There are a ton of books out there on pregnancy, on what to expect, what could happen, etc. If you’re a mom-to-be with an appetite for info, you’re in luck.
While I am definitely reading some, I am actually not going overboard for a few reasons. First, I figure these books are like travel guides — you can read all you want about a place before you get there, but once you’re there, you find out the country is nothing like what the book described. Like when Husband and I went to Costa Rica? Yeah, the map from Frommer’s represented a street scape that did not exist. (Awesome.) I really don’t think I have any idea what I’m in for. I hear what my pals say, but when it happens to you, it’s like…a science fiction movie.
Also, maybe if these preg books were fiction, I could get through them faster. I need to read fiction. It just helps me function as a human being. (Um, as well as self-help.)
And another also, I can’t read too much, because the information will just cancel each other out. I have a few books on nutrition. You know what I highlighted and still remember:
Some pregnant women crave nonfood items, like ice, clay, starch, wax, and coffee grounds. These items are not food, and you should not eat them when you’re pregnant. Eating these things can cause problems for you and your baby. Tell you provider if you crave nonfoods.
Is that not awesome? Now, I totally want to eat like paste and dirt, but now I want to try it.
You know, if I’m being honest, is that the reason behind these instincts is that pregnant women are an entire demographic, and it has always unnerved me to fit in with any demographic. If I can’t have and be a smorgasbord, I can’t deal. Just how I’m wired. We can all blame my mother. (Ha ha.)
Doesn’t the woman on the cover of “What to Expect…” look absolutely miserable? I couldn’t get past that.
i never stopped to look at her before, but yeah, she does look bitter. at best, she looks like bored, like, oh this again. i haven’t looked at this book b/c everyone warns that it lists every possible thing that can go wrong and makes you mental. no thank you.
It only gets worse when the kid pops out. I once flagged books with conflicting sleep advice. Really, if I comfort my children at night they’ll never learn to self-soothe and become needy, dependent adults? Really, if I let my kids cry it out they’ll become alienated and have trouble forming attachments?
This is good training for parenthood, actually. Take what you can use, and ignore the rest. But, don’t eat dirt, that’s good advice. Then again, maybe it will strengthen your baby’s immune system.
eating dirt, as a baby anyway, is supposed not be that bad for you b/c you can build up an immune system. but whatever, like i’m trying to learn to sing and dance at the same time for a show i’m in, which i think is good — to be too preoccupied to obsess unhealthy-ly (not a word, but i need it to be) over baby to be. my friend jen gives interesting advice — throw out the books and follow your instincts. i think you have to anyway. it’s also a better way for me to learn. i love to read, but i can’t learn how-to stuff from books, BUT who am i too pooh pooh advice that will save me time and grief if it works?