Books Report: "What to Expect When Your Wife is Expanding: A Reassuring Month-by-Month Guide For The Father-to-Be, Whether He Wants Advice Or Not"

Thomas Hill and Cader Books, 2007

This book/pamphlet was a gift from Jim (father of Brenna and Delamie), who is a funny guy and pretty smart, too. Now, some people will say that this book has almost zero useful information in it, because it's meant to be humorous (it calls itself a "parody" right on the cover there). However, every once in a while, the book would surprise me with some actual knowledge cloaked in "humor". Stuff that it helped me to know, even if it didn't change my actions, simply because it tempered my expectations. For instance, I wasn't going to skip any of Stef's doctor visits that I could possibly make, but it was nice to know that a bunch of them are just (i) Stef peeing in a cup, (ii) the Doctor reassuring her that her horrible symptoms are normal, and (iii) setting up the next appointment.

As for the jokes? Some were funny, some were really not. I try and be really supportive of Stef, so it's hard for me to laugh at her misfortune, and a bunch of the "humor" in the book is in that vein. Every once in a while though, there would be something actually ha-ha funny, but for the most part, I laugh more at the conversations I have with Jim (or reading these blogs) than I did reading this book.

Book Report: "Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy And Childbirth "

Jenny McCarthy, 2006

This book is not intended to be a reference book, but instead tells the story of one woman’s pregnancy. Ms. McCarthy is an excellent story teller. She has an excellent upbeat tone even though she did not have an easy pregnancy or childbirth. She is funny and sassy and still manages to convey some useful information and advice in the process. I recommend this to anyone looking for an easy, lighthearted read. Seriously, it is “laugh-out-loud” funny.

Report by Stefanie (note: for what it's worth, Marcus also read this book, but he has nothing new to add to Stef's report (although she found it funnier than he did)).

Book Report: "Easy Labor: Every Woman's Guide to Choosing Less Pain And More Joy During Childbirth"

William Camann and Kathryn Alexander, 2006

Overall I found this book to be interesting and useful. It describes each of the major pain management options available to women giving birth. It did strike me as being biased towards pain medications, but was still very informative on other options. I do wish they had provided more concrete information on some of the non-medicated methods rather than simply referring to various classes. Perhaps that would be too much to cover in one book. It was good to at least get an idea of what else I should be looking into. I just wish I had read it sooner because many of the non-medication methods requires months of preparation.

There is an interesting piece at the back that discusses the history of pain management, or lack thereof, which I thought would be great to have at the beginning of the book. In its current state, it just jumps right into the discussion of pain and kind of stressed me out at first. I just about broke into a sweat thinking about having to have an IV along with the epidural, but it’s not the author’s fault that I can’t stand needles.

I think the best advice this book gives is to be educated about your options and stay flexible.

Report by Stefanie

Book Report: "Girlfriends’ Guide to Pregnancy: Or Everything Your Doctor Won't Tell You"

Vicki Iovine, 1995

I am not a big fan of this book. I found most of her advice/commentary to be shallow and narcissistic. She mentions various medical issues that can arise, but only glosses over them. Maybe it’s just because I was so sick during the first trimester, but I couldn’t get interested in her tough decisions on whether or not to dye her hair and paint her nails. The only part I found helpful and interesting was at the end where the author gives advice on what to pack in your hospital bag.

Report by Stefanie

Book Report: "From The Hips"

Rebecca Odes & Ceridwen Morris, 2007

So, after a brief hiatus from reading pregnancy-related books (not to mention dealing with an actual pregnancy), I'm back on topic with From The Hips, which I had heard was made with our generation in mind. Unfortunately, it wasn't as helpful as I'd have liked.

Sure, the book is very pretty. It certainly gets style points over all the other books I've read for its illustrations* and its use of color and interesting design elements and what-have-you. And it definitely uses more "hip" (pardon the pun) language. However, content-wise it was a bit lacking. This is mostly due to the book's two main conceits - (i) the "fair and balanced" approach to data presentation, and (ii) the use of thought bubbles conveying anecdotal information which re-enforces the author-created content on the page.

For example, there's a section of the book wherein the authors discuss whether or not pregnant women should eat sushi. They present an argument pro and an argument contra, and basically leave it up for you to decide. Fair enough, I suppose, as every pregnancy is different, and I understand the trepidation they might have regarding litigation in this day and age. But "fair and balanced" is not very helpful. Even less helpful are the (visually arresting) thought bubbles surrounding this "debate" on the page, wherein anonymous mothers present one-sentence snippets which repeat, albeit in first-person format, the pro and contra arguments already discussed by the authors. As someone who frowns on the use of one-off anecdotal evidence, I was more than a little distracted by these quotes, and they took up about half of the book!

