Let's talk about books and apps

[jewel441]

I saw a thread for websites, but not for books and apps. I am super enthusiastic and want to read:

I ordered the Mayo Clinic's Guide to healthy pregnancy, I figured that was a good basic place to start. I have Ina May's book on my to read list, and the Happiest Baby. FTMs what's on your list? STMs anything you recommend from last time?


For Apps, I downloaded TD (which I am happy to say I don't like), Glow Nurture, and Ovia. Right now I think I like Ovia best. Glow Nuture gives you this weird "score" and I can't seem to make it 100% which will drive me  crazy. Also, why is it asking me if I took an OPK and a pregnancy test? Ovia has a nice feel, but I am not all the way committed to it yet.

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[peachesncream]

Baby Bargains was awesome for gear recommendations and it was fun early pregnancy reading. If you are planning on breastfeeding I've heard great things about The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - I plan on reading it this time around. Happiest Baby on the Block is another good one.

[sdchick]

I LOVED Mayo Clinic's Guide. To me that was the most helpful. Also, there was a book I borrowed from a friend that shows your pregnancy week by week and it was awesome to see how the baby develops. I forget the name...sorry, I know that doesn't help much. I'll search Amazon to see if I can find it.

Also, I know there's a lot of hype about What to Expect, but to me it was set up weird and had a lot of really stupid info.

[zombiesquad]

The only book I actually read during my pregnancy with DD was Natural Hospital Birth by Cynthia Gabriel. I knew I wanted a med-free childbirth experience, but I also knew I was going to deliver in a hospital so I had the best of both worlds. Very helpful.

[peachesncream]

A good alternative to What to Expect is Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn. They used that as the guide book for the birth class I dropped out of ;-) Ina May's Guide to Childbirth is popular as well.

[peachesncream]

A great one for husbands/partners is Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads. My DH got it as a gift and was skeptical but ended up loving it!! It really made him more helpful once the baby came too ("my book says we should try this, what do you think? My book says that's normal.").

[rnmommy]

Jenny McCarthy's Belly Laughs is pretty funny.

[arbe]

I go on the side of read none of the things! The books made me crazy.

[sdchick]

Jul 7, 2015 11:18:31 GMT -5 peachesncream said:

A good alternative to What to Expect is Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn. They used that as the guide book for the birth class I dropped out of ;-) Ina May's Guide to Childbirth is popular as well.

Yup, that's a good one as well!  Penny Simkin rocks.  We read that in doula school.

[jewel441]

Jul 7, 2015 11:15:14 GMT -5 zombiesquad said:

The only book I actually read during my pregnancy with DD was Natural Hospital Birth by Cynthia Gabriel. I knew I wanted a med-free childbirth experience, but I also knew I was going to deliver in a hospital so I had the best of both worlds. Very helpful.

This is my game plan as of now, so I will check that one out for sure!

On What to Expect, I have also heard not good things, especially if you are Med-Free inclined, that's why I went with Mayo instead.

[Deleted]

I'm reading What to Expect. I like it so far but I'm also only one month one.

Is Ina May's book only about med-free births? I'm team All The Meds.

[noodles84]

If you are planning on breastfeeding The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is good.

[halfahippy]

Jul 7, 2015 11:25:23 GMT -5 rnmommy said:

Jenny McCarthy's Belly Laughs is pretty funny.

I loved this book. It was really funny.

[adorebel]

I just started Expecting Better by Emily Oster, which is great so far! It is a book about how to evaluate all the evidence about various issues so you can make informed decisions and that are right for you during pregnancy.

I keep hearing Belly Laughs is funny, but I can't get over Jenny McCarthy's anti-vax stance/belief that vaccines cause autism long enough to want to hear what she has to say!

[Deleted]

Jul 7, 2015 14:59:52 GMT -5 adorebel said:

I just started Expecting Better by Emily Oster, which is great so far! It is a book about how to evaluate all the evidence about various issues so you can make informed decisions and that are right for you during pregnancy.

