Product Description

INTRODUCTION

The world is not short of pregnancy gurus - and - I promise - I'm not trying to join their ranks. When I got pregnant, one of the first friends who I told had just one piece of advice: `Whatever you do, don't read any of the books.' Of course, I disregarded this at once (diregarding advice comes even more naturally when you're pregnant) and went out and bought a squillion pregnancy books and sat down to discover about the miracle of new life. Which was when I started to see what she had meant. Many of the books were quite mad, making such suggestions as `get a sink installed in your child's bedroom' (I ask you), or pushing the theory of giving birth in a wading pool full of lavender water. Even the sane ones were a bit weird, with their ways of describing the size of the developing foetus in terms of food. One week it's a brazil nut, then a plum, then an aubergine. Scary, huh? And another thing. Most of the books finished at week 40, when the baby is due. In real life, while you're pregnant, you can't think any further than the birth. But the very minute you have a baby you can hardly remember a thing about the pregnancy. It's suddenly entirely irrelevant and you have to deal IMMEDIATELY with a tiny person who depends on you completely (and also do stuff with your bosoms they don't even ask from exotic dancers). For some reason I had always imagined that being pregnant would just be like being me with a big bump out the front. It hadn't occurred to me that the reality of being pregnant eventually would be felt constantly in every physical part of my body, and in every recess of what I fondly used to call my mind. Even though I had heard about nausea and fluid retention and vagueness and a ferzillion other things, for some dumb reason I thought they were part of an old-fashioned pregnancy, relegated to history along with the concept of `confinement' and Mrs Spinoza's mechanical home-perm-and-gherkin-bottling machine. I'm a career woman, I thought. I'm over 30. I've always pretended to be in control of my life, and that doesn't have to stop just because I'm pregnant. I'll just live my life the way it has always been (without getting pissed and having a few fags at the weekend). Work will go on as normal, life at home will be just the same, only I'll need bigger shirts at some point. My life will only completely change once the baby comes out. WELL.Apparently not. I had not bargained on the body taking control of itself. The power of the mind? Pah. As far as my body was concerned, its major priority was growing a healthy baby. Several times I felt my legs going off along the corridor for a lie down when I thought my torso should have been elsewhere. I woke up in the middle of the night compelled to eat banana sandwiches and drink glasses of soy milk. I had become a host organ. My first thoughts every morning and my last thoughts at night were about being pregnant, and there was a fair whack of it in between. Would I be a good mother? What if something went wrong? Was it too late to have second thoughts? Should I feel guilty about having second thoughts? Where do we stand on third and subsequent thoughts? Where the hell are my keys? Why is the marmite in the freezer? Did I do that? What the hell has happened to my HAIR? What's that weird bump forming on my gums? Do stretch marks stay that fetching shade of royal purple forever? Will I ever want to have sex again? What do people mean when they say `pregnancy hormones'? Is it true some aromatherapy can make you have a miscarriage? Isn't this uncomfortable? Isn't this terrifying, and wonderful, and fascinating, and boring as batshit, all at the same time? Am I supposed to feel serene, or just seasick? If you don't do your pelvic-floor exercises will your fanny fall out? Why can't I feel the baby move yet? Could the baby stop moving for a while and give me a rest? What about those cigarettes I had before I realised I was pregnant? And so it went on: Will I ever be able to be alone again? How can I tell people I don't want my career back? How can I get my career back? When does a foetus become a baby? Does that mean if it's born then it will survive? Could I get any fatter? What's pre-eclampsia and how do you get it? What can you see on an ultrasound screen? What if labour goes on forever and nothing comes out? Could somebody get me a cup of tea? And then when I had a baby the questions really started. So to find out what's what, I wrote this Rough Guide. The researchers and I went to work, and then experts checked everything written about their special area and suggested new bits, and then the editor asked a gadzillion questions and in the normal course of events I would have had a huge tantrum but I was too tired because by that time I'd had a baby, so instead we checked it all over again and took bits out and put bits in and waved it all about, and now here it is. If you read everything in the book you might think pregnancy is a terrible minefield of bizarre health complaints. Don't freak out: lots of the pregnancy problems are rare - they're included `just in case'. If you do have a special interest or problem, though, this book will give you the basics. And if there's something you need to know more about, you can find an organisation or book that will point you in the right direction recommended in the `Help' section (that's the bit at the back). PS: Oh, yeah. The Diary scattered through this book includes many aspects of my own experience but it is not quite my story and incorporates lots of stuff from other people's pregnancies. Actually, if truth will out, I'm not really an orphan, nor a fashion designer (I'm not too sure about the exact nature of a kitten heel). But a girl has to try to cling to some sense of mystery, especially when she's got baby vomit up her nose. (Don't ask.)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #764 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-25
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth sets out to offer "the soundest, sanest, wittiest advice you'll ever get" about life as an expectant mum. Covering "the scary parts, the funny parts and your private parts" Australian author Kaz Cooke counts down to motherhood using a week-by-week format, at each stage explaining what's going on to you and baby, exploring common health complaints, suggesting remedies and looking at what will happen at antenatal visits. She also includes a semi-fictitious weekly diary account that provides a friendly and very funny voice to reassure you that you're not alone.

