tally precisely with the authors' timetable. While there is some good solid medical information, the book doesn't do a good job of helping you realize how likely or unlikely certain conditions are, or otherwise put the scary stuff in perspective. (And the authors' insistence that their Nazi-ish diet will solve all manner of problems is absurd.) In addition, I found the book's attempt to help you deal with the emotional aspects of pregnancy unhelpful and unrealistic, while the patronizing and preachy tone grates. Worst of all is the authors' nutty "food police" mentality: the chapter on the "Best odds diet" is downright scary. Can you imagine seriously suggesting to someone (anyone, not just a pregnant woman) that they should forgo all sweets and then, maybe, once a month they can have half a bagel for a "treat"?!

Rating:
Summary: Buy Anything Else --This Book Is The Worst!
Review: Because this book was marketed as the pregnancy "bible" and because so many people buy and read this book, I bought it when I found out I was pregnant for the first time. Don't make the same mistake I did. This book was AWFUL! I did a great deal of research on several aspects of pregnancy and childrearing and found these authors' opinions on a variety of subjects outdated, unscientific, unhelpful and just SCARY! One of the authors leads a discussion group in manhattan which I attended, post-pregnancy, with my then 3-month-old. The author (I think it was Arlene, but I could be wrong) is about 80 years old! No kidding. That explains all of the outdated advice! (This is not to say that all advice given by knowledgable older women, moms and grandmas is necessarily bad ... it is not.) With so many modern treatises written by insightful professionals available on pregnancy & childbirth, it is truly a travesty that so many women are compelled (based predominantly on good marketing) to buy this terrible book. I similarly despised the what to expect during the first year sequel by the same authors. These authors pretty much tell readers that if you give your child a pacifier (which my baby took temporarily) he will end up in prison or mentally retarded. And, while all educated moms and moms-to-be probably know classical music is good for, or at least appealing to, babies (older studies showing classical music stimulates brain activity have been recently called into question), the author had the nerve to tell one mom at our discussion group not to let her baby listen to any form of "rock music" which I imagine includes soft rock like Kenny G and Cowboy Junkies because, the author said, "rock" music is categorically "too loud" for babies! C"MON! Do yourself a favor and buy a respected and authoritative treatise on pregnancy and another such treatise on child-rearing; AND, for comic relief and genuine empathy, also buy the girlfriends guide to pregnancy. I also enjoyed the girlfriends guide to the first year.

Rating:
Summary: Great! Not much on C-Section tho.
Review: Great book! Really Helped me thru nine months of pregnancy and my doctor probably loved it too since I called less frequently than I might if I hadn't had this book. ;-) But, what little information I had abut emergency C-Section did come from this book, yet I was still COMPLETELY unprepared for it. Info on C-section was a little TOO clinical. Like the other sections, a bit about "how it feels, how you feel, etc" would have been helpful. Additionally, saying "you can sit, but your tummy hurts" is the only difference between vaginal and c-section delivery is VERY false and misleading. Assuming that the majority of readers don't need that information is also false. There is other information in the book that is less common, yet addressed more thoroughly. That was very disappointing so I would not recomened the chapter onpost-partum to anyone who might have a c-section.

Rating:
Summary: Useful, but a bit scary
Review: A useful book, it gave an overview of what to expect each month, and then went into more detail in some areas. The only thing I didn't like is that it was a little scary regarding some of the things that can go wrong! It is good to be informed, but the book didn't really give enough information (e.g. the likelihood of THIS happening is 1%, and that sort of thing). We made a somewhat panicky visit to the doctor because of it. As long as the reader is aware of this, then I'd recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read for ALL Expectant Mothers
Review: I can't say enough great things about this book! I read it during my first pregnancy and it thoroughly answered ALL of my questions, if not more. It is jam-packed with anything and everything a pregnant woman needs and wants to know. I even used it to brush up on my pregnancy knowledge when I was expecting my second child. No wonder this book has been on the market for so long--its everything you expect...and more!

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Summary: My Pregnancy Bible!
Review: This is the best most informative book that I have ever seen on pregnancy. I'm due any day now, and I have read every page of this book multiple times. It answers all of the questions that pregnant women have, as well as giving up to date and intelligent advice. I highly recommend this to anyone even thinking of getting pregnant. It has been my greatest source for pregnancy and childbirth knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Book
Review: As firsttimers, my wife and I found this book to be invaluable. Anything that happened throughout the pregency from start to finish we found in this book. In my opinion this is a MUST HAVE book. Personally as a first time dad, it gave me the big picture on what was happening to my wife from week to week. I cant say enough about this book.