I keep hearing Belly Laughs is funny, but I can't get over Jenny McCarthy's anti-vax stance/belief that vaccines cause autism long enough to want to hear what she has to say!

1) - Oh god, this book would be awful for me. I'd overanalyze EVERYTHING. 
2) - Same.

[cinnamonsmiles]

I'm all about the books!

Natural Childbirth: The Bradley Way was fantastic for me. I'm a huge fan of the Brewer's Diet along with most of the exercises included to set your pelvis. Plus it really helped me have a great natural birth in the hospital by preparing my husband.

Baby Bargains saved us a ton of money and time in buying great stuff and telling what to not buy. I love that they rate everything based on consumer reviews as I normally spend hours scouring the internet to decide on baby stuff (I'm dead serious).

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding was decently helpful, mostly just in the very beginning. Once the first few weeks are over it's not as useful (it does have a help section for pumping though, which was nice).

Baby 411 (same people who did Baby Bargains): I got as a gift and liked it so much that I just bought the Toddler version for DS. It's fantastic as a reference and definitely reassurance for questions every parent asks.

The Sleepeasy Solution, if you're into sleep training. It really saved us around 5ish months when I had to go back to school and someone else needed to be able to put DS to sleep. Will definitely be using it again for this LO.

[halfahippy]

Jul 7, 2015 14:59:52 GMT -5 adorebel said:

I just started Expecting Better by Emily Oster, which is great so far! It is a book about how to evaluate all the evidence about various issues so you can make informed decisions and that are right for you during pregnancy.

I keep hearing Belly Laughs is funny, but I can't get over Jenny McCarthy's anti-vax stance/belief that vaccines cause autism long enough to want to hear what she has to say!

Oh I hate her anti-vax stance and all of that. I just thought the book was a lighthearted, funny read if you can get past the author. It doesn't get into all of that nonsense.

[adorebel]

Jul 7, 2015 15:13:28 GMT -5 @pugsandwine said:

Jul 7, 2015 14:59:52 GMT -5 adorebel said:

I just started Expecting Better by Emily Oster, which is great so far! It is a book about how to evaluate all the evidence about various issues so you can make informed decisions and that are right for you during pregnancy.

I keep hearing Belly Laughs is funny, but I can't get over Jenny McCarthy's anti-vax stance/belief that vaccines cause autism long enough to want to hear what she has to say!

1) - Oh god, this book would be awful for me. I'd overanalyze EVERYTHING. 
2) - Same.

The Emily Oster book is actually the opposite! I feel like I misrepresented it with the way I phrased that. It's more like, here's the evidence for why you should not worry as much as people say you should about things like sushi and coffee. Decide for yourself rather than avoiding everything for 9 months. Have a glass of wine now and again and don't sweat it. Here is the evidence for why. I find it calming!

[jewel441]

Jul 7, 2015 17:22:24 GMT -5 adorebel said:

Jul 7, 2015 15:13:28 GMT -5 @pugsandwine said:

1) - Oh god, this book would be awful for me. I'd overanalyze EVERYTHING. 
2) - Same.

The Emily Oster book is actually the opposite! I feel like I misrepresented it with the way I phrased that. It's more like, here's the evidence for why you should not worry as much as people say you should about things like sushi and coffee. Decide for yourself rather than avoiding everything for 9 months. Have a glass of wine now and again and don't sweat it. Here is the evidence for why. I find it calming!

She is an economist right? I've heard it's sorta like a freakanomics type thing but for pregnancy. Like she does more rational/mathematical analysis on things. Is that right?

[adorebel]

Jul 7, 2015 17:30:39 GMT -5 jewel441 said:

Jul 7, 2015 17:22:24 GMT -5 adorebel said:

The Emily Oster book is actually the opposite! I feel like I misrepresented it with the way I phrased that. It's more like, here's the evidence for why you should not worry as much as people say you should about things like sushi and coffee. Decide for yourself rather than avoiding everything for 9 months. Have a glass of wine now and again and don't sweat it. Here is the evidence for why. I find it calming!

