What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff

The general tone of this book is alarmist and condescending. If you have lots of time on your hands and want to read several books, go ahead and read this one too. If you have to read one book on pregnancy, do yourself a favor and pick a different one than What to Expect. The first book I got after my baby was born was What To Expect the First Year, and I couldn't live without that either! I don't have my mother around to give me advice anymore, and these books feel like a mom sitting you down with a nice cup of tea and telling you exactly what they say: what to expect. Essentially this book kept me well informed so that I didn't freak out about things (like loosing my mucus plug one morning at work) and knew what to look out for and when to call the doctor.

When the my overly clinical other books told me to panic if I hadn't noticed the baby moving for three hours, What to expect told me that that actually happens to most women sometime in the third trimester, why I should be concerned, and again, how extremely low the probability was that something was actually wrong, but that I should still check in with my doctor just in case. reminded me how minute the chances actually were. While other books were telling me that if I'd had a glass of wine before I knew I was pregnant, my child would have extra limbs and no face, What to Expect. I wasn't overwhelmed by the amount of information instead I found it to be the only friendly, comforting book out there. It's a fully revised and up-to-date version of the classic that parents have known and trusted for over three decades.I seem to disagree with most of the reviews of this book. Chock full of tips, helpful hints, and humor (a pregnant woman's best friend), this new edition is more accessible and easier to use than ever before. More comprehensive and reassuring than ever, the fifth edition includes help with deciphering the most current lifestyle trends (from juice bars and raw diets to cord blood banking and Mommy wars), as well as information on pregnancy matters physical (fertility treatments, first trimester ultrasounds, and breastfeeding), emotional (advice on postpartum anxiety and paternal PPD), nutritional (whether you're hooked on wheatgrass or caffeine), and social (gender reveals, pregnancy selfies, and social media baby bump-posting). For the fifth edition, Heidi Murkoff has rewritten and revamped every section of the bestselling pregnancy book of all time, answering dozens of new questions and including new much-requested material, such as info for dad throughout the text, the latest recommendations on what to eat and drink while pregnant, and a brand-new chapter about birth control options postpartum.

What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff