When I was pregnant, my obstetrician banned me from reading What to Expect When You're Expecting after I diagnosed myself first with an ectopic pregnancy and then twins. (I had neither.)
“Give me the book,” he said, holding out his hand.
“What book?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the examination table in a soft pink gown.
“Give me the book,” he repeated.
Oh, all right. I slid down and pulled the dog-eared paperback from my bag.
Now I read that the iconic pregnancy book is getting an update that includes a more positive spin. Though the book is crazy popular, with nearly 15 million copies in print, some detractors – including my doctor at the time – thought some of the information was unnecessarily anxiety-provoking.
One of my friends referred to the book as What to Stay up Nights Worry about When You're Expecting.
The new edition has been largely rewritten, according to reviewers, and much less alarmist about things like the possibility that common fetal hiccups could indicate a serious umbilical cord problem. The what-could-go-wrong kind of stuff still is there, though now it has been moved to the back of the book.
Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.
It's such a great concept.
It's such a great concept. I'm glad they are finally updating it to be more positive. I refused to read it when I was pregnant after leafing through it; I sure didn't need anything else to set my imagination going!
Susan & Neil Hampton have three spectacular children, Alexander, Isabel and David, plus one amazing teenager, Eric. Susan does community outreach for arizonamoms.com.
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” - Margaret Atwood
I know when I was pregnant I
I know when I was pregnant I did not have time to read the whole book but I would sort of use it as a reference when I had a question about something. I also use the book "What to expect in the Toddler years" as a reference also.
I saw the updated book has a
I saw the updated book has a new cover on it as well. The expecting Mother is now standing (instead of sitting in a rocking chair ) and is dressed in jeans. Wow what progress huh?
I enjoyed the book, but didn't self diagnose. Funny story though about my OB/GYN. I asked him why he chose to become an OB/GYN. He said he started out as a heart specialist but after self diagnosing himself with too many heart problems he chose to become another specialist. - After that too failed to calm his self diagnoses he decided he should become a doctor where he could not self diagnose. He was a great doctor and just retired :(
KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.
I just had a baby well 18
I just had a baby well 18 months ago, and I read that thing every day. I loved the layout of it cause it would just go through step by step, and what stage my baby was at and I would read ahead. I'm guessing I had the new version because the sickness stuff was in the back. I thought that book was great. I loved it.
Lisa - Mom to her spunky little Scarlette
I loved the book and read up
I loved the book and read up until 40 weeks when I was only 15 weeks. But, I usually assume everything will be fine. I never touched with my 2nd or 3rd.
Brooke Romney is an unbalanced mom of three young boys who constantly has too much to do, and too little time. She writes the Mom Beat column for The Gilbert Republic.
I'm a worrier so not only
I'm a worrier so not only did my OB tell me to stop reading books but he almost had my husband take away my computer.. But you know what.. After I diagnosed myself with a few things I ended up being right and he couldn't say a thing b/c he knew I was right and he was wrong... It was sort of like in your face Doc! But I didn't say that b/c I still wanted a pretty c~section scar..lol...Great they are updating that book!
Elizabeth is a discussion leader for arizonamoms she writes about everything from her needing mommy advice to crazy and silly stuff that happens. She lives in the West Valley with her husband and 3 children, Joshua 12, Brooke 2 and Mason 10 months