Saturday, April 7, 2012

G is for Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy

When I first found out I was pregnant I was 5 months along...no really, I was...it's a long story, but it's full of truth. Anyway, I thought that having a child wasn't really something I was going to be doing ever. I spent the next 5 months (Vicki Iovine will tell you that you're actually pregnant for 10 months not 9, and, well she's right) getting used to being pregnant. I read every book that was given to me and I learned all about breast feeding (ick), and what happens to your baby and to you while you are pregnant (still pretty fascinated by that one), and What to Expect When Your Expecting, and I filled out a journal or two the best I could (more about that in "J").

Of all the books and How-Tos, the best one for me (shocked expectant strong female lady not really into frills, breast-feeding, sharing personal things or body changes) was The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy recommended to me by my dear friend Andrea, a gal who obviously knows me rather well.

From Barnes and Noble:

Publishers Weekly
For first-time mothers-to-be, this candid, funny and very reassuring guide to pregnancy is just what the doctor ordered-or would if he/she knew about it. Iovine, who has had four babies and who seemingly has girlfriends with many more, believes that women learn the really valuable things about pregnancy from other women. Since too few women in today's mobile society have a close circle of experienced female friends to turn to, Iovine's sharing of her own and her friends' experiences and knowledge fills a genuine need for comforting, straightforward, non-euphemistic woman-talk. Without stepping on any medical toes, and in language that is neither technical nor cutesy, she tackles morning sickness, swollen breasts, exercises, stretch marks, sex during and after pregnancy, delivery and just about everything else, from maternity clothing to bladder behavior. Iovine anticipates every conceivable question, and her responses are warm, wise and witty. (Oct.)

From the very beginning Iovine tells us that if we are the kind of pregnant girl who "gain the recommended twenty to twenty-five pounds", "swears she never felt better in her life" and "takes the placenta home and buries it beneath an old oak tree" then her book is not for you. It's for the rest of us who because we didn't know we were pregnant may *cough, cough* have gone out for drinks on our birthday, who *cough, cough* ate shellfish and tuna steak and wore our actual clothes until the last month. It's for those of us who thought maternity leave felt like vacation. The funny thing is that she believes all women are this person because if we aren't then we're "either lying or have a personality disorder".

Just look at these Chapter titles.

1 So, What Makes You Think You're Pregnant?
2 Sharing the Wonderful News
3 Pregnancy Is a Total Body Experience
4 "I Never Imagined My Body Could Feel Like This!"
The 10 Commandments of Morning Sickness
5 Pregnancy Insanity
6 You and Your Doctor
7 Prenatal Tests
8 Exercise and Pregnancy
9 Sex and Pregnancy
10 Looking the Best You Can
11 Partners of Pregnant Women
12 When the Old-Fashioned Way Isn't Working (Miscarriages, Multiples, Assisted Reproduction, and C-Sections)
13 Coming into the Homestretch
14 What to Take to the Hospital
15 Labor Begins (Finally!)
Top 10 Ways to Deliver Babies
16 Going to the Hospital
17 Postpartum Dementia
18 "The Old Gray Mare, She Ain't What She Used to Be"
Top 10 Greatest Concerns of Pregnant Women
Top 10 Reasons Why You'll Do This Again Someday
(the #1 Reason is "wine"...*snicker, snicker*)

It is a dream book.

It saved my life and the life of my husband (look at Chapter 11).

It is the only pregnancy book I read all the way through without skimming and I also took notes!






4 comments:

  1. It's great that someone wrote a book about what pregnancy is 'actually like'. It sounds like this book may have accomplished just that. There were no books on pregnancy 40 years ago when I had my first. You listened to what mothers, in-laws, aunts and older sisters had to say....then winged it all alone. Great 'G ' post.
    Thanks for stopping by my post and for your kind words.
    Kathy at Oak Lawn Images

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  2. I have a better story, which happened this year to one of my daughters friends. 19 years old she is and was told while she was at high school that she was going through early menapause and would never be able to have children!

    Of course a girl that age went through a bit of a tough time coming to terms with this reality and of course went off the rails, drank a bit, partied with boys etc. She had a car accident and had xrays, and a lot of medication. She is also a gym junky and did not find out she was pregnant until the seventh month. She delivered a healthy baby which has now gone into foster care until she is able to come to terms with everything in her life.

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  3. Seems like you rose to the unexcpected challenge Stephanie! I often tell my children that if no one ever made mistakes, neither one of them would exist- I should also point out that I let them know they were happy surprises. Now I also have two happy surprise grandchildren, I hope life has similar joys in store for you :-)

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  4. This is the book my first OBGYN recommended with my first son! She said it was a blast. I'm on my third pregnancy now, but I still check the books for reminders of "Is this normal, is this okay?"

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