She is an economist right? I've heard it's sorta like a freakanomics type thing but for pregnancy. Like she does more rational/mathematical analysis on things. Is that right?

Yeah she basically says economics is applicable because economists, unlike some other academic fields, often have to combine hard data with soft data. The same should be true in pregnancy, she argues, where there's hard data, but it can be interpreted differently based on your own health/age/values/circumstances, etc, and doesn't always need to be applied in blanket statements like "absolutely no deli meat ever, no exceptions." She looks at the facts/numbers/studies, then considers what might be right for you and why some recommendations for pregnancy are overly cautious (in her opinion, sushi, wine, coffee) or not cautious enough (weird things like gardening, etc.)

[Deleted]

Jul 7, 2015 17:22:24 GMT -5 adorebel said:

Jul 7, 2015 15:13:28 GMT -5 @pugsandwine said:

1) - Oh god, this book would be awful for me. I'd overanalyze EVERYTHING. 
2) - Same.

The Emily Oster book is actually the opposite! I feel like I misrepresented it with the way I phrased that. It's more like, here's the evidence for why you should not worry as much as people say you should about things like sushi and coffee. Decide for yourself rather than avoiding everything for 9 months. Have a glass of wine now and again and don't sweat it. Here is the evidence for why. I find it calming!

Anything that helps me in convincing dh to let me have a glass of wine in the second tri is a WIN in my book. 

[adorebel]

Jul 7, 2015 17:33:59 GMT -5 @pugsandwine said:

Jul 7, 2015 17:22:24 GMT -5 adorebel said:

The Emily Oster book is actually the opposite! I feel like I misrepresented it with the way I phrased that. It's more like, here's the evidence for why you should not worry as much as people say you should about things like sushi and coffee. Decide for yourself rather than avoiding everything for 9 months. Have a glass of wine now and again and don't sweat it. Here is the evidence for why. I find it calming!

Anything that helps me in convincing dh to let me have a glass of wine in the second tri is a WIN in my book. 

Read it! I'm only about 40 pages in, but it is nice to have a book that tries to empower you to relax, rather than reinforcing the dominant paranoia around pregnancy. She acknowledges that pregnancy is a time when everyone feels free to infantilize and micromanage you and judge your tiny decisions, and her point is that there's a lot of grey area in many of these questions, and you can make educated decisions for yourself with your doctor if you have all the information. I have to say, having done everything "right" last time and worried a bit more than I needed to about some little things and then lost the baby in 2nd tri, I'm much more inclined to try to take a relaxed approach this time around! 

[KK_8721]

I didn't care for the What to Expect books, other than looking up specific things I had questions on. It wasn't a book I'd sit down and read through.

Loved Happiest Baby on the Block, Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby (also a twin version), and SleepEasy I HIGHLY recommend if you plan to sleep train.

Most my books were twin centered. None of them really helped truly prepare me for kids haha.

[rosetyler72]

I'm using the Ovia app and like it pretty well. I also have the WebMD pregnancy app but so far I'm not that impressed. It only goes by the week and I like daily info.

I'm reading The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, Mayo Clinic, and occasionally glance through What to Expect. The Mayo Clinic is my favorite so far, but the Girlfriend's Guide has some good info too.

[awkwardturtle]

Jul 7, 2015 17:32:48 GMT -5 adorebel said:

Jul 7, 2015 17:30:39 GMT -5 jewel441 said:

She is an economist right? I've heard it's sorta like a freakanomics type thing but for pregnancy. Like she does more rational/mathematical analysis on things. Is that right?

