Susan (SG) -
Helpful Score: 2
I was a little hesitant about trying this book. Some of the reviews (especially the whole "Carrie Bradshaw of pregnancy" quote) turned me off, by making the book sound shallow or frivolous, when what I need is some solid advice. But one of my friends recommended it to me, and I'm glad I tried it. The most refreshing thing about this book is that it doesn't have the preachy marm tone that many of the others (WTEWYE, Mayo) have. They mean well, and their medical advice is sound, but sometimes you get tired of feeling like you're being lectured to (and I'm getting a doctorate in public health, so I have a very high tolerance for lectures about health).
It's nice to know that the world isn't going to end if you don't feel like exercising because you're too damn exhausted. Or that other women get moody and occasionally feel like throttling their partners, too. It's also refreshing to hear the straight scoop about how, despite all the "miracle of life" business, pregnancy really sucks most of the time, but there are things you can do to make it a little better.
I would recommend that you try this book, plus either WTEWYE or the Mayo clinic book. That way you have your bases covered with some solid medical advice (which the Girlfriends Guide is pretty decent but not 100% on) from one of the other books, but can still rely on this one to help you get through your pregnancy with some good advice and a sense of humor.
By the way, if you're looking for a good book for dads, I recommend The Expectant Father. I guess my husband should really review that one, but at least I can say, it must be pretty good because he's actually been reading it. OK, he's only up to the 5th month and I'm in my 7th, but hey, that's not bad!
It's nice to know that the world isn't going to end if you don't feel like exercising because you're too damn exhausted. Or that other women get moody and occasionally feel like throttling their partners, too. It's also refreshing to hear the straight scoop about how, despite all the "miracle of life" business, pregnancy really sucks most of the time, but there are things you can do to make it a little better.
I would recommend that you try this book, plus either WTEWYE or the Mayo clinic book. That way you have your bases covered with some solid medical advice (which the Girlfriends Guide is pretty decent but not 100% on) from one of the other books, but can still rely on this one to help you get through your pregnancy with some good advice and a sense of humor.
By the way, if you're looking for a good book for dads, I recommend The Expectant Father. I guess my husband should really review that one, but at least I can say, it must be pretty good because he's actually been reading it. OK, he's only up to the 5th month and I'm in my 7th, but hey, that's not bad!
Molly H. (redneckgirl82884) reviewed The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy: Second Edition on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I'm not pregnant yet, but this book was a great insite into what to expect from telling your friends/family, to what to expect at delivery time. I've read many other books on this topic and so far this one passes them all. It is a very funny book from a woman's point of view. The author is a mother of 4, so she knows what she is talking about. It is also a shorter book and very easy to read.
Helpful Score: 1
LOVE this book. Every first time pregnant women should read this. Iovine creatively describes every emotional rollar coaster ride and physical changes to your body with a sharp sense of humor.
Helpful Score: 1
Great book with lovely straight forward advice. I loved how the author gave you real impressions of how pregnancy was like for her and her girlfriends, and not just what you can read in every other pregnancy book. Her tone is light and reassuring that you too can survive and flourish during pregnancy and after.
Amy W. (amycwalker) reviewed The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy: Second Edition on + 41 more book reviews
Very fun to read when you've just found out you're pregnant. You learn that you have so much to look forward too. Not! It's very helpful if you never had pregnant sisters or pregnant girlfriends.
Excellent read. Very funny & Informative!
This was recommended to me by another mom while I was pregnant with my first, and I really liked it. I wish I had read this first! It is much more down-to-earth and enjoyable than the more intimidatingly massive and extensive pregnancy books that all feel like homework!
Kayote B. (kayote) reviewed The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy: Second Edition on + 254 more book reviews
This was an awful book. It was the first pregnancy book I picked up at the suggestion of a friend, and I will be highly suspicious of her suggestions in the future. I didn't finish it. The only useful thing I got out of it was that gas and burps were normal--since I had a rash of them!
Otherwise--if she was my girlfriend it'd be someone I wasn't trying to see. This idiot makes a fuss about not exercising out of a very small risk to the kid (unless of course you insist on overdoing it, which is what she does because she's an idiot). Yet she insists pregnant women should have all sorts of random chemicals dumped in their hair because otherwise their husband's will leave them if their hair isn't colored (maybe one shouldn't have kids with such a shallow idiot?)
