Babble

Hi everyone, this board seems to be a nice alternative to the other preg. boards I check out, who shall remain nameless.

Anyhoo, I'm looking for some non freak-my-shite-out books about pregnancy...I looked at some at the book store, and had to put it down the second it had caffeine on the same list as lead and mercury as "substances to avoid"...I'm still drinking my morning coffe, thank you very much. I also don't want anything too fluffy and stupid (i.e. pregnancy memoirs...). I'm interested in natural birth, if that makes a difference also.

Thanks in advance!  

Giving Birth with Confidence by Lothian & Devries is excellent and really is all about building confidence instead of scaring your pants off like What to Expect, etc.  For a little more pregnancy content (GBWC does have preg content but is mostly about birth) I'd go for Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn by Simkin. 

 Good luck!

-Amy

I bought a few books during my pregnancy, opened them up, and then tossed them.  Ignorance is bliss, who wants to know if you could catch some rare disease 10 different ways,  your doctor will tell you all you need to know.  Strangers will tell you tons of horror stories while touching your belly uninvited, who needs to add to that crap.  I say skip all the books, ask your friends and doctor when you have questions.  Don't watch the discovery channel birthing shows either, they seem slanted toward the most dramatic of circumstances.  Enjoy your pregnancy, assume it will go well, after all women have been doing this for a thousand years.  :)

I have a book I borrowed from a friend that I LOVE.  It's called "Fearless Pregnancy," written by Victoria Clayton, Stuart Fischbein and Joyce Weckl -- a mom, a doctor and a midwife.  Instead of pages and pages of specific do/don't do lists, they give broad, common sense advice.  When I find myself (as I often did in the first trimester) starting to freak out about food or spotting or whatever, this book was like a sensible friend who's been there.  It says in almost every situation, "you'll be fine, here's why it's fine and you can deal if it turns out it isn't."  Every other book I read seems designed to warn me about all the terrible dangers of the world.  (Like coffee being as dangerous as lead, please!)  This book addresses your fears as if you're a grown woman who just needs a little 'talking off the ledge' for a sec.

I also highly recommend looking at pregnancy advice from other countries, just to get some perspective.  When I learned that French women are told to avoid salad but can have a glass of wine a day, I realized how some advisories are more about your culture than your health.

Finally, I think it's cool to have a book that shows pictures of you and the baby every week.  I like "Your Pregnancy Week by Week," by Glade B. Curtis and Judith Schuler and "The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth," by Sheila Kitzinger.

What to Expect When Your Expecting...it was my bible with my first pregnancy and it will be again with this one...A comment on the caffine...My OB/GYN told me about 2 caffine drinks a day is fine so chug that coffee!

Many hours of my first child's infancy were wasted while I read books, checked websites, and worried.  Trust your gut; you know your baby.  Get a basic pediatric medical reference, and a basic developmental guide and that's it.   Best books I read were the one about the Bradley method of childbirth (can't remember the name); and another called something like, How to raise a healthy child in spite of your doctor.  My friend, a physician, once said, "Three things -- look at the baby's color (is it pinkish?); look at the baby (does he/she look  & sound comfortable?) and look at the baby's routine (is he/she eating-peeing-pooping-sleeping as usual?).  Any one of those out of sync, investigate.  Otherwise, relax."

"I also highly recommend looking at pregnancy advice from other countries, just to get some perspective. " Excellent advice, I would definitely check out recommendations from other countries.  I continue to do this, and it has helped me quite a bit, especially now that my baby is starting solids. It was reassuring to me to see that other babies grow and thrive without rice cereal.  

Everything I read was tempered with my firm belief that my body knew how to handle being pregnant and my baby would be fine.  "What to Expect When You're Expecting" was helpful at times, and I did read most of the book, but some topics were not appropriate for my needs (and probably most pregnant women) and could be fear-inducing.  I also checked with reputable websites for other questions I had.  My midwives were helpful, but I like to find the answers I want between office visits rather than making a call.

If you're going to read anything, even Bradley method books, try to find a book that's been published recently.  I read an older book but would have done better with something updated within the last few years.  Recommendations change a lot in 5 or 10 years!

Ultimately, I took everything I read with a grain of salt.  No, I didn't drink and eat those dreaded soft-cheeses--but that was more my decision not to tempt the fates.  I also didn't lose any sleep over the drinks I had before finding out I was pregnant or laying on my back for a few minutes. 

I loved "The Panic-Free Pregnancy." It's based on science, but very reassuring.

http://www.amazon.com/Panic-Free-Pregnancy-Separates-Excercise-Medications/dp/0399529896

An excellent book about pain relief is "Easy Labor". This book goes over all the options for labor pain relief, but unlike so many of the other books out there, it is fair and not judgemental. I felt really good after reading this book. www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0345476638

pregnancy for dummies  

 Ina May's Guide To Childbirth, by Ina May Gaskin is a good one. Not a week by week type, but one that supports a natural birth with lots of positive attitude and an emphasis on informed consent. 

Someone else also mentioned it, but I found "Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn" to be my favorite book.  I went for natural childbirth as well, but felt many of the natural childbirth books out there (including Bradley) would have left me with a sense of fear about the medical profession had I taken it all in at face value.  I thought "Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn" did a really good job at presenting several possible options to expecting mothers and giving information so that you can make your own choice rather than telling you what to think.  Some would prefer not to read anything (my mother didn't).  To each there own, but I personally felt more prepared and less fearful by self-educating through books as well as talking to my midwife, mother, and close friends.

I've read several and have found "The Pregnancy Book" by Dr. Sears to be the absolute best. 

 It's a husband/wife/daughter team; very modern without being new-agey, very unbiased, they are great at presenting all the options and they give you the bad news without inducing panic.  Good luck!

Hi All, I want to inform you where you can find software with a huge discounts. Yesterday I was looking for soft to convert my Video files from DVD to my PocketPC . It was found . This software was dvdXsoft Audio Video Converter . Original price was $29.99 butt I bought at this URL with 50% discount. It was following site : http://www.soft-discount.com Best wishes