Book Suggestions?

[kmkaull]

Hi,
I just found out that I'm very newly pregnant after our 3rd IVF attempt in the past year. (Cannot believe I just wrote that sentence!) We actually adopted our son 3 years ago at birth, so while this is my first time being pregnant, I'm already a mom.

I have a great library for newborn on up, but am so clueless about pregnancy. Any suggestions for helpful books to start collecting?

Thanks much!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Congratulations!!!

Authors I like- Sears, Simkin (Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn would be my top book pick), Kitzinger, Baby Center (my number 2 pick).

Adding links:
Penny Simkin- the 1st is a basic,, all purpose book. Bonus of this one is really good post partum info. It was just revised in 2010 so the contents should be up to date. She does skew crunchy but far more mainstream than other natural oriented authors.
http://www.amazon.com/Pregnancy-Childbirth-Newborn-4th-Complete/dp/143917511X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350867829&sr=1-2&keywords=simkin
The Birth Partner is a great read. I was so impressed that dh read it and used what he learned.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Birth-Partner-Third-Edition/dp/1558323570/ref=pd_sim_b_3

This is a month by month pregnancy book. Good info. Problem is it is from 1997. The basics of pregnancy haven't changed ;) but some info is dated. Still, I loved it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Pregnancy-Book-Month-Month/dp/0316779148/ref=pd_sim_b_68


Birth specific-
Creating your Birth Plan is really informative. The author definitely has opinions but I found the information more neutral and some and extremely informative. I'm a big fan of making informed birth choices and this is a great book for that (better than Henci Goer).
http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Your-Birth-Plan-Definitive/dp/B000LMPLKQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350868141&sr=1-1&keywords=creating+your+birth+plan

The Birth Book. Again, it hasn't been updated in a long time so things have changed with regards to hospital protocol and other things. But, the birth info is solid and useful. This book is the book that took me from being afraid of birth to excited by it!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Birth-Book-Everything-Satisfying/dp/0316779075/ref=pd_sim_b_6


Finally, another good all purpose weekly book (I liked it better than the one pp posted, though that was ok). This book is extremely thorough and works really hard to lay out all the options out there without bias. It was my go-to book with ds2:
http://www.amazon.com/Babycenter-Pregnancy-Preconception-DK-Publishing/dp/0756650402/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350868339&sr=1-1&keywords=babycenter+pregnancy

[Mali]

Congrats!

If you're interested in more of a drug-free minimal intervention type birth, I enjoyed Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Birthing from Within (by Pam England & Rob Horowitz). They're both pretty earthy crunchy, but even aside from the natural birth slant, it was nice to read a bunch of birth stories to really bring home the idea that there is no one "standard" birth (Ina May) and Birthing from Within had a lot of exercises about trying to address any fears you have about giving birth or having a baby so that they don't become something that could inhibit you in labor.

The Pregnancy Book by Sears was also good, but I read it long enough ago that I can't recall if it was slanted any particular way.

[candaceb]

congratulations! DS is also an IVF baby.

My favorite pregnancy book was "Your Pregnancy Week by Week"
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Pregnancy-Week-Edition-Series/dp/0738214647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350867724&sr=8-1&keywords=your+pregnancy+week+by+week

[123LuckyMom]

I also loved Ina May's Guide to Childbirth! It's really hippie-ish, but wonderful! I also really liked the book Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan. Even if you're not interested in hypnobirthing, the chapters at the beginning of the book were really helpful to me in preparing for birth and for getting over my fears. I would avoid the omnipresent What to Expect books. In my opinion, they create a lot of unnecessary fears. I don't really have a replacement book to recommend. All the books I loved were on birthing and not so much on pregnancy. I had a calendar that I really loved that described the baby's development week by week. It might have been this one: http://www.calendars.com/Baby/Moms-and-Family/Pregnancy-Undated-Calendar/prod201200013637/?cm_mmc=google-_-Product_Extensions-_-products-_-ads&cagpspn=pla&gclid=COuP2LO6k7MCFUid4Aodnm4Aag. Congratulations!!!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I had that calendar pp mentioned with ds1. It was fun. I bought a different one (Ann Gedes sp?) with ds2. I really loved those calendars (also used one for baby's 1st year). I jotted random stuff down. Names we were considering, how I was feeling, how appointments went, if someone noticed I was pg...I tried to write a little something before bed each night. :)

[Snow mom]

My OBs office gave me a copy of Pregnancy 411 and I've found that to be a better all around pregnancy book than the "What to Expect" ones. I read quite a bit of it despite this being my second pregnancy. I read several of the birth books mentioned above and should look them over again.

Congratulations and wishing you a happy and healthy 9 months!

[swissair81]

Natural Hospital Birth by Cynthia Gabriel

[kmkaull]

Thank you all so much! It is kind of surreal to know so much about newborns and absolutely nothing about pregnancy/childbirth/breastfeeding!

[Brad555]

It's disappointing to haul a book home from the library or shell out hard-earned cash at the bookstore only to settle in at home and find you don't enjoy it one bit.

[klwa]

congratulations! DS is also an IVF baby.

My favorite pregnancy book was "Your Pregnancy Week by Week"
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Pregnancy-Week-Edition-Series/dp/0738214647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350867724&sr=8-1&keywords=your+pregnancy+week+by+week

That one is my favorite pregnancy book.