Better as a physical book, most is common sense

There's nothing like the excitement of planning a baby with your partner to get your need for information and to-do's in gear (at least, if you're a Type A personality). Knowing the great reputation for this book's sequel, What to Expect When You're Expecting, I figured this would be the endless fountain of the information every uterus-owning person planning on a baby would want and need to know. What I got was a textbook, read by someone whose tone is less gal-pal and more slightly condescending nurse with bad attempts at humor and slightly sexist jokes. It's all a bit eyeroll-inducing. The first few chapters are all things anyone could guess at without even trying, followed by information that comes up after a quick Google search. "Planning a baby? Eat healthy, get your weight where the doctors tell you it should be, and stop drinking, smoking, or taking recreational drugs." That's literally the summary of the first third of the book, without the condescending tone.

The audiobook might have been better if you knew easily what sections you could skip, or if the narrator's tone weren't the same up-down pitch that sounds like the lady at the office who is fake-nice. It doesn't sound natural or conversational at all, but rather like someone who is the audio version of a motivational poster. I downloaded this on the first of the month and still haven't finished listening to it - it's that much of a chore.

The rest of the book does have some good information, but honestly would be more useful as a tangible book that you can take a highlighter to and just notate the stuff that's relevant to you personally. It's also still information that you can just as easily Google or ask your GP/Nurse Prac. Also, if you have anxiety, this might not be a good book since every symptom of conception and pregnancy is summarized as "It could be pregnancy, PMS, or -insert horrible medical thing here.-" Almost everything just says to ask your doctor. Um, thanks?

Find the book used cheap at Half Price Books and just mark up what you need with a highlighter, and save your monthly credit for something more entertaining.

3 people found this helpful

OK But Needs Updated Information

I had zero issues with this book's information in any other section except the weight section. I felt it was inaccurate to boil down "health" to BMI especially for women. More modernly doctors (including my own) are including weight to hip ratios and other measurements to ensure a full picture is being taken. They spend a ton of time discussing this and I found it off-putting.

2 people found this helpful

Great Info, Terrible Narrator (sorry!)

I found the info in this book to actually be really helpful and informative, however the narrator's voice is hard to listen to. Her tone doesn't adjust for the subject matter so she will be talking about antidepressants or miscarriage in the most chipper happy voice with a slight giggle in her inflection. I actually burst out laughing when she said "Antidepressants" with the same tone of voice one might use when saying "Congratulations!" Or "Happy Birthday!" it was such an inappropriate tone of voice to use lol. Overall I stuck with it and genuinely appreciated the content, but be ready for a very cringey narrative voice.

2 people found this helpful

Great Info. TERRIBLE Delivery.

I thought the info in this book was really, really good overall, but oh man. Heidi Murkoff was a BAD choice as the reader. It was difficult to get past her poor performance and focus solely on the information. I would recommend the book, but be ready for a cringe-fest.

2 people found this helpful

Must listen before TTC

It's really well written and easy to follow even if you don't know what TTC is.

I enjoyed how they made it easy to follow the abbreviated words and that it covers everything including infertility and how to cope with miscarriage.

I will also be reading /listening to the rest of this series.

Thank you

1 person found this helpful

Old fashioned delivery of generally good information

Truthfully I did not like this book - I listened to the whole thing to pick out the useful information but the incredibly gendered jokes in an attempt to be light and relatable was exhausting. There were endless references to ‘the boys’ instead of sperm, and weird reenforcing of the idea that we should be somehow uncomfortable talking about our bodies (i.e. I bet you never wanted to think or talk about your cervical mucus this much!)… like what. I wished so badly this book just delivered the pertinent information without assuming and thus perpetuating old fashioned ideas at best about our approach to our bodies, sex, conception, pregnancy, and relationships - heterosexual or otherwise.

Ugh

I can’t stand the way this book is written. The puns, alliterations, and jokes are nauseating. It was so painful to listen to.

More useful to have a physical book.

This is definitely more useful as a physical book. With the audiobook you have to download the PDFs and then reference them when you get to the correct section. Also there's a lot of information for men as well.... So it was easier for us to just purchase the actual book so I could tag the pages for my husband to read.