It just goes on and on and on like that. I expected some of the tone, I expected some attitude and opinions. I didn't expect them to be from an incredibly shallow twit. Really, she weaned her poor kid after 6 weeks to see if she could lose weight faster? Really? Someone who dyes her hair, throws things at her husband when she's pregnant, can't manage to not overdo exercise (thus no one should exercise), and weans her kid to see if she can lose weight faster--this is who someone paid to write a book? Oh, and she flat has so much of medical risks and methods wrong for what goes on now (being someone who just had a kid, rather than someone who is at least several years out) to be really bad. The risks being wrong on tests is bad.
I'm horrified I paid actual money for this book, and really wish I'd taken it back. Go find the Mother of All Pregnancy Books. It's also written with a light touch, but by someone who actually has done the research and has some clue what she's talking about (from more than just having gone through it repeatedly and unplanned). It had a lot more useful and calming information and descriptions while still being good to read.
Otherwise--if she was my girlfriend it'd be someone I wasn't trying to see. This idiot makes a fuss about not exercising out of a very small risk to the kid (unless of course you insist on overdoing it, which is what she does because she's an idiot). Yet she insists pregnant women should have all sorts of random chemicals dumped in their hair because otherwise their husband's will leave them if their hair isn't colored (maybe one shouldn't have kids with such a shallow idiot?)
It just goes on and on and on like that. I expected some of the tone, I expected some attitude and opinions. I didn't expect them to be from an incredibly shallow twit. Really, she weaned her poor kid after 6 weeks to see if she could lose weight faster? Really? Someone who dyes her hair, throws things at her husband when she's pregnant, can't manage to not overdo exercise (thus no one should exercise), and weans her kid to see if she can lose weight faster--this is who someone paid to write a book? Oh, and she flat has so much of medical risks and methods wrong for what goes on now (being someone who just had a kid, rather than someone who is at least several years out) to be really bad. The risks being wrong on tests is bad.
I'm horrified I paid actual money for this book, and really wish I'd taken it back. Go find the Mother of All Pregnancy Books. It's also written with a light touch, but by someone who actually has done the research and has some clue what she's talking about (from more than just having gone through it repeatedly and unplanned). It had a lot more useful and calming information and descriptions while still being good to read.
This was given to me when I announced my pregnancy. I think it is fairly useless, and am happy to get it off my hands.
This is, by far, the most entertaining pregnancy book I've read. It gives great perspective, particularly for those of us who are first time moms and scared out of our minds!
Deana B. (ablotial) -
This review is crossposted from Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1248420813
If you are pregnant, I highly recommend NOT reading this book until you are almost done with your pregnancy. It will make everything sound awful, scare the crap out of you, and make you distrust everyone around you for a bunch of stuff that probably won't apply to your pregnancy.
3/4 of the way through this book, I was ready to give it a single star. Seriously. This woman's writing style was a total turnoff to me, and not only that she did her best to make pregnancy seem horrible and awful and that everyone is lying to you the entire time. This is not what I want to hear from my "girlfriends". I eventually started going through and sticky-noting all the passages that made me want to strangle the author.
Not only that but she YELLS AT YOU IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME. Every few pages there is a sentence that jumps out at you because it is in all caps; THIS IS OBVIOUSLY VERY IMPORTANT ADVICE SO MAKE SURE YOU READ IT. When someone compliments you when you are pregnant WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T BELIEVE THEM THEY ARE OBVIOUSLY LYING BECAUSE ALL PREGNANT WOMEN ARE FAT AND UGLY. She also says things like "It's my book and it's my opinion, so there!" And there are a lot of times where she basically says "I [don't] like XYZ, and if you disagree YOU ARE DUMB BECAUSE ALL MY GIRLFRIENDS AGREE WITH ME."
Also you should use a doctor rather than a midwife because doctors are on television more than midwives are and we all know that means they are better. Here is an actual quote from the book: "Remember, we are creatures of popular culture; we revere doctors as if they were the heroes and heroines we grew up watching on TV." She goes on to say that midwives didn't get get a series on HBO and were tried as witches in Salem. Um.
