About this title: In this reassuring guide, author Iovine, who has delivered four babies herself, gives first-time mothers-to-be the lowdown on pregnancy and childbirth. Her sassy, straightforward advice covers a variety of topics, including sex during pregnancy, the toll that baby-making takes on a woman's body, and common fears about motherhood.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
"Yes, I am pregnant. Due date: July 23rd. Little girl. I feel fine. Sure, I'm excited, whatever. Please don't touch my belly. That pretty much answers pretty much every question that I have to answer 35 times a day.
So I have two main concerns about giving birth. Both involve my butt. You'd think that the actual birth canal would be a scarier thing to me, but I figure it was built for that stuff, so it'll probably work ok.
Fear #1 Hemorrhoids. I love that the author just lays it all out. Other books mention hemorrhoids and how you will likely get some and just talk to your doctor, but gives no actual details of what to expect. This lady tells what they feel like and how you know that you have them and other handy explicit details. Had she not explained it to me I swear I would have screamed and died in the bathroom first time I discovered them. For now I am enjoying my mostly hemorrhoid-free nether regions.
Fear #2. I will be trying to poop and accidentally poop out a baby while I am at work. Apparently pushing during labor feels like pushing out a bowel movement. I catch myself every once in a while doing a good push and then panicking mid-push. What if I poop my uterus right out?! I am not really worried about doing this at home, even if I am home alone. But the thought of it happening at work terrifies me. There are only 2 other women and 298 men where I work. So chances of someone finding me in the women's bathroom are slim. I'd have to stuff my uterus and cantaloupe-sized (as of this writing) child back into my pants and hop back to my desk. Then, because everyone stops by my office to "see what I am doing" (usually 'working') I would have to explain it over and over. Hmmm...maybe that would get people to quick popping in to chat all the time. Oh! This has major potential!
So, I like the author of this book. She is way cooler than the other pregnancy book authors who are doctors or something official like that. She is an actual human who has carried babies and understands that sometimes you want to puke on people's shoes or put your head right down on the keyboardddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd and take a little nap."
"First off, I am not pregnant! I wanted to read this book because I had read an excerpt of it in a magazine (the first chapter) and had found it really hilarious. It is an interesting read for someone like me who is not pregnant, but would like to be in the future, and has no idea what it is like or the kind of things pregnant women go through. I'd personally like to know what I am getting myself into. It would've been a little bit more effective if she was a "normal-sized woman" to begin with and not a size 4, but it is still interesting to hear her views as she shares similar viewpoints to me. I found the book full of useful information and I definitely learned a lot of stuff about being pregnant and giving birth that I never knew about before. Having said that, yes it did gross me out a bit and turn me off to the idea of having kids (At least for the immediate future anyways). Plus I'm not sure I'm that ready for my life to change that drastically, at least not till after I finish school."
"I loved the idea of a book written from the experienced point of view of "girlfriends." For those of us not surrounded by friends who are also mothers, someone has to fill us in on all the little details of pregnancy. Vicki Iovine writes well and sprinkles in a good dose of humor, which is always appreciated when you're pregnant. However, I disagreed with so many of her opinions that I had a difficult time really liking the book.
1. Exercise: while she doesn't outright say you shouldn't exercise, she goes into such detail about why you shouldn't worry about exercising that she could easily convince you that exercising is not a good idea during pregnancy.
2. Outdated: her section on maternity clothes really cracked me up because she couldn't stop talking about stirrup pants and raiding your husband's closet for vests. She also mentions buying as much of your baby's layette used as possible, but most modern books agree that you should not buy a crib used if you can help it.
3. Losing your Body: in an attempt to really tell it like it is, I think that Vicki goes overboard when detailing the bad changes that will occur to your body. This is the first pregnancy book that actually scared me that I would forever lose my body. She basically tells you to get over the fact that you're going to lose your waist, your abs, your thighs, your bladder control, and your breasts- forever. She throws in one token sentence that says your post-pregnancy body MIGHT be better, but never the same. Instead of finding this helpful or insightful, I find it discouraging.
4. Breast Feeding: again, she didn't outright say don't breast feed, but her sarcasm regarding the subject was very negative. She even details stories of her girlfriends not breast feeding in an attempt to save their breasts, which she just goes on to say won't help since you're doomed to smaller, saggier breasts anyway.
5. Natural Birth: while I fully support every woman's right to choose which birthing plan is right for her, Vicki is clearly against woman trying the natural route. She doesn't see the merit in making it through delivery medication free and states that an epideral can't come early enough. Her attitude is, if you can do it with less pain why wouldn't you? She even supports the planned C-section for no other reason than convenience. I can't get on board with that.
6. Husbands/Partners: I feel sorry for Vicki because she portrays her husband as unhelpful, unsupportive, and unsympathetic throughout her pregnancies and deliveries. But she's quick to add not to worry if your husband/partner is unsupportive because he can still make a great father. Great. She goes on to talk about how her husband was down the hall talking with friends while she was alone in her hospital room contracting. Or my personal favorite, how he may need to be taking pictures instead of helping you through the pushing stage of delivery. I understand that there are plenty of husbands/partners out there that have trouble knowing how to support their pregnant women, but honestly, we should expect a little more out of them than Vicki does! I feel insulted on behalf of women with understanding partners and I think a lot of husbands/partners would be insulted, too.
Overall, if you really want another pregnancy book to read (and believe me, I know what it's like to want to devour every piece of writing out there on the subject) go ahead and read this one, too. But, be forewarned that you may not agree with many of her opinions and might be frightened by some of her comments. I highly recommend Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy instead!"
"This book is hilarious. It's different from the rest of the pregnancy books I've read because it isn't just a lot of facts but speaks in a way women think, especially pregnant women. I sat in my room reading it, laughing out loud, by myself, and then also groaning out loud when I read some of the things the author is very frank about but that I don't want to be true. At least I'll know what's actually going to happen to my body! I would highly recommend it to anyone pregnant. There's even a section for the husband to read which when you're reading it you're laughing about because it states all the things they're afraid of and gives them council on each thing, but it's hilarious because they hit every worry the man has right on the nose...it's genius."
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