Share your favorite pregnancy and pre-pregnancy books!

[brown_eyes]

I had my annual exam today and was talking to my OBGYN about starting down the TTC path. She suggested that I read "What to Expect When You're Expecting." I know that some people love this book while others hate it, but what other books do you girls really love on this topic??

Thanks in advance!

 

[megumic]

We're planning to homebirth our children so my book selection may be a bit less mainstream, but very informative and interesting nonetheless!

Pushed by Jennifer Block
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

I loved those two. I also just ordered:

Catching Babies by J.D. Kleinke
Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent
What Mother's Do Especially When It Looks Like Nothing by Naomi Stadlen

 

[Puppmom]

I second Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin and would recommend Taking Control of Your Fertility.

I didn't read any pregnancy books because I'm way too anxious and thought I had every ailment, defect and issue. I didn't need any more ammunition.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I really liked "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy"

 

[Pandora II]

Didn't like 'What to Expect' at all.

My favourites:

The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy

The Panic-Free Pregnancy (explains why you can eat soft cheeses (pasteuristed), sushi and paint your toesnails...)

Your Pregnancy Week by Week - by Lesley Regan. This book is brilliant and really covers everything in a way that is neither patronising or too technical. It's written by a British Professor of Obstetrics but works for everyone I think.

The Pregnancy Book by Dr Sears - I love all his books, but then I am also into co-sleeping, extended breast-feeding and baby wearing. That said I like epidurals and wouldn't have a home-birth in a gazillion years.

 

[Skippy123]

I really liked "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy"

I liked that one too because it made me feel better being Preggo. There are so many weird things going on that you never know what is normal and what isn't so this was a fun one for me to read!

I Love love Babycenter website for reading about each week of pregnancy and it is free. You can sign up for the weekly email. I actually like it better than the Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy. I do like the Mayco Clinic Guide too but Babycenter a little more.

I also like safefetus dot com for finding out what medicine and OTC meds are safe during the 1st trimester, 2nd, and 3rd.

Glad you started this thread!!! I look forward to reading what others people like too!

 

[brown_eyes]

Ladies,

Thank you for your responses. I can't wait to check out some of these titles!

 

[basil]

My cousin gave me a copy of "what to expect etc" and I hated it. I actually thought it was stupid...

Since then I gave up on pregnancy books, and just have DH research whatever questions I have. But what I like to do in general is to go to Barnes and Noble and buy a coffee, pull a bunch off the shelves and leaf through them. Then order the ones I like for my Kindle.

 

[zipzapgirl]

I've been reading What to Expect... and I like it. I am a little bit of a worrier, so the book's tone is reassuring. I like how they cover what is going on with the baby and with the mom's body.

I read YOU Having a Baby and really disliked it. The cartoons were annoying and the book was sortof threatening in its tone (no, this food might not have any bad effects, but then it might and do you want to be responsible for *that*??). Plus, it said a lot about what might happen, but not why, which I think misses a lot of the point of reading about it.

I'd be interested in suggestions too. I was going to hit up the bookstore this weekend.

 

[Pandora II]

The main thing I disliked about 'What To Expect...' was that they were so incredibly uber-cautious over things and were often scaremongering without using facts to back them up. There was a bunch of other stuff that irritated the hell out of me as well.

It's a reason that I liked the 'Panic Free Pregnancy' book so much. People avoid things because they think 'what if...' but to me it makes sense to know the actual scientic evidence behind the advice.

For example:
- Don't eat soft cheeses... it should really be don't eat soft unpasteurised cheeses - which are remarkably hard to find outside France (where pregnant women happily eat it)
- Don't eat raw fish... because the fish might possibly have worms (doubtful since sushi fish is frozen for 24 hours before use) which might affect YOUR absorbtion of nutrients and thus affect the foetus's absorbtion of nutrients if you are malnourished to start with.

Then they forget to mention that you can get listeria from lettuce...

 

[basil]

Pandora - I totally agree! My preggo friend was picking out feta cheese from a cafeteria veggie wrap...I was like "trust me, they did NOT go to Whole Foods to buy expensive imported unpasteurized feta at the hospital cafeteria!"

