OurColony.net

A young mother's review

Customer Rating:
I was not thrilled when I found out I was pregnant at 21 but I was determined to make the best of it. I was terrified and knew nothing about what I should or shouldn't do while I was pregnant. The night I found out I was pregnant I bought this book and read it cover to cover over the next few days. For someone who knows NOTHING about pregnancy this was an excellent book and I clung to it daily to make sure I knew what to expect next. It really helped answer a lot of my questions and made me a little more confident. I even tried to follow the diet but that sort of didn't happen since you pretty much need to eat the things you WANT during pregancy otherwise you will be a nervous wreck. The best way to manage your diet is to eat a variety of foods, take your prenatal vitamins, and avoid caffiene and excessive amounts of sweets. This book is great when paired with good prenantal care. It is not meant to apply specifically to everyone's individual needs but contains a lot of various scenarios in case you are someone experiencing that problem. I just skipped over the parts that didnt apply to me, no need to give a bad review for extra information, its better to have more information than less I think. You should never use only one source for advice on your pregnancy, there are several other great pregancy books that should be included in your pregnancy library too, some internet sites are helpful too and will give you personalized week by week pregnancy tips. Overall I think this book was a lot of help.

buy this book

Customer Rating:
an absolute must for expecting moms. i read this book constantly and it answered almost all of my questions, as well as all the ones i forgot when at the doctor. BUY IT

Very Help to this First Time Mom & Dad

Customer Rating:
I strongly recommend this book - but READ IT from start to finish (don't jump from subject to subject). WTEWYE was given to me as a gift early in my pregnancy (about 5 weeks in). I started reading from the first chapter and continued to read throughout my pregnancy. While it discuss the "worse case" it also discussed the "best case". At the start of each chapter it clearly states that not all women experience the same thing and every woman and every pregnancy is different. I read some negative reviews about this book and I can see how jumping from chapter to chapter or subject to subject could "upset" some moms-to-be. I will say that I read every word - even the sections that I didn't think applied to me - including the sections on pre-term labor and delivery. And I am sure glad I did - when I went into to labor at 33 weeks I knew what was going on and was prepared for what happened at the hospital and while my son was in the NICU. I know that reading this book helped prepare me for the unexpected. I now have a healthy baby boy at home and received What to Expect the First Year as a shower gift. This too has been a great resource.

Take it with a grain of salt

Customer Rating:
I read What To Expect (most of it) during my first pregnancy, and I subsequently sold it at a yard sale (both copies I had). Yes, there is a lot of good information in it, but it does come across making you feel like a bad mom if you don't do most of it's suggestions. Yes, they may be what's best for your baby, but I think what you need to take with you when you're done with this book is the general rule of trying to eat healthy when you can, don't smoke, don't chance it with alcohol even though most people say a glass of wine here and there is fine, and limit (you can have a little) caffeine (face it, with morning sickness, there are some things you just can't handle, and some of those things may be the healthiest things in the world). I did think it was pretty useful for info about what you definitely should avoid (although a little extreme). Also, it has good info about normal symptoms that you may experience (constipation, pains caused by your uterus stretching, etc.) that you don't normally know about in your first pregnancy. You just have to keep in mind that sometimes, a pain is just a pain and you shouldn't panic. Overall, OK, but you should always talk to your doctor about anything that concerns you.

Stay away from this book and the website

Customer Rating:
If you plan on having a natural birth this is possibly the worst book to ever hold in your hands. It creates much anxiety for the expectant mother and is not worth reading. It addresses common problems a mother may encounter during pregnancy but offers no simple solution. This is a medically biased book. It is more likely that a women will encounter the c-section knife after reading this book by being seduced by its many lures towards excessive trust in medical professionals. It gives absolutely no confidence in the mother to give birth the way mothers have done for thousands of years. Also the website is very demeaning. I visited the forums on the website and many of the women are conformist to the medical system and do not realize that doctors are hiding the truth about a women's ability to give birth naturally. The women in the forums who were advocates of What to Expect book and website were equally demeaning towards me and any mother who even considered natural home birth the old fashioned way. PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS BOOK AND WEBSITE!!! It will save you a lot of problems in pregnancy, family living and future births.....