“What to Expect When You’re Expecting” a.k.a. WTEWYE (Pregnancy)
Alicia’s Take: I think that just about every woman has seen this book or at least heard of it. When I found out I was pregnant and raiding the Border’s book shelves, it was one of the first that I picked up. Personally I didn’t think it was that great of a book. I personally didn’t like the way it was broken down. When I was bored at night and didn’t have anything else to read I’d flip through it and catch up. Typically I’d scan the headlines and read anything that really stood out to me as interesting. In my opinion there are better books out there (see below) that accomplish the same goal: informing you about the status of your pregnancy.
Barbie's Take: Megan let me borrow her copy of this book pretty early on. I found myself referencing it every month. I'd read the entire chapter for whatever month I was just entering and then I'd give Kevin and break-down of what we could expect, or what the baby would be doing differently. Once in a blue moon I'd reference it for odd-ball things, like "is this normal". I definitely liked this book and will probably reference it again in the future.
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“What to Expect the First Year” (Infant)
Alicia’s Take: “What to expect…” obviously used their already popular name and started a whole SERIES of “What to expect…” books. I’ve seen “what to expect…” for twins, babysitters, etc. I picked this up because I thought that it might be good to know what’s going on with Jude as he’s growing. It didn’t take long for it to start collection dust on my night stand. I read a few pages of the first month and Ryan had a great point that if you’re reading this and are checking his development by a book then you’ll drive yourself crazy. Every baby develops at a different pace and some can do things before others, after others or right on time and there could be nothing wrong with them.
In my opinion taking your baby to wellness visits on a regular basis is far more beneficial. The doctor will let you know if there’s something wrong and you need to be concerned. I think you’ll just make yourself crazy comparing your child to the average. I’d say to skip this book.
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“Your Pregnancy Week by Week” (Pregnancy)
Alicia’s Take: This was the one pregnancy book that I loved. I looked forward to hitting my weekly marks to read what was going on in there. The first page or two of each section was dedicated to how big baby was, average weight gain, had pictures of what he/she looks like at that point, etc. In addition I felt that the rest of each chapter was broken up nicely highlighting possible issues at each stage, things to be on the look out for, etc.
I’m pretty sure that the same information was all covered in WTEWYE (see above), but in my opinion it was laid out much nicer here. Ryan also seemed to enjoy reading this one as in was not uncommon for it to be missing when I went to read it because he would pick it up and browse through.
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“So That’s What They’re For” (Breastfeeding)
Alicia’s Take: A lot of information you read online tells you that breast feeding can be very difficult when you first start. I had heard of other people who had complications in the beginning, so I was determined to find out everything I could about how to get started and be successful. This book was not only pro-breast feeding, but VERY anti-formula. I remember when I was reading it, thinking that the lady who wrote it must be insane. Now that I’ve been BFing, I can understand her a little better, but still think she was pretty extreme.
However, I found some of her extreme-ness to be mildly entertaining (I can remember chuckling at some parts, thinking to my self “she can not be serious”) and might be part of the reason I read through the whole book. Reading about some of the “what if’s” can be a little boring if you have no real idea of what to expect, but other than that, the book was good. I was pretty successful getting started and feel like the book may have had something to do with it.
In addition, there’s a pretty good index/reference section in the back. I have only used it once or twice, but it was pretty easy to find exactly what section I was looking for, for a quick reference.
If you’re planning on breast feeding, this could be a great book to confirm that “yes, it is the best thing for my baby!” and help you gather some info – and even help you work through problems in the beginning. If you’re on the fence about breastfeeding, this book might scare you out of it and make you want to throw away the book and replace it with formula. I’m not sure if it’s out there, but if you’re on the fence you might want to find a book that’s a little less intimidating.
Barbie's Take: I knew early on that breast feeding was something I planned to do, but I had no idea what it was all about, so I took myself to Borders. I rummaged through the breast feeding book for a while before finally decided to get this book. Once home, I took my time and read the book almost page by page. I skipped the sections that had nothing to do with me (nursing twins, etc) but for the most part I read the entire book. The author is pretty hard-core. A little too hard-core for my liking. She made me believe the doctors and nurses at the hospital were going to be 100% against me, and basically force formula down my child's throat. At one point the author had me so scared that I went to Kevin and told him, "I don't think I am going to breast feed". All of the formula-bashing had me very intimidated. And don't even get me started on the "you will lose your friends who do not breast feed" section. All that aside, the book had a ton of really useful information. Using the index I found it very easy to go back to the book for quick answers and tips. I referenced the book several times in the early stages of breast feeding and was very glad I had it. I even recommended this book a friend.
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“Happiest Baby on the Block” (Infant)
Alicia’s Take: I have heard people RAVE about this book. I personally only read the beginning of it and kind of gave up. This is basically a guide to over coming colic and helping you sooth a screaming baby. It discusses the natural reason for why swaddling works, what sounds work best to comfort a child and much more. It covers the 5 S’s and could be a life line for mothers with a baby with colic. I know the last thing you will have time to do when you have a baby with colic is read a book on colic, but I after reading the basics of the book, that’s exactly what I told myself I’d do. The book just started to get a little too detailed for me, so I put it down and never finished it. But the beginning portions I read were very helpful.
Having an understanding of why babies like/dislike certain things helped me at points. For example the security of the womb can be recreated by swaddling. Jude really was never a fan of swaddling, but if he’s upset, I’ll set him against my chest, scrunch up my legs and wrap my arms around him to get the same feeling. Usually this works wonders in calming him down and even putting him to sleep.
The book was in pretty lay terms and not too difficult to understand, so it was a pretty easy read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with a baby who has colic and if you’re an expecting mother who’s terrified of mid-night screaming fits, this could sooth your mind that there are ways to over come it!
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"Milk Memos" (pumping)
Barbie's Take: This is a book written by real working women who pumped on the job. There was an assigned "lactation room" in their corporate building for all of the pumping mothers to share. One of them decided to start a little journal to "introduce" herself to the other mothers (they all pumped at different times throughout the day). Over time several women were writing in this journal - giving updates about their child and telling stories. It gave them something to do while pumping, but it also gave me (the reader) a chance to hear from real women what pumping would be like in the workplace. I read it cover to cover while I was pregnant and found it to be a fairly easy read that was mildly entertaining and semi-informative. I kept telling myself I would go back and re-read it now that I actually AM pumping at work, but I haven't yet. I'm sure I would interpret the book differently now that I can relate to these women. I would definitely recommend this book to any other pumping mother, if for no other reason than so they can feel some sort of connection to someone else who pumps. Pumping mother's are growing in numbers but it's still common to be the first person to pump at your job.....or be the person who "introduces" pumping to coworkers who never knew it existed (which was the case for me).
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