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What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff & Sharon Mazel

Scariest. Book. Ever.🤰😱

I’ve come to the conclusion that nobody ever wants to be pregnant. People want kids, but they don’t want to be pregnant. Honestly, why would anyone do this to themselves?!
Men: You are not worthy of the woman bearing your child. 🙇‍♂️

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. While this book is a good source of information, it is NOT a good source for suggestions. It’s important to note that this book has been widely criticized for the lack of medical research that went into it, and its medical advise being scientifically unsound. Especially when it comes to its recommendations of Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM). What to Expect When You’re Expecting has been around for almost 30 years and has been revised several times (currently on its 5th Edition), but those revisions often entail simply rewording certain sections or the inclusion of frequently asked questions (FAQs). The actually science and medical side of the book has seen very little change.

But as to why this book is so scary, it simply has WAY too many suggestions. There is absolutely no way any normal person would be able to take all the suggested precautions in this book 🤷‍♀️. Because of this, you’re going to feel like a bad parent before you’re even a parent, as this book will implant feelings of dread, anxiety, and paranoia that you are not doing enough. On top of that, the dietary recommendations are insane, and are only going to remind you of the unhealthy slob you are, to the point where it’s almost demoralizing. But you know what, if you’re pregnant, you’ve earned the right to eat whatever you want and love every bite of it 🍗🍕🌮🍔🥩🥞. Lastly, you’re going to feel ugly. This book is going to give you so many skin care recommendations that you’ll forget why your spouse wanted to have sex with you in the first place. While I don’t recall it being mentioned in the book, “pregnancy glow” is real. Just remember, you’re sexy and you know it.

As I mentioned, this book has no shortage of information (too much for me to remember), but the ones that caught my interest the most were: 1) “Pregnancy brain” isn’t just a joke, women actually lose braincells during pregnancy 🧠. And 2) Pregnant women are more susceptible to illness because their immune system is suppressed, which I already knew, but I didn’t know that this is for the sake of the baby. In rare cases, the growing fetus can be seen as a foreign entity that the body’s immune system tries to fight off 🦠.