Rating: 
Summary: Wow, helped me have a change of heart...
Review: Finding out I was expecting daughter #2 only 9 months postpartem, and knowing they'll be a mere 18 months apart when she's born, sent me into a tailspin and an overwhelming feeling of despair at how I would manage. Reading Twice Blessed really put into focus, albeit realistically, how every pregnancy is truly a miracle and showed me the actual blessing it is. Although I know there will be hard times ahead, I am now grateful for realizing that I will be "twice blessed" and will try to focus on the fact that my daughters will have each other as playmates and lifelong friends. Eventually, the diapers, night feedings and sleepless nights will lessen and I know I will look back at this time and be grateful for this miracle. Sometimes, life has something else in store for us :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Great, realistic book!
Review: I decided to read this book while waiting to be a mother for the second time. This book is realistic, straighforward and honest, almost to a fault. While some of it did not pertain to me as my first child is adopted, I still found myself identifying with what to expect when a second child enters the family. I found this book to be enlightening, informative and at times humorous! I would highly recommend it for both second time mothers AND fathers!
Rating:
Summary: Great, realistic book!
Review: I decided to read this book while waiting to be a mother for the second time. This book is realistic, straighforward and honest, almost to a fault. While some of it did not pertain to me as my first child is adopted, I still found myself identifying with what to expect when a second child enters the family. I found this book to be enlightening, informative and at times humorous! I would highly recommend it for both second time mothers AND fathers!
Rating: 
Summary: If you want subliminal birth control - read this book
Review: I found this book to be extremely depressing! It appears that Joan Leonard may have still been in the throes of post-partum depression while writing this book. Although I never expected that having two children would be completely idyllic, the picture painted in this book is one of pure torture, fatigue, and unrest. I recently miscarried during my third pregnancy and have been considering trying again so that my daughter has a sibling, but after reading this book - so much anger & resentment seething from the pages - that I'm seriously considering permanent birth control options. From Introduction to Epilogue, Joan Leonard tells the tale of frustrated women, sex-deprived husbands, & jealous siblings. Read this book if you're unsure of a second child, and leaning towards having an only child.
Rating:
Summary: very depressing
Review: I found this book to be very depressing. I got it when I just found that I was pregnant with my second and I wanted some advice and support - and it doesn't give you any. Most of information is a common knowlege, some is controversial, and what was probably intended to prepare you to all upcoming difficulties makes you think "What the hell I was thinking that night...".If you read something in your first pregnancy and if you have What to Expect the First year and Toddler Years (that have chapters about siblings), you already know more than this book can offer.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic and objective
Review: I got this book shortly after having my first child. We were planning on a second as soon as it seemed a good time. To me, the author only wrote this book to let the world know how horrible it was for her growing up. She tells you how spoiled she is, and how she couldn't stand having a sibling. From some of the things she writes in this book, she makes you feel horrible for even wanting to have another child, like you are selfish.
I will, of course, say that I did like some of the quotes from other parents, they were helpful. All in all though, it isn't worth to waste the money to listen to a women blather about how she felt as the older sibling. It goes on to show you also, the statistics of how horrible your marriage will be, how likely you are to fail, and how much you will hate it.
All in all, if everything that she says in this book is even REMOTELY true, all the statistics and what not, then there wouldn't be so many people with more than one child, living a full and loving marriage and having a good time. Yes, it is hard work, but it seems this author doesn't even want you to try. Thumbs down.
Rating:
Summary: Totally Depressing
Review: I got this book shortly after having my first child. We were planning on a second as soon as it seemed a good time. To me, the author only wrote this book to let the world know how horrible it was for her growing up. She tells you how spoiled she is, and how she couldn't stand having a sibling. From some of the things she writes in this book, she makes you feel horrible for even wanting to have another child, like you are selfish.
I will, of course, say that I did like some of the quotes from other parents, they were helpful. All in all though, it isn't worth to waste the money to listen to a women blather about how she felt as the older sibling. It goes on to show you also, the statistics of how horrible your marriage will be, how likely you are to fail, and how much you will hate it.
All in all, if everything that she says in this book is even REMOTELY true, all the statistics and what not, then there wouldn't be so many people with more than one child, living a full and loving marriage and having a good time. Yes, it is hard work, but it seems this author doesn't even want you to try. Thumbs down.
Rating: 
Summary: Twice Blessed
Review: I picked this book because I wanted a realistic, non-chemically/hormonally driven view of what it would be like going for it one more time before my husband and I sail into that long good night. I assumed it would not really (I mean come on - my first baby is so darned adorable, I want another and ain't nothing going to change my mind!). Fooled me. I was surprised by the sound of screeching brakes in the background as I got into this book. Frank and honest to a fault, unsullied by rose colored baby glasses, a make-no-bones about it, this is what your life's going to be like book that was like a bucket of cold water in my face. If I go down a path, I want to know the worst and the best of expectations based on others who have gone before me. I know what I'll end up doing but this book is a good glimpse into the consequences of the choice my husband and I will make. Recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic and objective
Review: I read this book with a very open mind as to what it would be like to have a family of four. I did not feel that the book was biased at all or pessimistic. It was reality one hundred percent. I found through experience that if a person already has a subjective view of a topic they will criticize anything that contradicts their feelings. One way or another it helped open my eyes to something I have little experience in. I was very pleased with this book because it did not hold back and did not candy coat to please people with their own personal decisions. It was straight forward to the point. To me it was important that the book I was reading, did not promote or condemn the topic that I was researching, because this is not a decision to make lightly. In this book I in no way percieved any of these things that are biased. In fact at the end I was left with the question of WHAT IS BEST FOR ME AND MY FAMILY? I had to answer the question myself because this book is not supposed to do that and it did not. It armed me with the knowledge of what it is like with a family of four and the changes that will happen and what to expect, ultimately leaving it in my hands at the end to make my own decision. I found it to be the best book on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Preparing for the Second Child
Review: Traditionally it's thought that the second baby presents the most trouble to the first one. Joan Leonard adjusts that picture. Now we can see how it affects each member of a family when a family expands. Leonard's writing on the subject of family has always been as humorous as it is perceptive. She gives the lowdown while remaining upbeat. And while many parenting books can't avoid talking down to the reader, Joan Leonard always talks to the adult in you.
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