three "b" books: baby, birthing, breastfeeding

Like a good little pregnant person, I have been reading and reading and reading! I am so glad that I have read a huge spectrum of philosophies on all three of the "b"s because it has helped me to shape what I really think and want. Here's a sampling of books I've read thus far:

So, I know that this book is a classic and that everyone reads it when they're pregnant, but I don't really like it. It is an ok overview of everything that could happen in a pregnancy, but I find the format to be non-user friendly. It is broken up into months, which when you're pregnant feels like forever; especially when one week you barely look or feel pregnant and the next week people are asking if you're having twins! I also don't like the question and answer format. The questions seem really random and randomly placed. For a general book on pregnancy and what it's like to be pregnant I prefer Your Pregnancy Week by Week.

As the title suggests, this book is broken up by weeks, making it much easier to learn what exactly the baby is doing and growing at any given time. Plus, it's actually written by a doctor and the format is so much easier to use. Every week tells what the baby is doing, what mom should be doing/feeling/gaining, and common pregnancy aches and pains for around that week.

For those pregnant women out there who like to laugh at the pain of others, this is your book! My in-laws got this for me, although I don't think they'd previewed the language she uses! If you're not easily offended by crass language, bathroom humor, or lots of talk of pregnant sex, then this is a great, easy, funny read. Jenny McCarthy's pregnancy was basically the pregnancy from hell, followed by the labor from hell. It is not a feel-good about having a baby book, but it is nice for commiserating if you have no other pregnant women around to commiserate with.

I got this one from the library and it was a good starting point for birthing books. It outlines everything that can happen in labor and how to cope with the pain of childbirth. The author, a male, is a clear advocate of epidurals and he stresses the immense pain that labor causes, although I'm not sure how he can really "know" sense he is a man. I liked the second half of the book which was devoted to more natural ways of relieving pain and finding joy in childbirth. I found it very evenhanded that he did not just come out and say, "If you're in labor and choosing not to have an epidural, you must be NUTS!"; something I feel most men want to say if you tell them you are choosing to give birth without pain meds.

Another library book. This one was fine for flipping through, and I might have liked it if I'd read it before any other pregnancy books, but it tried to cover too many things. Everything from how to get pregnant, to how to tell if your pregnant, to pregnancy, to labor, to breast feeding. Oh my! There was way too much info in this book, and none of it was covered in depth. I did like the format, lots of pictures and easy to follow, free-standing chapters. I also loved that there were many first-hand stories of pregnancy and childbirth. It didn't sound harsh or clinical and each story can be taken as just that, one person's experience.

Library book #3: I loved this book! I love all the stories and I love Ina May's desire to restore women's faith in their own bodies! She was also a lot more level-headed then I had expected. She does not want anyone to feel guilty for their birth choices, she just wants to make sure that women are making a choice, not just doing what they're told without knowing the whole story. I love that Ina May also recognizes that medical intervention is sometimes needed and that no woman should feel like a failure if she needs medical interventions. I'm not planning on popping out my baby in our bedroom or driving down to Tennessee to have her on The Farm, but I am completely confident now that I can do this! More women need to realize that our bodies are not defective and that we're made for birthing babies! Every pregnant woman should read this book, if nothing else, just to see a different perspective on birthing.

Yet another library book, can you tell that this library is in Vermont? Half the books are on natural birth and I am the only pregnant women in town, so there was no wait to get them! I also like this book, although it is kind of dated. I love all the pictures, especially the ones that grossed out Nathan! Again, this book tries to help women to see that they can have the power in the birthing process. The yoga section is great and it gives lots of specific relaxation techniques for birthing.
This is the first of my mom's books that I've read. So far, it is much like the other natural birth books I've read. I have a little less faith in this one then I had in Ina May's because Ina May was able to compare the national statistics to the statistics at The Farm. I find myself wanting to read all the studies the author quotes because studies can be so easily mis-interpreted. Maybe this is because I just read an review of a book that found statistics to be mostly inaccurate. We'll see how I feel when I'm all done.