Overall, this format works well, particularly if you're a reader who dips in and out. Not least, it means you can check up on whether you're growing out of your clothes at a normal rate! It's also good to sneak a peak at a couple of weeks in the future and suss out what's in store. Its readable, illustrated layout lends itself to perusal when symptoms are getting you down, not just because it makes you laugh about morning sickness, constant weeing and leaking breasts, but also as it make you realise that actually things could be worse! Having sneaked a peak at week 41 you could be disappointed that the diary birth is eventually by Caesarean. Obviously this prepares you for the worst case scenario but it results in skipping over the protracted labour stages which, for most new mums, makes required reading, not matter how scary they sound.

On the whole this book is funny, frank and perfect to dip in and out of but it's not one you'd really use as a reference guide, particularly if you were genuinely worried about an aspect of your pregnancy. Being the work of one sole author it's obviously a rather subjective view of what is for everyone, a uniquely personal experience. It complements the likes of Miriam Stoppard and Sheila Kitzinger but (despite being much more entertaining) really couldn't begin to replace them. Pregnant women are notorious for reading every book they can get their hands on, and despite The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth presenting itself as a definitive guide, it's not going to change that habit any time soon.--Shona Campbell

Synopsis
Fully revised and updated, the second edition of this best-selling "Rough Guide" gives you the up-to-date lowdown on pregnancy, birth and coping when you first get home. A week by week guide to what's happening to you and the baby, from choosing where to give birth, coping with nausea and understanding the tests you will need to dealing with stretch marks, breastfeeding for the first time and adapting to life with a new born. There are no bossy-boots rules, just the sanest, wittiest advice you'll ever get, plus lots of cartoons. This complete guide has everything you will need to know about the scary parts, the funny parts and your private parts.

Customer Reviews

If you want to know how to be a labotomised stepford pregnant woman then this is NOT the book for you!
I absolutely loved this book! It works in 2 parts - there is a weekly diary written by the author so you feel that you have a really good pal right there with you week in, week out - she is very witty and matter of fact about her pregnancy and her tales had me laughing out loud - knowing exactly what she meant. Surrounding the diary is lots of important, useful information covering all aspects of pregnancy - from the mental side of things, the physical side of things and the external stuff that we all have to cope with such as work, relatives etc.

I am so glad I bought this book as I really feel calm about the last week of pregnancy and what's to follow - I had a really good friend with me every step of the way with this book and when I got to the end of her diary I felt a little sad that I had to say goodbye to her.

The book is so user friendly that my husband has read it cover to cover - unprompted. He saw how much I enjoyed it and figured he'd have a go. This can only be a good thing for me, for him and for the baby.

Highly, Highly recommended. You won't want to lend it to anybody once you've finished it!

At last something fun!
Why do so many people and authors want to make pregnancy soo very boring and serious!! This book tells it as it is, a laugh and something to be happy about, not label, worry and fret.

I would recommend that all other pregnancy books are burned at the bottom of the garden and this can then become your nine month bible!!

brilliant
informative, forward looking, easy to digest, non-judgmental, amusing... all in all a useful companion to a life-changing experience.