The practical, comforting, honest, and hilarious bestseller for moms-to-be, with more than one and a half million copies in print
Your doctor gives you medical advice. Your mother buys you baby clothes. But who can give you the real skinny when you're pregnant? Your girlfriends, of course--at least, the ones who've been through the exhilaration and exhaustion, the agony and ecstasy of pregnancy. Four-time delivery room veteran Vicki Iovine talks to you the way only a best friend can--in the book that will go the whole nine months for every mother-to-be. In this revised and updated edition, get the lowdown on all those little things that are too strange or embarrassing to ask, practical tips, and hilarious takes on everything pregnant. What really happens to your body--from morning sickness and gas to eating everything in sight--and what it's like to go from being a babe to having one. The Many Moods of Pregnancy--why you're so irritable/distracted/tired/lightheaded (or at least more than usual). Staying Stylish--You may be pregnant, but you can still be the fashionista you've always been (or at least you don't have to look like a walking beachball)--wearing the hippest designers and proudly showing off your bump. Pregnancy is Down To a Science--from in vitro fertilization to scheduled c-sections, there are so many options, alternatives, and scientific tests to take that being pregnant can be downright confusing And much more For a reassuring voice or just a few good belly laughs, turn to this straight-talking guide on what to really expect when you're expecting.
Provides essential advice for adjusting to the many challenges facing women during the first year after giving birth.
- Offers practical tips for finding balance between being fully immersed in the beautiful but demanding path of motherhood and maintaining a sense of self. - Provides helpful herbal tips and recipes and includes gentle yoga exercises. - Addresses a new mother's need to replenish her body, mind, and spirit so that she can nurture her child. - By the author of The Natural Pregnancy Book and Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parent's Guide. New mothers need care and support to adjust to the myriad challenges facing them after birth: changing body image, lifestyle, work arrangements, and relationships. Midwife, herbalist, and mother of four, Aviva Jill Romm shares her insights into how to make this crucial time a happy one. She provides essential advice for preparing for the postpartum period, coping during the first few days after the birth, establishing a successful breast-feeding relationship, getting enough rest, eating well even with a hectic schedule, and finding time to regain strength and tone with gentle yoga exercises. Woven throughout are helpful herbal tips and recipes to make the first year of motherhood a naturally healthy one. Natural Health after Birth also addresses a new mother's need to replenish her body, mind, and spirit so that she can nurture her child. This book provides support both for women who plan to be home full or part time during the first year and those who must return to their jobs soon after the birth. With humor and compassion, Romm offers mothers practical wisdom for attaining the delicate balance between being fully immersed in the beautiful but demanding path of motherhood and maintaining a sense of self.
In the tradition of Pregnancy Day-By-Day, and New Guide to Pregnancy and Childcare, Pregnancy Week-By-Week details expectant moms progress. This handy guide offers suggestions for nutrition, exercise and health as well as which doctors to visit and when. It also provides a weekly diary/record book which enables mothers-to-be to keep track of doctor appointments, exercise suggestions and memorable events.
Pregnancy Week-By-Week also aims to put the expectant mother's fears to rest by giving helpful information. It deals with topics such as coping with morning sickness and fatigue; what medical issues to be concerned with and when; every aspect of the baby's development including the baby's shape and size, development of the head, eyes, muscles, limbs, organs and more; what baby care equipment to consider; preparations for the day of delivery; and a medical glossary.
This essential book will be an expectant woman's best friend during the most anxious and exhilarating 42 weeks of her life.
In this heart-felt theology of adoption, Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner argues that while the church has long understood the grounding self-concept of a Christian as a "child of God," it has failed to underscore that we all come into the family of faith by adoption. She explores adoption as a central theme in Scripture, as a doctrine of faith, and as a theological metaphor. Further, in using her own experience of adoption to inform her scholarship, Stevenson-Moessner offers help to all those touched by adoption, including adoptive parents. By beginning with chapters on barrenness, conception, and expectant waiting, and moving to discussions of the developing years, the search for identity, and challenges in the adoptive family, her writing begs a wide audience. Including case studies and interviews with adoptive parents, The Spirit of Adoption will be embraced by scholars, counselors, adoptive parents, and adopted children alike.
The Dad's Playbook to Labor and Birth is a basic guide for the man who wants to help his partner in labor but who doesn't want to study obstetrics or question a doctor's advice, and who may even feel uncomfortable about witnessing a normal birth. The book is written in a simple, straightforward manner and assumes that the reader is male and that the birth is taking place in a hospital--and that the mom will probably want an epidural. Its tone is lighthearted and often quite humorous. The chapters are arranged chronologically, from late pregnancy through the early postpartum period. Unusual features include advice on understanding a woman's needs by analyzing her personality and tips for the dad who is prone to fainting or nausea.
