What to Expect When You're Expecting by heidi murkoff

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

DNF at approx. 50% (25% skimmed […Ok! Maybe 35%])

This is some quality #PregLit, don’t get me wrong but its comprehensiveness is its downfall as far as my “completing” it goes. It covers just about everything you could ever imagine happening during pregnancy, from almost every possible perspective, though distinctly lacking in advice for any sort of Arnold Schwarzenegger - ‘Junior’ type scenario. This is exceptional in its inclusiveness but I don’t think it’s possible for a human being, certainly not this humble Homo Sapien, to read more than a dozen pages at a time without falling into a deep and peaceful slumber.
I’ll be reading this in reference only, from this point forward, and would recommend it as a good resource for others, though honestly, you can find any of this stuff online these days anyway!

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Uke_17

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I got about halfway through with this back in 1999 (when I was preggo with my 1st), before I chucked it. I'm getting pissed off just thinking about it right now. There I was, a brand-new mother-to-be, and this ridiculous book had me convinced that every time I farted there was something wrong with me! And believe me, I farted quite a bit.
Trust me, if you want to be a nervous wreck, run out and buy this book. Otherwise, relax. Babies are hearty little suckers. Just because you take Tylenol for headaches, drink a cup of coffee, or opt to eat the entire chocolate cake instead of veggies, does not mean that your kid will be born with hideous birth defects.
Here's my advice, after having four healthy kids: Don't drink a bottle of wine for breakfast, and stay away from crack. Ta-da!

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TrashK01

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

It is unfortunate that sometimes no one tells us we are bad at something, and then we bumble on through life thinking we are good at it. That's what's happened to Heidi Murkoff, who is a terrible writer laboring under the delusion that she is a good writer and comedic to boot. This book has somehow managed to attain status as some kind of pregnancy bible, but in reality it is an unbearable slog through every worst case scenario any expectant parents could ever hope to avoid. The author looks down on her thick-headed audience, constantly stooping to explain for us morons something that was already spelled out for children in the previous sentence. Worse, she breaks up the "flow" (hah!) of her writing with parenthetical comments ad fucking nauseam. "If you're pregnant (and even if you're not), exercise is a good idea (but don't overdo it). Start slowly (no marathons the first week!) ..." and then you want to stick a knitting needle in your eye. The whole goddam book is like that, with pointless "jokey" asides stuffing the pages until the book tries to commit suicide by bloat. Such a thing is possible, by the way. Somehow this incompetent writer has made a cottage industry of this; I hear "What to Expect the First Year" is far worse, if one can imagine such a painful fate.

Are you planning to have children? Are you and your spouse pregnant now? Find a doctor you trust in your neighborhood. Talk to your parents, siblings, and friends who have children, especially those who've had kids recently. Ask about Braxton-Hicks contractions so you don't wind up in the emergency room thinking you're having your baby at seven months when you first feel some contractions. Skim a pregnancy guide; you can't learn everything, you won't remember everything, and there's no point learning about every single terrible thing that might go wrong one out of a million times. Throw this rotten piece of trash as far away from yourself as you possibly can. Good luck.

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stationry

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I seem to disagree with most of the reviews of this book.

This book got me through my pregnancy. Period.

I wasn't overwhelmed by the amount of information; instead I found it to be the only friendly, comforting book out there. While other books were telling me that if I'd had a glass of wine before I knew I was pregnant, my child would have extra limbs and no face, What to Expect... reminded me how minute the chances actually were. When the my overly clinical other books told me to panic if I hadn't noticed the baby moving for three hours, What to expect told me that that actually happens to most women sometime in the third trimester, why I should be concerned, and again, how extremely low the probability was that something was actually wrong, but that I should still check in with my doctor just in case. Essentially this book kept me well informed so that I didn't freak out about things (like loosing my mucus plug one morning at work) and knew what to look out for and when to call the doctor. The first book I got after my baby was born was What To Expect the First Year, and I couldn't live without that either! I don't have my mother around to give me advice anymore, and these books feel like a mom sitting you down with a nice cup of tea and telling you exactly what they say: what to expect.

