Product Description

Your doctor gives you medical advice. Your mother buys you baby clothes. But who can give you the real story when you're pregnant? Your best friends of course - at least the ones who've been through the exhilaration and exhaustion, the agony and ecstasy of pregnancy. Now, four-time delivery-room veteran Vicki Iovine helps you through the next nine months the way only a best friend can. Here is straight talk about those little things that are too embarrassing to ask about, practical tips and hilarious tales on anything pregnant. From learning that you're expecting ('Oh my God, how do I get out of this?') to the day your newborn arrives ('You mean I have to take it home with me?') , Iovine gives you the low-down on: What really happens to your body - from morning sickness and wind to eating everything in sight; what to expect when going from being a babe to having one; common fears and paranoia - from turning into your mother to leaving the baby on the car roof; the many moods of pregnancy - or why you're so irritable/distracted/tired/lightheaded (well, more than you usually are); the pregnancy experts - from your mum to his mum, they think they know everything and they don't hesitate to tell you what you are doing wrong; how to have sex during pregnancy, should you so desire - bearing in mind you'll have no interest afterwards; looking and feeling your best - cautionary style tips from your best friend, who really would tell you if your perky new-mum haircut makes you look like a pinhead whale.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6315 in Books
• Published on: 1997-05-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
'The book is fantastic - I'm sure it's all the information I'll need' Meg Matthews, Having a Baby 'Hilarious The comical side to pregnancy made it a lot easier to deal with' Donna Air, New Woman 'It's brilliant, and stuffed full of anecdotes you'll recognise immediately keep this one for bedside reading Iovine's warm and witty style is wonderfully reassuring' Pregnancy Magazine

From the Publisher
Your best friends of course- at least, the ones who've been through the exhilaration and exhaustion, the agony and ecstasy of pregnancy. Now, four-time-delivery-room veteran Vicki Iovine talks to you the way that only a best friend can- in the book that will go the whole nine months for every mother-to-be. Here is straigh talk about those little things that are too embarassing to ask anyone about, practical tips and hilarious tales on anything pregnant.

Excerpted from The Best Friend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine. Copyright © 1997. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Top Ten Lies About Pregnancy
10: Lamaze works
9: Morning sickness is gone by lunchtime
8: Maternity clothes are so much cuter now
7: You will have your pre-pregnancy figure back in three months, especially if you breast-feed.
6: Oil massages prevent stretch marks.
5: Pregnant women have the most beautiful skin and hair
4: ‘I swear, your face hasn’t changed at all’
3: Pregnancy brings a man and a woman closer together (yeah, you and your doctor!)
2: ‘You haven’t put on weight anywhere but your tummy!’
1: Pregnancy only lasts nine months

Customer Reviews

A funny, friendly reassuring book - answers without alcohol!
I bought this and one of the conventional 'this is what happens at twenty weeks, as long as you eat broccoli every day' type books at the same time. I read Vicki Iovine's book in an afternoon, including reading about a third of it out to my husband! As first time parents, we both enjoyed the way the book is written, and it quite literally tells you things that you would be more inclined to ask your friends about after a few glasses of wine (which of course, you're avoiding at the moment!)

I have since bought the book for another friend, who again read it in less than a day! By all means, buy the pregnancy and birth bibles, they tell you many valuable things, but if you also want a book that gives you answers whilst recognising that you don't lose your sense of humour along with your waistline, this is the one for you!

all things to all women...?
I heard a rumour that it's possible to give birth without reading any books. Maybe so, but I found that the books helped me cope with my lack of knowledge and lack of courage. You only need to read 3 or 4 of them. I know because I read 10 of them.

The Best Friends' Guide was my favourite. It made the whole thing seem more human, more bearable, more possible. It deals with aspects of pregnancy that the textbooks don't.

You still need a textbook. I'd recommend Anne Dean's 'Pregnancy Bible'. And an exercise book. I bought 'Pregnancy Fitness'. Good luck with that. And, even though it was written by a mere man, I enjoyed my partner's favourite book, Andrew Cullen's 'From Here To Paternity', which does for men what The Best Friends' Guide does for women - tells the truth in an intelligent, reassuring, entertaining way.

No single book is all things to all women. The BFG may not be infallible, but it's invaluable, like any best friend.

Laughed and cried
Having read many 'official' pregnancy books (and there's nothing wrong with them, apart from they're scary!) this one had me laughing from about page 3 - and crying every now and then as she brings home not just the humour of what it means to be pregnant, but also the wonder of it all. HIGHLY recommend.