Mama Memoir
Belly Laughs, Jenny McCarthy
Not bad, but really, really short. Big font, small page layout and thick paper does not make the book take longer to read. Also, not too natural-minded, if you’re into that sort of thing.
It Could Happen to You! A Diary of Pregnancy and Beyond, Martha Brockenbrough
I guess this is a converted blog-like thing, as it originally appeard on msn.com or something like that. Anyway, so far, so good. Not yet finished, but I like her style. Down-to-earth and all.
Confessions of a Slacker Mom, Muffy Mead-Ferro
Most of this I agree with, make sure your kids have imaginations, etc. Sometimes she seems a little severe, but her name is Muffy. You kind of have to feel bad about that. Quick read (again, this is enough for a book?) but certainly not required.
Operating Instructions, Anne Lamott
I love, love, love Anne Lamott’s nonfiction. I read this book way back when, long before I should have, and loved it. A very realistic and humorous take on pregnancy and childbirth, from the single mama point of view.
Hello, My Name is Mommy, Sheri Lynch
Aimed at moms that were raised in dysfunctional homes, but a good read for anyone. A working & nursing mom. Down-to-earth, and serious when it should be. (Dogeared: Pg 115. Love it.)
A Life’s Work: On Becoming a Mother, Rachel Cusk
I’m having a hard time getting into this one, and I’m not sure why. It’s more Serious Motherhood than others, I think, and as such, it’s not as engaging. But, it was a buck on a bargain table.
The Big Rumpus: A Mother’s Tale from the Trenches, Ayun Halliday
Urban stay at home nursing artist mom of two’s tales from the street. Loved the book, even though I am a rural girl. Kids don’t suck the creativity out of you! Yay!
Guarding the Moon, Francesca Lia Block
A fabulous YA author’s AP leaning memoir of pregnancy and new motherhood. Beautiful stuff.
Breeder: Real-Life Stories from the New Generation of Mothers, Ariel Gore, Ed.
A collection of essays of moms of all kinds. Similar, in some ways, to Pregnancy Stories (indexed below), but more creative nonfiction than informational nonfiction. (I really enjoyed this book, and want to check out other Ariel Gore stuff.)
Life’s Work: Confessions of an Unbalanced Mom, Lisa Belkin
A collection of essays by and about working mothers. It didn’t grab me like Breeder did, but it may be more pertinent when I have children-children, as opposed to the hypothetical baby situation.
I’ll Never Have Sex With You Again! Tales from the Delivery Room, Larry Bleidner
It was a BUCK, okay? A collection of delivery room bloopers, in short anecdotes.
Mama Fiction
The Zygote Chronicles, Suzanne Finnamore
Fictional take on pregnancy and birth, from the author that wrote Otherwise Engaged, a novel about wedding planning and marriage. Not lifechanging, but a good read.
Diary of a Mad Mom-to-Be, Laura Wolf
Another fictional take on pregnancy and birth, from the author that wrote Diary of a Mad Bride-to-Be. (Are she and Finnamore in a race?) Loved this book, as the conversations between husband and wife were almost EXACTLY what the conversations between Dave and I were like. Spookily so. If that’s the case, then I’m guessing it’s more common than you’d think.
Little Earthquakes, Jennifer Weiner.
Three different mamas, from pregnancy to motherhood and beyond. Working & nursing moms, c-section and natural deliveries, Jewish mom, and mom-of-color. Weiner’s books always make me feel good, so don’t look for lots of drama here.
Planning & Pregnancy Nonfiction Informational Books
The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, Ann Douglas
It actually has a preconception section! Total plus. As well as a handy due date calculator page, that helps "plan" (ha!) these things. Lots of folksy advice, as well.
Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week, 5th ed., Curtis & Schuler
This book is a good general reference book, with low scare-factor, and nice pencil illustrations to show actual size and location of the zygote/embryo/fetus as it develops. It’s a good book for partners too, to be able to pass it over and say "Look, this is how big it is now!"
Before Your Pregnancy, Ogle & Mazzullo
Before you buy this book, skim it at a library or bookstore. Waste of money. Here’s the secret: Live healthy! Don’t smoke! Have well-timed sex! The end. Mine is going to my local library, as soon as I can decloset myself to my former coworkers.
Spiritual Midwifery, Ina May Gaskin
Aaaaaanndd, here’s the opposite of the Jenny McCarthy book. Very natural minded, lots of pictures of long-haired men and women "blissing out" on the miracle of birth. A little too hippy-dippy for me, but many sing it’s praises. (I’m putting this in informational, as there’s lots of information as well as multiple birth stories. )
Misconceptions, Naomi Wolf
A take on the medicalization of birth. Wolf seems super bitter about her C-section, and I’ve not walked in her shoes, but I wouldn’t want to be stuck on a long flight with her at my side, because I think she’d still be talking about it. Good for perspective, but low on cheer.
