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"What to Expect" gets a makeover
Filed under: Your Pregnancy, Playground Bureau, Resources, Books for Kids
Young and pregnant for the first time back in 1992, I picked up "What to Expect When You're Expecting" because pregnancy literature was pretty sparse and blogs had yet to be invented.
Predictably, I spent the remainder of that pregnancy freaking out over what that I should and should not be eating and that every twinge was a sign of a Rare but Potentially Fatal Badness due to something I had or had not done. The "Best Odds Diet" (which should have been called "The Best Odds for Making You Insane Diet") was a total bust for me. During pregnancy was NOT the time for me to give up all refined sugar and flour so I just ate whatever and then felt bad about it.
Even the cover of the book was disturbing. An illustrated pregnant woman in a huge mauve tent dress and wearing ugly, but sensible shoes sat in a rocker looking pained (or gassy) while reading a book. (Perhaps she just read that in rare instances, the shrimp she had in her salad at lunch can cause children to be born with cloven hooves and horns?)
We've come a long way, What to Expect When You're Expecting, expectant lady! In the 4th and latest version of the book, the gestating gal is actually standing on her own two, boot-clad feet, wearing jeans, and ....SHE'S SMILING!
In addition to the cover make-over, the oppressive Best Odds Diet has been replaced with a user-friendly chapter entitled "Nine Months of Eating Well". According to author Heidi Murkoff, "We figured the Best-Odds Diet was well-intentioned. We thought we would ask moms to aim high, but then they ran screaming to the nearest McDonald's. I think this approach works a lot better. We're saying, 'Diet or don't diet; just eat a balanced diet.' You are the sole caterer of your uterine cafe."
The scary, worst-case scenarios have also been chilled out, which is good news to all easily-freaked new mothers. Popular blogger Amalah said "When I looked up innocuous symptoms, it would say 'in most cases, this is normal, but in rare cases ... ' That is all it takes for a nervous, first-trimester mom to say, 'Oh my God!' Honestly, I can work myself into a state all by myself. I don't need to read to worry that the skin rash might be deadly."
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
5-12-2008 @ 8:43AM
Jenn said...Yeah, my OB (AND my pediatrician) call those books the "What To Expect When You're Paranoid" books.
I read them anyway, but keeping that in mind. and also read the books they recommended, which were much better!
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5-12-2008 @ 10:14AM
Momma said...I loathed the What To Expect... books. I'm all about the Dr. Sears.
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5-12-2008 @ 10:18AM
sngl dad said...found the original books outstanding and for me reduced my fear surrounding the pregnancy. improvements sound timely though and more in tune with todays mom.
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5-12-2008 @ 10:37AM
LK said...I hated What To Expect during the first trimester... but since I was already freaking out even without the book, paradoxically I also loved it because, umm, it reassuringly confirmed to me that I had every right to freak out.
Now that I'm near giving birth, I actually find the book reassuring. Like a kind of all-things-considered sort of reference book I can obsessively read when I'm too preoccupied to read/do anything more constructive.
Reply
5-12-2008 @ 5:57PM
Heather said...I was given this book by my doctor. I hated it. It read like stereo intructions.
Reply
5-12-2008 @ 8:42PM
Kristen said...It's only a matter of time before you see that cover girl wearing a "Baby Brewing" tee.
Reply
5-13-2008 @ 2:27PM
Cara said...I'm not sure which version I had, but I liked the parts of the chapters that told you what to expect at your OB checkup that month. However, I started crying hysterically (and I'm not even exaggerating) when I found the word "catheder" in the index. I was screaming at my husband, "Why is that word in this book? What are they going to do to me?!" I'd never been in the hospital for anything before giving birth, so I was really pretty naive about that whole matter. I'm glad they're updating it though. It screamed 1980's to me.
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