Reading essentials...

One of the ways I prepare for life changing events is to read as much as I can find on the subject.  You can thank my mom for that!  So when I found out I was pregnant, I immediately started gathering books about pregnancy.  (Ok, so I don't know if you can call it gathering if you download it on a Kindle, but still...)

I found 3 books that I would call essentials for any first-time mom, or any veteran mom who hasn't read them and is interested in a good read.

The first and probably best known book was What to Expect When You're Expecting.  

This book is in it's 4th edition.  I can remember seeing it in my mom's bookshelf when my sister was born.  It really has a lot of good information and resources.    

It offers a great breakdown of the various aspects of pregnancy. The What to Expect website is excellent as well.  It even has a neat section for dads-to-be.

The next book that I think is a MUST for pregnant women is The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy.

 It has a lot of good information.  What I really love about the book is the straightforward, sarcastic, humorous way it is written.  It's as good or better than visiting with your girlfriends about everything pregnancy!

Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy is another entertaining book.  It doesn't have quite as much

information as the other two, but it is a good looking life for someone famous during their pregnancy.  It's refreshing to know that even famous people have the same dramas and traumas during pregnancy as the rest of us!












I haven't read On Becoming Baby Wise, but this method of establishing a feeding and sleeping routine

has been recommended to me by a co-worker who swears by it.  I've looked at the Parent Wise website, and it sounds like a fairly common sense method.  The idea behind the method is to establish a pattern of eat, wake, sleep.  You keep the baby awake more after feedings during the day to help the baby sleep longer at night.  Amazon has used copies of the book for cheap.  I am going to be borrowing a copy of the book from the co-worker who recommended it, so I'll have more of an opinion later, but if it gives me even a few tips for helping baby sleep through the night, it would be worth a used copy!