Why I Can't Stand "Your Pregnancy Week By Week"

I signed up for the "Future Moms" program through my insurance company. There are 24 hour nurses on call for you to answer pregnancy related questions and there are some other benefits but the real reason I signed up was there is a 24 hour lactation consultant there that I can call with any questions after Ethan is here about breastfeeding. I thought that might be helpful if I need a question answered at 2am.

Part of the welcome packet they send you is the book "Your Pregnancy Week By Week." I confess that I had bought "What To Expect..." when I was pregnant the first time, and this pregnancy I have been much more interested in reading breastfeeding, natural birth and childcare books than pregnancy books, especially because there are a billion websites out there that can tell you everything you need to know. Since I got YPWBW for free though, I decided to look through it.

Just like any other pregnancy book, it has the basics and things you should know but it also has a lot of misinformation and outdated information...and I have the latest edition. Here are two sections from the book that really made me mad. Trust me, there are plenty more.

1) "Pets in the Home"

The book mentions making sure your dog is up to date on vaccinations, which for any responsible pet owner, should be a given but that's about the only good thing in this section. There is a list of things you should do before the baby comes that is so ridiculous...I just can't believe it. It details how you should decrease the amount of time you spend with your pet, change the pet's feeding schedule (WHY???) and move your pet out of your room if the pet sleeps in your room. Then the book goes on to say that if the sound of a baby crying distresses your dog, you should "leave him with a friend or board him for a while." WOW. That will REALLY help the dog adjust to the new baby. Kicking him out will do the trick. The book does not site any vet or dog behavior experts that have been consulted as a source of this information and was in fact written by an OBGYN. 

Victoria Stillwell has some great (positive reinforcement) suggestions on integrating dog and baby on Animal Planet's website:

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/its-me-or-dog/ask-victoria/new-baby.html

2)"Will Your Doctor Perform an Episiotomy"

The books sites benefits of an episiotomy as "a lower risk of trauma to the perineum." It also states that it is "better than a tear or rip" and it "heals better than a ragged tear." 

The hilarious part about that last quote is that 2 paragraphs prior, the author quotes the ACOG's stance that women who undergo episiotomies "feel more pain, take longer to heal, and are more likely to suffer serious lacerations." So how exactly is that better? Color me confused. 

For more info, check this out. It sites several studies that do not support episitomies:

http://www.efn.org/~djz/birth/obmyth/epis.html

Book Reviews: The Southern Vampire Mysteries (Sookie Stackhouse Novels) by Charlaine Harris

Being a huge True Blood fan, I felt it was 100% necessary to read the books that the series is based on. My friend Stefanie gave me the first seven and I flew through them. There are three more in addition to the seven that I've read and the author is still writing new novels for the series.

Let me first say that the books are a lot like the show in some ways and completely different in other ways. The first book especially is very much like the first season. After that, the television series has seemed to stray further and further from the books, using bits of the mythology and plot but not really following the books as completely as the first season. I love them both so I am not going to say I like one or the other better. They are too different to even try and pick a favorite. The books have, however, made me appreciate certain things about the television series more. For instance, I love love love the character of Eric after reading the first seven books. I really liked him before. Now I LOVE him.

Charlaine Harris has created a world in the Southern Vampire Mysteries that is so intricate and awesome, I have to go ahead and give the first seven novels 5 stars each. The books are easy reads. I flew through them. They definitely not dumbed down romance novels though. There is a lot of political and social commentary in the subtext that can keep an anti-romance reader interested. For the romance lovers...there is a lot of sex. Vampire sex, Werewolf sex, shape-shifter sex, Fae sex...any kind of sex you can imagine. There is something for everyone!

I loved every book but my favorites were books 3&4: Club Dead and Dead to the World. You'll see why when you read them :)

Book Review: Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

I read this book on whim when I had nothing else to read and I really wanted to take a bubble bath. For some reason, it is impossible for me to take a bubble bath without reading. I bought the paperback version of this book over a year ago when I was going on vacation to the Dominican Republic. I read it so fast when I was there, and I remembered really liking it but I didn't remember the details so I figured it was a good book to reread. I really like Jennifer Weiner but she is a little predictable. Her main character is always a thirty-forty something Jewish woman with weight issues. Certain Girls was no different.

We do however also get another POV, that of the main character's daughter. The book goes back and fourth between the POV's of them both, which held my interest. It is a great commentary on the push and pull of the relationship between a Mother and her teenage daughter that I think any woman can relate too. It is also funny, sweet and also sad. I would recommend it. Definitely an easy read.

