Baby Books

In order to feel a bit more prepared for the little human we're going to be {or I guess already are} responsible for, we, like most first time parents bought/borrowed some baby books.  

It all started back when we were trying to get pregnant.  I may have been a teeny-tiny bit obsessed and bought 2 books:

What to Expect Before You're Expecting

 

In my opinion, the book was filled with all kinds of really helpful tips.  We used the Basil Body Temperature method from this book (which I'm sure is in every TTC book).  Not only was it informational, it had quite a bit of humor, too.  I also liked that it had a whole chapter for the guys.  My Husband even read it and thought it was pretty good.  I read this book pretty much from cover to cover and found it to be extremely helpful.  

Taking Charge of Your Fertility

 

We, er, I also bought this book while we were in the TTC mode.  It was....just okay.  I think it had a lot of the same information as the book What to Expect Before You're Expecting, but was a lot drier.  I definitely did not read it cover to cover, but read bits and pieces that I thought might be of good use.  I almost felt like it was too informational and almost a bit overwhelming.  However, I could totally see many couples benefiting from this book!

...fast forward to the "we're pregnant" stage:

Once we found out we were pregnant, I was eager to buy the next book in the "what to expect" series:

What to Expect When You're Expecting

I think I was just so excited to start reading, that I quickly got bored, overwhelmed myself and had little to no interest in reading this book.  Though I do pick it up each week and read the "what to expect this week" portion, I didn't / don't read all the mass amounts of information that is separated out by month.  

There is a TON of information in this book and I quickly found that 85% never pertained to me with this pregnancy.  However, I will say that there have been times when something weird will happen or I'll have an odd "symptom" and I'll check to see if it's in the book (and 99% of the time it IS), so I'll read up on that specific part.  It beats reading up on every little ache, problem, symptom and feeling that may or may not happen to you when you're pregnant.

I also bought this:

Pregnancy Journal and Planner

Sadly, I've hardly even used it.  Though it seems like a great way to document each "big moment", Dr. Appointment, weekly thoughts & feelings and questions, it was hard for me to remember to do so.  

I think I started off well, but must have gotten lazy come about week 16 {I guess that's what this blog is for, right}.  Not only do I wish I would have written in this more often, I wish my Husband would have also put his thoughts & feelings down.  It's interesting to see how each of his passing {pregnancy} weeks differed (or were the same) as my weeks.  Thankfully it was really inexpensive.  

There are a few more books I'd really like to read before baby comes, but we'll see if it actually happens.  Any good {baby related} book recommendations?

 

 71 more days!!