Copyright © Louise Bostock 2007-2013. Please give credit where credit is due.

Monday 17 November 2008

Book Notes No. 18 : What to Expect When You're Expecting, Murkoff, Eisenberg & Hathaway

Bright and sunny, but with a fairly strong wind. Today, M. has made a unilateral decision to light Mathilda, our declaration that winter is here! Sorry, by the way, all those people I've met this year called Mathilda - the name is much less common in England than it seems to be in Italy. No offence meant.

So I've been doing some clearing up prior to Christmas, and was amazed how much stuff we've acquired in only seven years since we bought this wreck of a house. I came here to Italy with about £100-worth of excess baggage, but in those few short years we seem to have accumulated an entire houseful.

While applying feathers to shelves I came across a book I haven't looked at for two years and four months, almost to the day. How do I know? I'll tell you.

It's called What to Expect When You're Expecting and during both of my mid-life pregnancies it was my bible and constant companion. I put it on the shelf on the day I brought B. home and forgot about it. (That's how I know.)

In the tradition of the ground-breaking Our Bodies, Ourselves, this chunky 600+ pager aims to answer every question you might have from the moment you walk out of the doctor's surgery, dazed, confused but cautiously happy, to the moment you start The Big Push and beyond. Between these paperback covers lies full and frank information on what might be happening and how you might be feeling at every stage of conception, pregnancy and birth, on what to do if..., on what not to do when...

A good friend recommended this book to me when I broke the news of my first pregnancy to her, and I have recommended it to all my pregnant girlfriends. I almost never had a question this book didn't answer. Having now topped 45, I'm not planning to get pregnant again. But you know me : never say never. This book is getting a good dusting and going back on the shelf. So buy your own copy!
Copyright © Louise Bostock 2007, 2008. All rights reserved. Please ask first.

8 comments:

MsTypo said...

Encouraging me to read a book about pregnancy?! If i end up preggers i'm blaming you!! :p *giggle*

Louise | Italy said...

*giggle too* --

Gutsy Living said...

I had that book once. I sometimes have nightmares about being pregnant and being 71, when my child turns 20.
I finally got rid of the urge to have a 4th child at 40. I thought that day would never come as in my 30's, I kept wanting more babies. Thanks for following my blog.

Louise | Italy said...

Yup, I agree with you, Gutsy. I would be 65 (and counting) - it's not a comfortable thought!

Anonymous said...

Our Bodies Ourselves. Now that was a revelation, wasn't it!

Joy said...

I gladly passed my book along to my sister.
I've read enough.
:)

Louise | Italy said...

Hmm - I can understand that sentiment!

Anonymous said...

No offence taken. :-)

Monday 17 November 2008

Book Notes No. 18 : What to Expect When You're Expecting, Murkoff, Eisenberg & Hathaway

Bright and sunny, but with a fairly strong wind. Today, M. has made a unilateral decision to light Mathilda, our declaration that winter is here! Sorry, by the way, all those people I've met this year called Mathilda - the name is much less common in England than it seems to be in Italy. No offence meant.

So I've been doing some clearing up prior to Christmas, and was amazed how much stuff we've acquired in only seven years since we bought this wreck of a house. I came here to Italy with about £100-worth of excess baggage, but in those few short years we seem to have accumulated an entire houseful.

While applying feathers to shelves I came across a book I haven't looked at for two years and four months, almost to the day. How do I know? I'll tell you.

It's called What to Expect When You're Expecting and during both of my mid-life pregnancies it was my bible and constant companion. I put it on the shelf on the day I brought B. home and forgot about it. (That's how I know.)

In the tradition of the ground-breaking Our Bodies, Ourselves, this chunky 600+ pager aims to answer every question you might have from the moment you walk out of the doctor's surgery, dazed, confused but cautiously happy, to the moment you start The Big Push and beyond. Between these paperback covers lies full and frank information on what might be happening and how you might be feeling at every stage of conception, pregnancy and birth, on what to do if..., on what not to do when...

A good friend recommended this book to me when I broke the news of my first pregnancy to her, and I have recommended it to all my pregnant girlfriends. I almost never had a question this book didn't answer. Having now topped 45, I'm not planning to get pregnant again. But you know me : never say never. This book is getting a good dusting and going back on the shelf. So buy your own copy!
Copyright © Louise Bostock 2007, 2008. All rights reserved. Please ask first.

8 comments:

MsTypo said...

Encouraging me to read a book about pregnancy?! If i end up preggers i'm blaming you!! :p *giggle*

Louise | Italy said...

*giggle too* --

Gutsy Living said...

I had that book once. I sometimes have nightmares about being pregnant and being 71, when my child turns 20.
I finally got rid of the urge to have a 4th child at 40. I thought that day would never come as in my 30's, I kept wanting more babies. Thanks for following my blog.

Louise | Italy said...

Yup, I agree with you, Gutsy. I would be 65 (and counting) - it's not a comfortable thought!

Anonymous said...

Our Bodies Ourselves. Now that was a revelation, wasn't it!

Joy said...

I gladly passed my book along to my sister.
I've read enough.
:)

Louise | Italy said...

Hmm - I can understand that sentiment!

Anonymous said...

No offence taken. :-)