I could go on and on. I kept reading these ridiculous passages to my husband, and he says "why are you still reading this crap?" But I kept on.
The last few chapters actually redeemed it a little bit, bumped it up to two stars. The "what to take the hospital" section brought up a few ideas that I hadn't considered, and pointed out that a onesie can be uncomfortable for the baby's umbilical cord depending on how tight it is, so a shirt and pants that can allow it to breathe might be better.
She talked about the telephone list, and how it's a good idea to find out from family/friends which situations (if any) they want a 3am phone call for, and which they would prefer we waited until 7am when they will already be awake -- advice I quickly took and learned that there are wildly different preferences among family, so I'm glad we asked!
She talked about nesting and about the water breaking, both of which I had some misconceptions about, so that prompted me to do a little more research and that was interesting. Same with postpartum fears and misconceptions. So overall, the book wasn't a total waste.
But ... I am SOOOOOO glad I did not read this early in my pregnancy like I had intended to. It would have scared the shit out of me, and I'm convinced I would have had a much worse experience due to the expectations I would have gotten as a result.
ETA: After posting this review, a few people commented to me that the book is supposed to be funny and I need to get a sense of humor. Maybe this is true... but it would have been nice to know that before I started reading it...
If you are pregnant, I highly recommend NOT reading this book until you are almost done with your pregnancy. It will make everything sound awful, scare the crap out of you, and make you distrust everyone around you for a bunch of stuff that probably won't apply to your pregnancy.
3/4 of the way through this book, I was ready to give it a single star. Seriously. This woman's writing style was a total turnoff to me, and not only that she did her best to make pregnancy seem horrible and awful and that everyone is lying to you the entire time. This is not what I want to hear from my "girlfriends". I eventually started going through and sticky-noting all the passages that made me want to strangle the author.
Not only that but she YELLS AT YOU IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME. Every few pages there is a sentence that jumps out at you because it is in all caps; THIS IS OBVIOUSLY VERY IMPORTANT ADVICE SO MAKE SURE YOU READ IT. When someone compliments you when you are pregnant WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T BELIEVE THEM THEY ARE OBVIOUSLY LYING BECAUSE ALL PREGNANT WOMEN ARE FAT AND UGLY. She also says things like "It's my book and it's my opinion, so there!" And there are a lot of times where she basically says "I [don't] like XYZ, and if you disagree YOU ARE DUMB BECAUSE ALL MY GIRLFRIENDS AGREE WITH ME."
Also you should use a doctor rather than a midwife because doctors are on television more than midwives are and we all know that means they are better. Here is an actual quote from the book: "Remember, we are creatures of popular culture; we revere doctors as if they were the heroes and heroines we grew up watching on TV." She goes on to say that midwives didn't get get a series on HBO and were tried as witches in Salem. Um.
I could go on and on. I kept reading these ridiculous passages to my husband, and he says "why are you still reading this crap?" But I kept on.
The last few chapters actually redeemed it a little bit, bumped it up to two stars. The "what to take the hospital" section brought up a few ideas that I hadn't considered, and pointed out that a onesie can be uncomfortable for the baby's umbilical cord depending on how tight it is, so a shirt and pants that can allow it to breathe might be better.
She talked about the telephone list, and how it's a good idea to find out from family/friends which situations (if any) they want a 3am phone call for, and which they would prefer we waited until 7am when they will already be awake -- advice I quickly took and learned that there are wildly different preferences among family, so I'm glad we asked!
She talked about nesting and about the water breaking, both of which I had some misconceptions about, so that prompted me to do a little more research and that was interesting. Same with postpartum fears and misconceptions. So overall, the book wasn't a total waste.
But ... I am SOOOOOO glad I did not read this early in my pregnancy like I had intended to. It would have scared the shit out of me, and I'm convinced I would have had a much worse experience due to the expectations I would have gotten as a result.
ETA: After posting this review, a few people commented to me that the book is supposed to be funny and I need to get a sense of humor. Maybe this is true... but it would have been nice to know that before I started reading it...