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NinjaKittyTrist

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

For obvious reasons, I am not going to rate this book. What I can say, however, is that while it kept me company, it also kept me well informed. I grant you, this kind of comprehensive infodump might not be for everyone. I can see that more neurotic and insecure person could feel overwhelmed and even anxious; for me, it was just OK. I like knowing things on the one hand, and on the other, the pregnancy was a wonderful broadening and deepening of our family life and not something akin to the revolution that necessitates reorganisation of a whole life.

___

The good thing about Goodreads is the one doesn't have to make any grand statements. One look at the "currently reading" shelf is enough.

Month 1: Apparently something's cooking. A baby bun. And I thought it inconceivable.

Month 2: First sonogram. Oh my, a pollywog on a balloon.

Month 3: The Mothers know. So. It's official.

Month 4: Seedling took a shortcut to Heaven skipping the Earth altogether.

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Aman_Bhaskar

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

If you have to read one book on pregnancy, do yourself a favor and pick a different one than What to Expect. If you have lots of time on your hands and want to read several books, go ahead and read this one too. The general tone of this book is alarmist and condescending. Unless, of course, you planned the conception perfectly (Why, you and your partner didn't even take Tylenol while trying to get pregnant!), your diet during pregnancy is a model that the USDA would be proud of, you wouldn't dream of medicating your cold, you exercise daily, your desire to experience unmedicated birth is overwhelming, and you beleive that anything other than wearing your baby 24/7 to promote attachment is akin to child abuse.

I'm not quite sure how to explain how this book makes me feel other than this analogy - it felt like going to your doctor to ask for the morning-after-pill to only receive a lecture on the dangers of multiple sex partners from the old-school nurse. While sitting on a cold exam table in a paper gown. While nursing a hangover and trying not to throw up.

Anyway, I do give the book two stars because the section "When to Call The Doctor" is a pretty useful and easy to find reference when something freaky is happening and you have lost all common sense and are panicky and don't know what to do. (Similarly, the What To Expect The First Year book has useful references for when you don't know what to do with your out-of-sorts infant. I kinda feel bad slamming this book so hard when the First Year book was my bible whenever my son was sick.) Surely though, other books must have this handy reference too?

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ReZeroCultLeader

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

How do I give this zero stars? This book should be called "What to Freak Out About When You're Expecting" and, unfortunately, goes hand-in-hand with TLC's "Baby Story" for gross negligence in maternity "infotainment." It addresses everything that could possibly "go wrong" or be of concern, emphasizing rare "high risk" complications that do NOT effect the VAST majority of women. Rather than explaining normal, healthy pregnancy in a positive and reassuring manner, it talks down to women and convinces them that every new sensation or pregnancy symptom they feel is cause for alarm or a sign that their body (or their baby) may be defective. To me, this is just one more way doctors make money off of unnecessary office visits and routine interventions. UGH.

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GoodToMeetU

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

When I was pregnant with my first child, I picked up nearly every book on the bookstore shelves having to do with pregnancy and childbirth. I wanted comfort, a friend in the form of a book, a companion to hold my hand and let me know everything was going to be okay.

This book was not that friend.

Instead, everytime I read this book, I found myself getting more and more agitated. It exposed me to almost TOO much information, verging on the point of overload. You know how medical students become convinced they have every wacky and rare disease they learn about in med school? That's how I felt when I read this book. After each chapter, I became convinced my child had Downs Syndrome, that I had placenta previa, that I was suffering from gestational diabetes, etc., etc.

Now that I have three children, I feel like I'm in the position to make a recommendation -- get this book if you must, but don't read it cover to cover. Use it as a resource if one of the other books you read (I suggest "The Mother of All Pregnancy Books" by Ann Douglas) leaves you wanting more information.

By the way, I didn't follow the "Best Odds Diet" and my kids still turned out fine. :)

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What to Expect #1

What to Expect When You're Expecting

heidi murkoff arlene eisenberg sandee hathaway

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