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Summary: Hey, what about us guys?
Review: A girlfriend gave this to my wife, and I ended up reading it too. This was entertaining and informative, but definitely for the girls. I just saw the Fatherhood Aptitude Test online from Breathe! A Guy's Guide to Pregnancy, and I wish someone had gotten that for me. Hint, hint!
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Summary: Why didn't I buy this sooner?
Review: I bought this book yesterday, after a maternity store clerk criticized me for needing to look for transition clothes at 12 weeks. Depressed and discouraged, not to mention nausated and exhausted, I wandered into the book store and happened upon the girlfriend's guide. Miracle of miracles, I was laughing out loud before I was even through the introduction. This is a must for any first timer with a sense of humor - it makes you feel NORMAL, which is a feeling I desperately need right now. It is invaluable to have a sense of someone holding your hand without judging you, because they have been through it all before. Don't wait to buy this like I did! No one can feel positive all the time, and this is the moral boost you will need.
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Summary: this is humor?
Review: hey hey hey Girlfriend...! how supa cool are you! NOT. This book was so dumbed down it was embarrassing!! It also struck me as narcissistic. How strong are those maternal hormones anyway -- if you are just obsessed with how fat your ... gets or whether you are going to have gas. I found it to be just the market a shallow, mindless highschool cheerleader may be looking for. I, on the other hand, was much more interested in the development of the baby inside of me.
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Summary: Lots of irreverent fun, and mostly good advice
Review: I am 34 weeks pregnant and have really enjoyed this book; it is witty, irreverent and a great, quick read. There is info in it I haven't found in any other pregnancy book. I would have given it 5 stars but for two things--sometimes it doesn't give husbands/fathers enough credit, and it doesn't allow for exceptions to some of her "rules" of pregnancy (for example, I am one of those rare birds who has not gained any weight except in my abdomen and chest--you can't tell I'm pregnant by looking at my back or face. The author says this is impossible. She needs to allow that not all pregnant women are exactly the same). But these are minor flaws. A welcome relief among all the other serious pregnancy books.
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Summary: Bad advice, derogatory to husbands
Review: It would be a danger to a first time mother if this were the only prenatal book she were to read. Iovine treats too lightly the dangers of drinking while pregnant and wrongly urges pregnant women not to exercise (in fact, she devotes a whole chapter to this advice!) But my strongest criticism of the book is her treatment of fathers-to-be. Perhaps her most illustrative comment is in a paragraph on whether or not a mother should cease dyeing her hair while pregnant. She shares her personal experience, which is that she apparently had no choice but to continue dyeing her hair, despite medical concerns about dye chemicals in her bloodstream, because "if my husband saw my natural dull brown hair streaked with gray, he'd leave me - and having no father would be much worse for the baby than the hair dye!" This comment wouldn't be so unnerving if it didn't represent a recurring theme in the book that puts down men. On the positive side, I can say that Iovine offers some humorous perspectives on the changes in a woman's body with pregnancy and some general advice about preparing for the baby. But this book must be taken for what it is, one woman's set of opinions and not a guide.
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Summary: Never trust a "Girlfriend" with a copy of this book....
Review: I have owned two versions of this book and both have been "borrowed" by "Girlfriends" who loved it so much that they never gave my copies back to me! It goes to show that if you like this book enough to share it, you should go out and buy a copy as a gift because, otherwise, you are never going to see it again. I, personally, liked the original version of this book, which was a bit edgier than the second version. However, both versions are laugh-out-loud funny in places and are refreshingly candid where most people tend to gloss over some of the eveyday drawbacks to the condition of pregnancy. I would recommend this book to any woman who is pregnant, considering having a family, or already has children. There is something in here for every woman - whether preganancy is part of their past, present or future.
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Summary: More than you need to know...
Review: I thought this book sounded like what I needed to hear. Well, I'm 6 1/2 months pregnant, and I got freaked out by most of the stuff in this book. Granted, I had an awful first 4 1/2 months of pregnancy, so perhaps I wasn't in the best frame of mind. However, reading about things that can happen during pregnancy and childbirth that are just horrible does no one any good. Sure, you could say, "I want to be prepared for everything," well, I'm sure this is not possible. I had nightmares after reading this book. I know Vicki, you had the best of intentions, but it was just too much info for me...
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Summary: Good Introductory Info
Review: While generally informative, this book is NOT--nor is it supposed to be--a comprehensive guide to pregnancy. What the book does accomplish is give first-time moms-to-be a broad overview of what to expect during pregnancy. And it does so in a non-judgmental, non-condescending, anecdotal, easy-to-read way. This is a good book to read when you first learn the good news, but if you want more detailed info about pregnancy and childbirth (e.g., what medications are safe to take while preganant, pros and cons of various pain management techniques during labor), you should supplement it with a more clinical book.
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Summary: Need a laugh to relieve your worries?
Review: Pregnancy and all it entails are wonderful things but boy do they make you stress, and worry and get tense! This book will make you see things in a more lighthearted way and give you a giggle too. Laughing is a great way to ease tension and worry. All pregnancies are different and Vicki Iovine and her girlfriends are just telling us their experiences and their ways of coping. Use for laughs ... and choose another book for more thorough information.
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Summary: When you need to lighten up after gaining 40 pounds....
Review: This book is no substitute for the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" of the worlds, but it is a must as an accompaniment for them. I read the first half of this book when I was about 10 weeks pregnant, and I found it to be most helpful in giving me a humorous perspective on the many puzzling and unnecessarily worrisome things that were about to happen. Now that I'm 37 weeks pregnant, have one pair of shoes that still fit, and visit the bathroom every hour during the night, it was wonderful to return to the last chapters of the book. My silly feelings of self-pity were replaced by out-loud laughter and a reminder that it happens to everyone. When I put the book down, I thought, "*Everyone* who's pregnant should read this great treat!" so I came on Amazon to see what others had to say...I was surprised by how many people have no sense of humor. It seems a no-brainer that one should turn to a physician or the medical guide books for questions on exercise, nutrition, and the like...this book doesn't pretend to replace them. But it is a delicious side dish (or a wonderfully sinful high calorie dessert) to accompany those other resources. ...
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