What to Expect Before You're Expecting

Customer Reviews

• Wonderful Resource, If You Don't Care About the Magic  May 25, 2009 (24 of 25 found this helpful)

  WHAT TO EXPECT BEFORE YOU'RE EXPECTING is just like the other books in the expecting "series:" Jam packed with information in a good format. There are sections for both the "Mother to Be" and the "Father to Be," but neither are exclusive and should be read by both parties; in fact, there is more for men in this book than What to Expect When You're Expecting: 4th Edition. You probably already know what to expect given the monumental success of the previous Expecting books, and this book is no exception. Sections of the book include: Nutrition, Basic Anatomy, Ovulation, Timing of Intimacy, Miscarriage and Infertility, Medications, and tons of other little questions.
  
  This book is excellent, but the next few comments should not be taken as criticisms but rather just information.
  
  The difference with this installment is that there is more humor woven into the text than the previous books, which helps lighten the load; however, the humor at points is too much of a good thing, and the writing can seem juvenile and uses a lot of immature phrases (i.e. Aunt Flo), which I feel undermines the writing slightly.
  
  One other thing is the book takes some of the magic away, providing step by step instructions, hundreds of pages of what to do better. I can totally appreciate how this book may help people who have struggled with conception, and I feel this book will be revered in that case. However, for everyone else be prepared to have the magic of conception possibly ruined as baby making becomes a job, you are forced to follow a specific calendar, and monitoring your diet. I know that at least a handful of people have successfully conceived and delivered healthy babies prior to this book being published, but this book could be the saving grace for any couple that is struggling to conceive. It reminds me of the movie Knocked Up when the characters are discussing how in the world people had babies before baby books were published.
  
  Overall, WHAT TO EXPECT BEFORE YOU ARE EXPECTING is a great resource, and should be read in smaller doses because it is so information and fact heavy; however, the humor (which at some points is rather juvenile) effectively lightens the load.
  
  Good reading,
  
  J.Stoner

• Great book  Oct 2, 2009 (6 of 6 found this helpful)

  I began reading this book as soon as I received it. This book has been full of facts I wasn't aware of. I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking about trying to have a baby.

• Informative  Jul 2, 2009 (5 of 5 found this helpful)

  I found this book rather informative especially since I'm new to the whole trying to have a child thing. I was never really sure about what ovulation was before I read this book, quite frankly I was relieved by some of the things it mentioned women go through. The book gave me a better understanding about my body and what type of changes it goes through month after month. While the language used did seem a bit hokey and at times goofy, I was able to better understand it and I got the point. I liked the charts (although I didn't use any of them - something about writing in a book, just seems wrong) and the section for the men to read, although my husband didn't take an interest. I recommend this book and hope you find it as informative as I did.

• If I wanted to read a Cosmo article...  Jun 24, 2009 (21 of 28 found this helpful)

  Okay, I will give the author this, there is some valuable information to be had here. The problem is that she uses language that you would find in a magazine like Vogue or Cosmo. You know those quick reads on how to make a man happy in bed, how to dress your body type etc.
  
  Quite frankly, that kind of vocabulary and manner of speaking is plain annoying! For example, at one she is giving men advice on how to keep the romance alive while trying to conceive. Great idea! However, she uses this phrase, "Woo her while you do her."
  
  Ick! And it just keeps going on and on and on. Every other word is from the pages of a fashion rag. I got so annoyed I couldn't even read a chapter. Sure, I want some humor and warmth when I am reading a non-fiction book, but this was taking bad jokes and regurgitating them on every other page. If you like to read Cosmo and Vogue then you will probably have no problem with this. But the rest of use want a little more hard-headed and to-the-point advice.

• Not too much info for a 200 page book!  Feb 9, 2010 (3 of 3 found this helpful)

  I flew through this book in 2 nights, yawning. Maybe this is just because I have researched TTC online, but I really didn't learn much from this book. I like how the questions are asked point blank , but then the answers will usually ramble on and on for paragraphs, most of which have very little to do with the actual question. It got downright annoying at times. I also expected a more informative diet plan and food breakdown, but (shock!!) I suppose I would have to buy the "What to eat while you are expecting" book from this author.
  Most of the topics I wanted more details on (depression meds, bariatric surgery, ect) were answered with basically a "Yes, No, Well you should ask your personal doctor about that" theme. Gee, thanks.
  Overall, I think the amount of useful information from this book (after eliminating the sidetracked rambling and stupid jokes) could have been condensed to a pamphlet.