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| An O.C.D. Pregnant Lady's Paradise! |
Reading a book is pretty much my answer to everything. Getting married? Read a book about wedding planning. Getting a puppy? Read some books about dog training. Running to grocery store for some milk? Maybe consult a book about savvy shopping strategies before getting in the car. So, OF COURSE when we got on the baby train, I started burning up Amazon.
I probably should have added another book to the picture; I actually bought What to Expect BEFORE You're Expecting about a year ago. I'm sure it was written for women exactly like me who are all, "I don't just need to be told what to do when I get pregnant, I need to be told what to do when I'm just thinking about getting pregnant!! I need to be prepared like a good Girl Scout!" So the book is basically like, All right, O.C.D. thinking-about-getting-pregnant lady, start taking prenatal vitamins. Eat healthy food. Don't smoke. Start taking your temperature and getting WAY too familiar with your own body to figure out your fertilty. And, of course, I was "OK!!!! I. am. ON. it!!
And THEN, in September, I got to graduate to What to Expect When You ARE Expecting Yessss! I had been super tempted to buy it ahead of time. Every time I walked by the book section in Target, it was like, Oh, go on, Rebecca. Just pick me up and take me home. You finished reading the training-wheels book, now read the REAL pregnancy book. But I was noble and strong. I held out until after we saw the magical double pink lines. About three hours after, to be exact.
And now, 3 months later, I have not only been religiously reading the WTEWYE chapters that correspond with each stage of my pregnancy, but my highlighter, underling pen (What??? The teacher force is strong in this one, ok?) and I have worked our way through 4 of the other books, too.
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| You can take the girl out of teaching, but you can't take the teacher out of the girl... |
I was very excited about the Consumer Reports baby product guide. This is definitely a Consumer Reports household. We will do and buy pretty much whatever they tell us to. Which was the only problem with the book: they didn't tell me EXACTLY which products to buy for each category. It was more like, "here's what to look for, and here are some of the options." Not acceptable. I don't want a ratings chart for just the big stuff like strollers, I want one for EVERYTHING. Including pacifiers and burp cloths.
The Baby Name Wizard was pretty fantastic. Again, tailor-made for people like me. It doesn't just have names and their meanings, it has GRAPHS of each name's popularity, so you can try to pick something that isn't gaining in popularity too quickly. I LOVE a good graph, as long as I don't have to answer an SAT question about it.
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| If Rebecca's train left Colorado in 1981, and Jeromy's train left Indiana in 1977 via Tennessee, when will the two trains meet up in Austin? You may use a 4-function calculator to help you. |
Raising Baby Green was also worth reading, because I am fairly paranoid about pesticide-laced food and BPA-ridden plastic and everything that is made in China. Early on in the pregnancy, I had a freak-out after reading an article about all the nasty wireless signals flying around our whole world. I think Jeromy half expected to come home and find me huddled in a corner with an entire box of tin foil wrapped around my abdomen. Hopefully this book will help me deal with those feelings. I do realize I will have to be careful not to go overboard with this book, though. I don't think Jeromy will go for it if I tell him that we are going to grow our own bamboo and then fashion it into a crib using spit and mud in order to avoid toxic glue fumes.
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| Doesn't QUITE fit in with my vision of the perfect nursery.... |
I haven't read Superbaby or the childproofing book yet. I still have almost 6 months to go, so I'm trying to pace myself. I think Superbaby is all about teaching your baby sign language and Spanish as soon as they pop out of the womb. I'm sure I will be all over it.
UPCOMING POST TOPICS (Just to get you all excited!)
- A look at the baby books that my mom saved from the early 80s. Frightening AND hilarious!
- A rant about my biggest pet peeve with holiday decor. Hopefully with pictures. I think it will be a non-pregnancy-related post...try not to fall out of your chairs.
***GEMS FROM JEROMY***
Discussing Christmas gifts:
Jeromy: "I don't know what I gonna get you yet. [Pause]. Wait! I forgot! I already got you something!"
Rebecca: "Oh, come on. You did not."
Jeromy: "Yes, I did! I got you a bun in the oven! I'm covered this year!"
How do you argue with that?
Ha! We're very alike in this regard! Anytime I take on anything new I like to read everything I can get my hands on and do all the research humanly possible. I will tell you that this strategy worked remarkably well for pregnancy and childbirth - I felt so prepared and so much less scared knowing what my body was doing and why. I'm not quite as wild about parenting books, but I won't go into all that now ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd YAY for gems from Jeromy!!! And, he really does have a point ;-)
Ahhh, I am reading this and thinking- THIS IS ME WRITING THIS! Haha. Down to the highlighting books!
ReplyDeleteI do have 3 of the books in your pile! And, the what to expecting before expecting- that book gave me serious anxiety and I had to stop reading it! Ha. Another book to add when you are closer to baby is The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Karp. My Doc and birthing class teacher recommended it and it seems helpful , although I won’t know for sure until the baby comes and I can test the things!
Consumer reports book- SOOO disappointing, I thought. My SIL said she used it though- how? I have no idea. I ended up just signing in and going on line to see what they had to say. I picked my pack and play and car seat from their suggestions but They BARELY reviewed any jogging strollers so I was quite disappointed.
The author of the baby name wizard book was just quoted extensively in an article about trendy baby names that my friend emailed me recently. I was like “I know. I have the book” haha.
Glad to read about another paranoid mommy to be!