Book Review: Nice Girls Do by Sarah Duncan

I came upon this book the way that I discover a lot of books that I end up loving; while browsing the new book section at the Sachem Public Library. When I have nothing to read and I don't have any particular book in mind to pick up, I usually hit the new book section and start browsing. This is where the marketing department at publishing houses becomes an integral part of my reading experience. I usually pick up a book based on two things: what the cover looks like and what the title is. Over the years, I've noticed the cover seems to be the most influential on me. If it is pretty, girly, bright and cute, it's a pretty sure bet I'm going to pick it up. This is exactly what happened with Nice Girls Do.

Basically, the main character is a garden historian and is hired by this rich woman to do research. She meets the gardener of the Estate and also a wealthy businessman wand what we get is a good old soapy love triangle. I don't really want to spoil any of the book because I really liked it and recommend it. It you like chick-lit, you will probably like this book.

50 in 10 continues

Despite my lack of blogging, My goal of reading 50 books in the year 2010 has continued. I got sidetracked by some other projects for a bit but summer is here (prime reading time) and I am stepping up my game. So because I am so committed, I am going to review all the books I have read since I last blogged...today!

In other news, I am currently reading the first Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire novel (the books that the TV show True Blood is based on) and it is a seriously great summer read. I highly recommend it if you like snarky, sexy mystery with a side of blood sucking.

Book Review: Whitehorn Woods by Maeve Binchy

When I was young, I read all Maeve Binchy's books. Circle of Friends, Tara Road, Light A Penny Candle, etc. They were all fabulous. Maeve Binchy is from Ireland and writes about the Irish countryside, Irish ways and the relationships of Irish people. Then she sort of fell off my radar. So when I searched Barnes and Noble for books to read and found out she is churning out books again, I decided to try one out.

Whitehorn Woods is a novel but it is comprised of several short stories that sort of intertwine, in a Love Actually sort of way. I liked it. I didn't love it.

Until I read a book that I really like, these reviews are pretty much going to suck.

Book Review: Outlander by Diane Gabaldon

Let me first start by saying that this book came highly recommended by several different people and I was really expecting to like it. I am perfectly willing to suspend disbelief and accept time travel. I am also not above a good, sappy romance and I am certainly not against a little (or a lot of) smut. This book has all those things, plus the added benefit of a setting I am very interested in (Scotland, circa mid 1700's, the time of clans.)

Still with all those things I was unable to ever get into the story or to take anything really seriously. It was just way too soapy for me, and I LOVE soap operas, so that says something. I did read the whole thing (it was pretty long) but I struggled through it.

You can read the Barnes and Noble review HERE

Book Review (another sort of): True Colors

This isn't really a book review, more of a warning. I tried (really tried) to read this book. Every time I picked it up I started to nod off. Yes, it is boring. I have never read Kristin Hannah before and I was excited to try her out because she has written so many other books but guess what everyone: quantity does not equal quality.  So I can not add this book to my 50 in '10 list. I could have struggled through it for the sake of my list but what fun is that? I would rather NOT hit my goal of 50 in '10 and read books that I like than hit the 50 and not like half the books on the list.

As of now,  have nothing home to read except dog training books, Ina Garten cookbooks, and crochet pattern books. Guess I am going to the library today.

~Miranda

Book Review (sort of): An Exact Replica Of A Figment Of My Imagination

I read this book in one day. It is sad and hopeful, about an American woman living in France that has a stillborn birth in the 40th week. I would review more but just thinking about it makes me sad. Barnes and Noble has some good reviews:
Barnes and Noble Reviews

I am starting True Colors by Kristin Hannah today. I never heard of her before but someone recommended this book to me and I was pleasantly surprised to find when I went to get it at the library that she has lots of other titles. Hopefully I like this, then I will have a bunch of books to add to my list.

~Miranda

Book Review: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

I picked this book up from the Library 2 weeks ago because an online book club that I belong to selected it as the next book. I started to read it many years ago when it was fairly new, but never finished it for some reason that I can't remember.

Anita Diamant takes Dinah, daughter of Jacob in the Old Testament of the Bible, and her one line mention there and creates a story around her. The story is told through Dinah, and is very female-centric, focusing on her Mother Leah, and her Aunts Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah. Stories of their family and of their people are told in The Red Tent, the place where the women of the family go every full moon when they are menstruating or when someone is in labor.

Diamant takes stories from the Bible and weaves them into the narrative, giving a new prespective on them since they are now being told from a feminine point of view. Of course it is a work of fiction, we don't know what really happened to Dinah after her very small mention in the Bible, but Diamant tells her story in a compassionate, page-turning sort of way that eventually leads Dinah to become a famed and sought after midwife in Egypt.

I would recommend this book if you like historical fiction, feminist literature and biblical stories. I liked it a lot.

~Miranda