Pregnancy & Baby Books

Blonde1817

Does anyone have any advice for must-read pregnancy and baby books?  I would love to have a few books to read, but so far I've found that most have really mixed reviews. If you're not a first time mama, what books did you previously find most helpful and realistic?  Any recommendations would be helpful!  Also, any books that you would definitely NOT recommend?

LizaKate1213

I do not recommend What to Expect When You're Expecting. It was ridiculously disorganized and have me more anxiety last time than anything else.

MRSCORKER

I'm glad you started this thread, I was thinking the same thing. I'm also curious about good books for the hubs!

LGW2015

I know there was a thread earlier with a similar topic. It might be helpful to read those replies.

von1976

I've enjoyed the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy. I'm also reading Expecting Better by Emily Oster, it debunks a lot of the myths (i.e.: alcohol/caffeine consumption, what foods you really need to avoid).

JamieK1882

I learned nearly everything last time from my BMB on The Bump. I'm not even joking.

mrskratt

If you plan on BFing, I HIGHLY recommend The Womenly Art of Breastfeeding. It was so informational and I didn't know that much went into BFing. I had an extremely hard time BFing with DD and that book was like my bible. 

breweber2010

I got What to Expect based on this being my first pregnancy.  I would agree that it is not necessary as I've gotten much of the same information through articles here on the Bump.  However, DH is reading it much more closely, and there is an expecting father's section.  If you husband is interested in knowing more, it might not be too bad for him to pickup.

housewifehobbyist

I loved Expecting Better! I also enjoyed Jenny McCarthy's "Belly Laughs"- not very scientific but a funny story of what you might expect to experience, in all it's joy and grossness.  

Hillzy30

LizaKate1213 said:

I do not recommend What to Expect When You're Expecting. It was ridiculously disorganized and have me more anxiety last time than anything else.

This ^^^ 
Every time I read a page from that book I thought "that's it. baby's gone." 

I bought "Dude, You're Gonna Be a Dad" for DH - he really enjoyed it. 

As for me, there's a book about 7 natural laws of breastfeeding or something like that which was amazing. It changed my whole BFing experience for the better. 

mrsman2018

I wasn't planning on buying any books, just looking up online everything I need to know. But for Valentine's Day my husband bought me Canada's Pregnancy Care Book and I love it. He also bought me Your New Pregnancy Bible. I have not read it yet, but flipped though and it looks really good. 

PrimRoseMama

Blonde1817 said:

Does anyone have any advice for must-read pregnancy and baby books?  I would love to have a few books to read, but so far I've found that most have really mixed reviews. If you're not a first time mama, what books did you previously find most helpful and realistic?  Any recommendations would be helpful!  Also, any books that you would definitely NOT recommend?

The Mayo Clinic's guide to Pregnancy and The Girlfriend's Guide to pregnancy.

blaf322

Hey there! I wondered the same so I did a bit of searching on the Bump and based on what I was looking for and what others said, here's what I ordered and why
- The Panic-Free Pregnancy: others said it differentiates between the definitely do/don't do and the recommended do/don't do's (and tells you the reason behind each recommendation), it's easy read, written by an OB-GYB, and not all doom and gloom/conservative like WTEWYE- this description is EXACTLY what I was looking for in a pregnancy book
-Baby 411- others said it's easy to read and straight forward about what to expect/what to do in situations. This is what I'm using as my, don't screw this kid up during the first year, book :-)
- I also got The Well Rounded Pregnancy Cookbook because it looked good to me. It gives you recipes that support a healthy pregnancy and has 3 recipe adjustments for when you're feeling full, sick or just regular. I've received that one and will be trying my first recipe tonight
Take a look at the Amazon descriptions for each of these. They also gave me a good idea that these were the types of books I was looking for.

MRSCORKER

bnsmith85 said:

Hey there! I wondered the same so I did a bit of searching on the Bump and based on what I was looking for and what others said, here's what I ordered and why
- The Panic-Free Pregnancy: others said it differentiates between the definitely do/don't do and the recommended do/don't do's (and tells you the reason behind each recommendation), it's easy read, written by an OB-GYB, and not all doom and gloom/conservative like WTEWYE- this description is EXACTLY what I was looking for in a pregnancy book
-Baby 411- others said it's easy to read and straight forward about what to expect/what to do in situations. This is what I'm using as my, don't screw this kid up during the first year, book :-)
- I also got The Well Rounded Pregnancy Cookbook because it looked good to me. It gives you recipes that support a healthy pregnancy and has 3 recipe adjustments for when you're feeling full, sick or just regular. I've received that one and will be trying my first recipe tonight
Take a look at the Amazon descriptions for each of these. They also gave me a good idea that these were the types of books I was looking for.