The national C-section rate is at an all-time high of 31 percent. Are all these C-sections necessary, or are some of them done simply for the sake of convenience? Inductions seem to be the norm, but are they always needed? Today, expectant mothers are often left feeling powerless, as their instincts are replaced by drugs and routine medical procedures.
What you are about to discover is that you have a choice, and you have the power to plan the kind of birth that's right for you-whether it is at a birth center, a hospital, or at home. In Your Best Birth, internationally known advocates of informed choice Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein inspire women to take back the birth experience, with essential advice on: Positive and negative effects of epidurals, Pitocin, and other drugs and interventionsInducing vs. allowing your labor to progress naturally
The truth behind our country's staggering C-section rate
Assembling your birth team and creating your birth plan. With chapters such as "Obstetricians: Finding Dr. Right," "Epidurals: You Haven't Got Time for the Pain," and "Electronic Monitors: Reading between the Lines," Lake and Epstein will encourage you to consider whatever your doctor, mother, and best friend may suggest in a new light. The book also includes inspiring birth stories, including those from well-known personalities, such as Laila Ali and Cindy Crawford. Packed with crucial advice from childbirth professionals, and delivered in a down-to-earth, engaging voice, Your Best Birth is sure to renew your confidence and put the control back where it belongs: with parents-to-be "Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake have taken a wonderful and constructive approach to ensuring an optimal birthing experience. Their language creates a 'climate of confidence' for pregnant women and their families, who must make key decisions about where, how and with whom to give birth in a health care system often unresponsive to our needs. This book is like a good friend giving wise counsel." -- Judy Norsigian, co-editor of Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth and Executive Director, Our Bodies Ourselves
This new Mayo Clinic book on pregnancy provides you with practical information and reassurance on pregnancy and childbirth. Compiled by Mayo Clinic experts in obstetrics, it offers a clear, thorough and reliable reference for this exciting and sometimes unpredictable journey. This comprehensivebook includes: A month-by-month look at mom and babyIn-depth "Decision Guides" to help you make informed decisions on topics such as how to select a health care provider, prenatal testing options, pain relief for childbirth, and many othersAn easy-to-use reference guide that covers topics such as morning sickness, heartburn, back pain, headaches and yeast infections, among othersInformation on pregnancy health concerns, including preterm labor, gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, along with an overview on being pregnant when you have pre-existing health conditions such as asthma, diabetes or hyperthyroidism
The classic guide to physical, mental, and spiritual health for mother and baby during pregnancy and childrearing
- A book that helped begin the natural childcare revolution - Discusses every aspect of pregnancy and nurturing, including recommended diet and health habits for the expectant mother, common ailments during pregnancy, and preparing older siblings to have a new family member - Takes women step-by-step through the birth and nursing processes and provides advice for treating common childhood ailments and for instilling good habits in toddlers Written at a time when breast-feeding was discouraged and antibiotics were indiscriminately prescribed, When a Child Is Born helped begin the natural childcare revolution. Based on Rudolph Steiner's work, stressing that a child comes into the world with an intact soul as well as body, When a Child Is Born provides the spiritual link missing from most current books on childcare. It discusses every aspect of pregnancy and nurturing, providing all the information needed to physically and psychologically prepare for the baby's arrival. Women are taken step-by-step through the birth and nursing processes, and later chapters provide advice for naturally treating every common childhood ailment and for instilling good habits in toddlers that will lead to a lifetime of physical, mental, and spiritual health. As useful today as when it was first written, parents will find Dr. zur Lindenis practical advice and uplifting message a constant source of support.
Birth as every woman would like it to be
- Recommended by Lamaze International as one of the top ten books for pregnant women and their families - Includes a 45-minute DVD of six live gentle births - More than 32,000 copies sold of the original edition New parents are faced with a myriad of choices about pregnancy, labor, and birth. In Gentle Birth Choices Barbara Harper, renowned childbirth advocate, nurse, former midwife, and mother of three, helps to clarify these choices and shows how to plan a meaningful, family-centered birth experience. She dispels medical myths and reimagines birth without fear, pain, or violence. Harper explains the numerous gentle birth choices available, including giving birth in an independent birth center, at home, or in a hospital birthing room; finding a primary caregiver who shares your philosophy of birth; and deciding how to best use current technologies. She also provides practical advice for couples wishing to explore the option of using a doula or water during labor and birth to avoid the unwanted effects of drugs and epidurals. The Gentle Birth Choices DVD blends interviews with midwives and physicians and six actual births that illustrate the options of water birth, home birth, and vaginal birth after a prior Cesarean section. The DVD clearly reveals the strength of women during childbirth and the healthy and happy outcome of women exercising gentle birth choices. It is a powerful instructional tool, not only for expectant parents, but also for midwives, hospitals, birth centers, and doctors.
