Product Description

A delivery room veteran gives you the low-down as only the best friend can. From the top ten lies ("Maternity clothes are so much cuter now"), to the long-awaited birth, here are practical tips and hilarious takes on everything pregnant.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #684994 in Books
• Published on: 1995-10-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 262 pages

Amazon.com Review
Beginning with the "10 Greatest Lies About Pregnancy" (number 10: Lamaze works), and ending with postpartum dementia, Vicki Iovine's Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy has fast become the laywoman's mouthpiece for the American pregnancy experience. Iovine is irreverent, sassy, and incredibly reassuring as she exposes the "truths" of pregnancy and childbirth, from sex to cellulite to cesareans. Iovine birthed four kids in six years, none of them twins, which certainly qualifies her as an expert. The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy does reveal Iovine's particular cultural biases (pregnant or not, most of us don't have record-producer husbands, hang out with supermodels, or wear size-four pants) and philosophical beliefs (she's not a particularly strong proponent of natural childbirth or nursing), but, taken with a grain or two of salt, she provides many hilarious moments, acres of advice, and honest reassurance readers will find nowhere else. --Ericka Lutz

From Publishers Weekly
For first-time mothers-to-be, this candid, funny and very reassuring guide to pregnancy is just what the doctor ordered?or would if he/she knew about it. Iovine, who has had four babies and who seemingly has girlfriends with many more, believes that women learn the really valuable things about pregnancy from other women. Since too few women in today's mobile society have a close circle of experienced female friends to turn to, Iovine's sharing of her own and her friends' experiences and knowledge fills a genuine need for comforting, straightforward, non-euphemistic woman-talk. Without stepping on any medical toes, and in language that is neither technical nor cutesy, she tackles morning sickness, swollen breasts, exercises, stretch marks, sex during and after pregnancy, delivery and just about everything else, from maternity clothing to bladder behavior. Iovine anticipates every conceivable question, and her responses are warm, wise and witty.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
People A laugh-out-loud primer for unseasoned moms-to-be. -- Review

Customer Reviews

Humorous --- relax, everybody!
I thought this book was great! How refreshing to hear that it's ok if you eat refined sugar a few times while you're pregnant! What a plus to know you're not the only one who feels fat and unattractive because you're bloated, etc!

A couple of things I disagree with other reviewers about:

1) Some reviewers felt that Vicki hated being pregnant. I didn't get that feeling at all. I just felt she was being realistic that pregnancy is sometimes very hard on your body. It probably won't be the nine months of your life when you feel the healthiest and most relaxed.

2) She never said not to exercise! Folks, if you actually read the whole book (unlike some people who read one or two paragraphs), you'll realize that she does recommend walking and things like water aerobics. What she doesn't recommend (and which she felt may have endangered two of her own pregnancies) is strenuous weight lifting. Based on what I've read, many ob's agree with that.

I feel that alot of the reviewers may be basing negative comments on a couple of paragraphs read in a bookstore (some even say as much), which isn't quite fair.

Overall, I thought it was a great book, and while I may not agree with her on every little point, Vicki has certainly provided me with alot of laughs and alot of starting points for discussions with my obstetrician, my husband, etc.

Read it for the humor and little else!
This book is not for women who want reliable information about pregnancy and birth choices. The author has poor and dangerous advice. Some of her claims are absolutely ludicrous. She actually says that C-sections are great, and that pregnancy is a time when you have an excuse not to exercise. She focuses a great deal on your pregnancy appearance. She's almost obsessive about how gaining weight and getting fat make you ugly. She even goes so far as to say she sympathizes with her husband for not finding her attractive when she's pregnant. (And this from a woman who was a pre-preganncy size 4, and the biggest she got was size 10!) This information is completely detrimental. Don't believe it. She's also completely dismissive of women who seek more natural childbirth, claiming they're "frontier women with something to prove." Again, her claims are ridiculous, close-minded, and ignorant.

The book isn't a total waste. You just have to know that you're buying a book for HUMOR and not for information. Her discussion about the wild mood swings of pregnancy will have you laughing out loud. However, I have to say that for the laughs this book may give you, I doubt it's worth the money. Borrow a copy from a "girlfriend" instead. And while you're at it, read The Birth Book by Dr. Sears.

If you have a sense of humor, this one's for you
If you're the type who thinks your pregnancy is so special, so sacred, or so precious that having a few laughs about the changes in your body will upset you, then don't get this book. If, however, you already have a serious book or two (such as Dr. Sears's "Birth Book") and are looking for a light read, I highly recommend this book. The tone is upbeat and fresh, the advice is given lightly without being preachy, and it's just a fun look at all the ins and outs (so to speak) of what promises to be a crazy nine months!

Also, this book helped my husband get involved in what to expect more than any other book because it's non-threatening and fun. As I read, he'd get curious about what I was laughing about and next thing we knew, it was on HIS bedside table instead of mine!

I don't know why other reviewers found parts of this book offensive. I found it very easy to disregard any opinions of the author's with which I didn't agree. The very nature of her approach is personal, so whatever didn't apply to me I ignored (after the inevitable laugh that I found in every paragraph) I have yet to find a book about this topic that is so perfect that I agree with every word. Besides, how else do we form opinions, but by hearing those of others?

This book is great for the newly pregnant woman who has a sense of humor!