And there was recently a big salmonella outbreak from donuts.

 

[Blenheim]

A big ditto to everything Pandora said, including her book recs (excluding the Dr Sears one, only b/c I haven't read it) and explanation of why she doesn't like WTEWYE. Hate that book.

This pregnancy, I've been using BabyCenter for all of my weekly development trivia and safefetus.org for trying to figure out what meds are okay if I'm sick. I haven't opened a pregnancy book yet, but the info from A Panic-Free Pregnancy has stuck with me from when I read it last time. I do love that book.

 

[charbie]

Ditto to zipzap on the "YOU...Having a Baby." Totally makes you feel like you're going to pop out an alien.

DHs friend leant him "Your Pregnancy...for the father-to-be." Which I LOVE bc it tells your DH he really needs to be sensitive and understanding

 

[brown_eyes]

Charbie, you bring up a good point.... Does anyone have suggestions for books for DH??

 

[amc80]

Taking Control of Your Fertility is a fabulous book, whether or not you're trying to conceive. All women should read it.

 

[Gempassion]

I'm not pregnant and I don't have children but I saw an interview with the writer of Up the Duff by Kaz Cooke (she wrote a funny and interesting diary-book about what to expect when you're expecting because she hated pregnancy books... this one is supposed to be interesting, unscary, and not too medical).

 

[mayachel]

If you are in anyway artistically inclined, even just emotionally=I love Pam England's Birthing From Within. *Disclaimer, I trained as a childbirth mentor in her method and taught classes for a number of years using techniques from her. I really think that the presentation of material is non-panicky and focused on *YOU* figuring out what is best for you.

I also like Deepak Chopra's Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives as well Ina Mae's books. I think reading other women's positive and truthful birth stories is the best preparation for the mind. You will also find they are seldom anything like the tv shows.

 

[Blenheim]

I am not artistically inclined and like Birthing from Within.

 

[mayachel]

Thanks for that feedback Blenheim! Such a cutey you've got in your icon photo.

 

[Munchkin]

I disliked "You Having a Baby" as well. I kept picking it back up, hoping to suddenly find it helpful but it ended up being relegated to a far corner of my bookshelf.

I like "What to Expect" but (as a disclaimer) I didn't read it through. I used it for week by week info and in my second tri began using an Android app instead.

My favorite book (which I bought/found at about 30 weeks) is "Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn." I used it to review all the different pain relief and labor options and develop a birth plan. I flagged all the important pages and reread them the day before my water broke at 36 weeks. (I nested like CRAZY that day!) As another disclaimer, I'm a pediatric APRN so I digest some language more easily than the lay person. There are some parts of this book that may read too technically for some. I also thought the index was very thorough, which made looking up random, odd symptoms easy. Conversely, I couldn't even find a listing for "mucous plug" in the "You" index the day I (correctly) thought mine had fallen out at 34 weeks.

Enjoy the journey, but my suggestion is to find one or two books you connect with and stick with them. It can increase your stress and confusion if you read too many varied opinions!

 

[lliang_chi]

Hey ladies,

Keep the rec's coming. I actually read Panic Free Pregnancy (really quick and easy read). It was informative and helps address what I can imagine would be pregnancy "guilt." (Not pregnant, but TTC).

But am I the only one that found the author made no bones about expressing his agenda? And another weird thing, the author voiced his book as from the point of view of a mother (maybe that's just my opinion).

In the end, I think the book was really good at addressing some of the worries a woman has during pregnancy, and (I thought important) stresses that the mother has a voice/the right to be heard by her doctor(s). Those are big pluses to me. I can overlook the agenda and the "woman's point of view," but those two things kinda rubbed me the wrong way.

~LC

 

[Laila619]

Before you're pregnant: Taking Charge of Your Fertility is hands down my fave.

When you're pregnant: Baby Bargains. Love that book--it helps narrow down all the overwhelming options in baby gear and essentials, and saves you money to boot.

 

[cakeny]

"My Boys can Swim" for the DHs out there.