Nevertheless, some great information did come through. Although the first third of the book (which focused on the pregnancy) really just repeated information I had read in a more condensed format earlier, the second two-thirds of the book really expanded my knowledge regarding (i) birth, and (ii) post-birth issues. Clearly, the book isn't big enough to make me an expert, and the presentation of the information is, as stated above, not the most useful. But it, I think, is good to know about the major issues women have with giving birth, and some of the physical, emotional and practical problems that come with actually, you know, having a baby. Overall, not a book I would recommend unless I knew a pregnant person with ADD who needed all the graphic doodads to keep them interested.

Book Report: "The Expectant Father: Facts, Tip & Advice for Dads-to-Be"

Armin A. Brott & Jennifer Ash, 1995

Yet another slim, easily-concealed, male-oriented pregnancy preparation library book. Also, I note here for the first time, written by a male and a female, for whatever that is worth. The Expectant Father . . . starts off a bit disorganized, describing some decisions regarding pregnancy that will need to be made in either the near future or down the line a bit (it's actually unclear at this point, and very little information is given regarding each of these decisions). The book then veers off into the cost of birthing a baby, and at this point I am thinking that the medical bills alone should have stopped humans from procreating long, long ago. Approximately $12K just to have a baby? I find it hard to believe anyone actually pays that much, and so I wonder what purpose the information serves other than to freak me out.

Anyway, eventually, the book gets a month-by-month guide of (i) symptoms (physical and emotional) to expect in the wife, and (ii) things to be worried about/look forward to that month. This is really the strength and saving grace of the book, because--let's face it--there's an overwhelming amount of information to process when you find out you're having a baby. It's comforting to know there's a priority of decision-making, and schedule of things to come; even if rationally you know that the "schedule" is illusory and much more flexible than the book makes out.

Of course, all of the really useful information in The Expectant Father . . . could have been summed up in a handy chart (or, more appropriately, a time-line or calendar), but interspersed amongst the good stuff is a bunch of touchie-feelie "here's how you might be feeling at this juncture-or not" hokum. Sure, the Monster may turn me into an emotional wreck, and I'm sure it helps just knowing that other guys have felt some anxieties regarding pregnancy. I may really need that stuff down the line. But I doubt it.

Overall, The Expectant Father . . . was somewhat helpful, but it relied more on dealing with hypothetical emotional baggage instead of providing more proactive advice for more practical issues. It did come with pregnancy-friendly recipes, though. So that was nice.

Book Report: "Your Pregnancy: For the Father-to-Be"

by Glade B. Curtis & Judith Schuler, 2003

This was the first book I read after we confirmed the Monster was a reality. Not because it was recommended to me or anything, but simply because it was small and thin (and therefore easy to take to work and hide from people), and because it was a library rental and therefore had to be read fairly quickly. As it turns out, though, this was a great first book to read.

To begin with, Your Pregnancy . . . is not a large reference tome, but that's probably a good thing. Anyway, it was a helpful starter book for someone like me who has only the most rudimentary idea of what's actually going on and going to be happening inside Stef. Not that the book got into the science of the Monster or anything. Instead, the book focused on some really helpful, practical stuff, like the jargon of pregnancy, what all those pregnancy tests are going to be looking for, and what symptoms I should expect (and when). It also let me know what symptoms are normal and what are abnormal enough that we should call a doctor, putting my mind a bit at ease. More importantly, the book gave advice on what I can do to help regarding certain symptoms, particularly in the areas of health and nutrition. So now when I plan meals or go grocery shopping I'm a bit more confident that I won't be endangering the Monster or grossing-out Stef.

Less useful (because they were more generic) were the parts of the book dealing with paying for and saving for the baby, but at least it put the idea in my head that we should be thinking about all that stuff now. Also, although it touched on the matter, the book didn't get too much into what equipment and "stuff" we're going to need. It did help focus our decision-making regarding the birthing process, but it kind of fell short regarding everything subsequent to labor.

Perhaps I only feel that way because I'm having a hard time mentally grasping, you kow, actually having a kid. Or maybe I was simply overwhelmed by all of the info at the beginning of the book that my attention wandered towards the end. Who knows? The book is called Your Pregnancy . . ., after all, not Your Child Rearing . . ., so overall I think it was a good read that was well worth the effort.