Yeah she basically says economics is applicable because economists, unlike some other academic fields, often have to combine hard data with soft data. The same should be true in pregnancy, she argues, where there's hard data, but it can be interpreted differently based on your own health/age/values/circumstances, etc, and doesn't always need to be applied in blanket statements like "absolutely no deli meat ever, no exceptions." She looks at the facts/numbers/studies, then considers what might be right for you and why some recommendations for pregnancy are overly cautious (in her opinion, sushi, wine, coffee) or not cautious enough (weird things like gardening, etc.)

My degree is in economics so I feel like this will be a perfect book for me! Thanks for the suggestion. 

I bought the What to Expect book today and a pregnancy journal. I have too bad of a headache to read right now but I guess I still have time to research.. Ha

[almachs0786]

I don't really have any recommendations on what to read. But I will say that I read "What to Expect.." when I was pregnant with DD and didn't find it helpful/interesting at all. I didn't care for it at all and wouldn't recommend it.. I'm sure someone else may say otherwise though.

[almachs0786]

Jul 7, 2015 14:59:52 GMT -5 adorebel said:

I just started Expecting Better by Emily Oster, which is great so far! It is a book about how to evaluate all the evidence about various issues so you can make informed decisions and that are right for you during pregnancy.

I keep hearing Belly Laughs is funny, but I can't get over Jenny McCarthy's anti-vax stance/belief that vaccines cause autism long enough to want to hear what she has to say!

I literally got chills up my spine when I saw her name mentioned. I just can't.

[cinnamonsmiles]

Jul 7, 2015 19:09:50 GMT -5 KK_8721 said:

I didn't care for the What to Expect books, other than looking up specific things I had questions on. It wasn't a book I'd sit down and read through.

Loved Happiest Baby on the Block, Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby (also a twin version), and SleepEasy I HIGHLY recommend if you plan to sleep train.

Most my books were twin centered. None of them really helped truly prepare me for kids haha.

Totally off-topic:
Well hello Kat! I'd recognize that avatar anywhere! We were both on J14, though I was only active in the few months before the mass exodus.
Are you coming to play over here now? How are the twins?

(hopefully this doesn't come across as super creeper. I swear I'm normal. lol.)

[Deleted]

Jul 7, 2015 22:52:28 GMT -5 cinnamonsmiles said:

Jul 7, 2015 19:09:50 GMT -5 KK_8721 said:

I didn't care for the What to Expect books, other than looking up specific things I had questions on. It wasn't a book I'd sit down and read through.

Loved Happiest Baby on the Block, Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby (also a twin version), and SleepEasy I HIGHLY recommend if you plan to sleep train.

Most my books were twin centered. None of them really helped truly prepare me for kids haha.

Totally off-topic:
Well hello Kat! I'd recognize that avatar anywhere! We were both on J14, though I was only active in the few months before the mass exodus.
Are you coming to play over here now? How are the twins?

(hopefully this doesn't come across as super creeper. I swear I'm normal. lol.)

;-)

[KK_8721]

Jul 7, 2015 22:52:28 GMT -5 cinnamonsmiles said:

Jul 7, 2015 19:09:50 GMT -5 KK_8721 said:

I didn't care for the What to Expect books, other than looking up specific things I had questions on. It wasn't a book I'd sit down and read through.

Loved Happiest Baby on the Block, Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby (also a twin version), and SleepEasy I HIGHLY recommend if you plan to sleep train.

Most my books were twin centered. None of them really helped truly prepare me for kids haha.

Totally off-topic:
Well hello Kat! I'd recognize that avatar anywhere! We were both on J14, though I was only active in the few months before the mass exodus.
Are you coming to play over here now? How are the twins?

(hopefully this doesn't come across as super creeper. I swear I'm normal. lol.)

HEY!! I totally remember you lady! How is baby boy doing? 

The girls are well! Fucking crazy but I love 'em Running, fighting, screaming, scratching, hitting, whining... it's busy lol. I'm actually a dirty lurker. I had my transfer yesterday and have beta next week. HEDD 3/25/16. Hope to stay and play!