Thanks for this! Off to Amazon I go! 

missteacherlady16

mrskratt said:

If you plan on BFing, I HIGHLY recommend The Womenly Art of Breastfeeding. It was so informational and I didn't know that much went into BFing. I had an extremely hard time BFing with DD and that book was like my bible. 

@mrskratt - I definitely plan to BF but I wasn't planning to read up on it until the 2nd/3rd tri. After I saw your recommendation, I checked it out on Amazon and was kind of concerned by some of the reviews that said the book was judgmental to working moms. Did you find that to be true? Or was it easy to look past? 

Blonde1817

Thanks ladies, I'll be hitting up Amazon today!  

mrskratt

missteacherlady16 said:

mrskratt said:

If you plan on BFing, I HIGHLY recommend The Womenly Art of Breastfeeding. It was so informational and I didn't know that much went into BFing. I had an extremely hard time BFing with DD and that book was like my bible. 

@mrskratt - I definitely plan to BF but I wasn't planning to read up on it until the 2nd/3rd tri. After I saw your recommendation, I checked it out on Amazon and was kind of concerned by some of the reviews that said the book was judgmental to working moms. Did you find that to be true? Or was it easy to look past? 

I'm sorry, I never saw this! I'm on mobile so I never get notifications. 
I didn't find the book offensive at all! I'm a full time working mom and I never got that vibe. I can't even recall what would make people feel that way, but I read it 2.5 years ago. 

missteacherlady16

mrskratt said:

missteacherlady16 said:

mrskratt said:

If you plan on BFing, I HIGHLY recommend The Womenly Art of Breastfeeding. It was so informational and I didn't know that much went into BFing. I had an extremely hard time BFing with DD and that book was like my bible. 

@mrskratt - I definitely plan to BF but I wasn't planning to read up on it until the 2nd/3rd tri. After I saw your recommendation, I checked it out on Amazon and was kind of concerned by some of the reviews that said the book was judgmental to working moms. Did you find that to be true? Or was it easy to look past? 

I'm sorry, I never saw this! I'm on mobile so I never get notifications. 
I didn't find the book offensive at all! I'm a full time working mom and I never got that vibe. I can't even recall what would make people feel that way, but I read it 2.5 years ago. 

Good to know! I'll definitely look into it Thanks for the suggestion!

nsquaredlife13

• Anything by Ina May Gaskin!!!!
• The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp
• Bringing Up Bebe

gatorMom2014

The Mayo Clinic's guide to Pregnancy and The Girlfriend's Guide to pregnancy.

These two were my favorite too.

Blonde1817

These are all wonderful suggestions... unfortunately now I want to buy all of them!  I downloaded a few samples and I liked them all.  I think I might wait until I tell my (recently pregnant) cousin after my first u/s and see what she has for me to borrow.  Or maybe I'll just buy them all...

anna.oskar

For the husband I recommend "Dude you're gonna be a dad!:   But before you give it to him, read it yourself.  It's wonderful, funny, real, and doesn't overload of the scary "what ifs".  I really enjoyed it myself.

Tara0604

I enjoyed:

• Your Pregnancy Week by Week
• The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy
• Belly Laughs

I had What to Expect, but I only used it for reference/looking up specific things. 

ETA: I bought my books second hand from consignment shops and local consignment sales for less than $5 each. I also borrowed from friends.

booksandicecream

Disclaimer: I am a developmental neuropsychologist so I 1. already know that one trillion things can go wrong and 2. I really value factual information. 

Having said that, I actually appreciate WTEWYE, because it lays out any signs or symptoms to look out for. But if you're the kind of person who doesn't want to know, this isn't the book for you. 

I recently bought the German version of The Day-by-day Pregnancy Book by Maggie Blott. I really like this book because it lays out everything in easy-to-use format. There is a brief description of baby's development and tips for each day. I read it every morning while I eat breakfast. This is also a great one for DH, who is not a big reader, as he can skim and just read what he finds interesting.