Taking Charge of Your Fertility, Toni Weschler
Referred to as TCOYF on TTC forums, this book explains a lot of cool things about how our bodies work. Essential if you plan on charting, and damn informative even if you don’t chart. (If you do chart, fertilityfriend.com or pregnancy.org have online charting tools.)
Pregnancy Stories: Real Women Share the Joys, Fears, Thrills, and Anxieties of Pregnancy from Conception to Birth, Cecilia Cancellaro
This book reads like a grad school project, which is why I put it here and not in Memoir, but it lives up to its title. In addition to the usual stories, there are stories of women with HELLP syndrome, miscarriage, premature birth, lesbian mothers, single mothers, and mothers of a wide age range.
1,000 Questions About Your Pregnancy, Jeffrey Thurston, MD
Just what it says. I’ve actually found it useful while TTC to look up certain concerns during the 2WW. One annoyance for this agnostic is that he gives a lot of credit to God, when just referencing ‘nature’ would have been more my style. It’s an easy read, and I’m sure it will be useful once I am actually pregnant.
Forums
DigsBoards: Body & Soul
I’ve been a Digster for 3.5 years and counting, and the boards are well-moderated and a great place to look for advice for just about anything. Body & Soul is where you’ll find the TTC (Tryin’ for a Bean) and pregnancy (Dust Settles) threads.
Kvetch: IndieMOMs
A Digster pointed me to Indiebride.com’s forums, and the IndieMOMs thread is a great repository of alllll kinds of information. Leave your ridiculous PowerPoint sig files at the door, and expect great respect and intelligence.
Pregnancy.org Forums
These boards drive me absolutely nuts, but I do lurk for information. Search by due-date month to see what the early symptoms for others were, for instance. (That’s what I do every two weeks or so.) Be prepared for more animated GIFs than you ever wanted to see if your life.
Stuff for Dads
The Expectant Father
This is about the only informational book out there for husbands with pregnant wives. Dave has found it an okay read.
The Morning News: New Father Roundtables Part 1 & Part 2
Dave really enjoyed these two articles. He read them during the TTC phase, and again when I got pregnant, and found them entertaining, and enlightening.
Daddyforum.com
Started by the husband of an IM, daddyforum is looking to be the brother site to the woman-centered IndieMoms group.
Miscarriage
pregnancyloss.info
A website with good general information about miscarriage and what to expect.
sharedjourney.com
This website has some good, general information, but the key piece here was a statistic mentioned in "Before you conceive" that says: "After an isolated spontaneous miscarriage, the chance of having a successful pregnancy in the future is quite high. Repeated miscarriages occur in 0.5-1.0% of all pregnancies." That statistic is what gives me hope for the future.
Websites
My Monthly Cycles
MyMonthlyCycles.com allows you to track basic fertility data using your menstrual cycle as a base. It will average your cycles if you have irregular lengths, and predict the most likely time of ovulation & menstruation. It can record BBT data, but does not have the chart galleries of Fertility Friend. For me, I was using iCal to track data, but MMC does the math, which is nice. If you’re into the whole temping thing, FF might be easier.
Ovulation Calculator
This ovulation calculator is cool because it gives you information for the next three months for both ovulation and expected due date.
Due Date Calculator
This calculator gives you dates for when you shift trimesters, and you can plug in a date to see how pregnant you’ll be on a given day. It will calculate from LMP, or backwards from EDD.
Pregnancy Calendar
The interactive pregnancy calendar here has pictures, and day by day details of what’s happening. Plug in your dates, and start obsessing.
Visible Embryo
"…represents the 23 stages occurring in the first trimester of
pregnancy and every two weeks of the second and third trimesters. Use
the spiral to navigate through the 40 weeks of pregnancy and preview the
unique changes in each stage of human development."
NOVA: Life’s Greatest Miracle (PBS)
" A sequel to the most popular NOVA of all time, "Miracle of Life," the program once again uses the extraordinary microimagery of Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson to track human development from embryo to newborn." Watch the program, read a pregnancy journal, etc.
Social Security Baby Name Index
Cross reference your names of choice with SSA birth records. You can even track popularity by looking at the names position in the last ten years or so. Love that feature.
Baby Name Wizard’s NameVoyager
The NameVoyager takes the SSA data and uses a java applet to give a visual model of a name’s popularity. It shows spikes in popularity, if something is rising or falling, and historical popularity data. It is so. freakin. cool. Type in the first letters of a name and watch it shift, and see how many of each million babies are likely to be named what you’ve entered. (FYI, on my Mac, only Safari will open it.)
Baby’s Named a Bad, Bad Thing
She used to be a Digster! And this is one of the funniest name indices ever. Best in small doses, though.
If you have a link, book, or resource that you’ve found valuable, please let me know! I’m not going to list mom/miscarriage/infertility/pregnancy blogs, because there’s just so many. But let me know of amy general resources you think should be here, and I’ll check it out.
This index last updated 5.31.05
