The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion: A Week-by-Week Guide to Everything You Need To Do for a Healthy Pregnancy

by Robin Elise Weiss LCCE

The comfort of knowing what is going on during pregnancy combined with advice that changes each week with an expectant mother’s body will warm the heart and well as calm the nerves. This fully illustrated pregnancy guide gives an expectant mothers week-by-week information on their body and the child’s physical development; and then explains what they should do at each week of pregnancy for an optimally healthy pregnancy, delivery, and baby. A chapter is devoted to each week of pregnancy and covers everything readers need to know including, baby’s size, mother’s size, what’s normal in terms of physical symptoms and development, and what could indicate a potentially serious problem. Nutritional, exercise, and lifestyle advice, tips on treating common pregnancy discomforts like morning sickness and sciatica, and pregnancy do’s and don’ts, ensure a happy and healthy mother and baby.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the labor and post-delivery information much more helpful than the week by week breakdown. I hated that each week began with "what to watch out for" which basically covers everything that can go wrong. And I already have enough people weighing in on everything, I don't need the "hot mama" sections telling me to buy more makeup and avoid horizontal stripes.

[Amina Elidrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book has been my companion during the whole 9 months, i could know what,s waiting for me each week of my pregnancy, with my baby also, it has tips and checklists for every trimester plus tips for hot mama ;) all this with illustration, simple and easy . however it doesn,t discuss the 10 month gestation and the reality of overdue babies going over 42 weeks of pregnancy

[يُسْرُبيلْ · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is such an informative book for new-time moms. It was helpful to have background knowledge on certain topics, as it allowed me to understand explanations from my gynecologist during appointments better, and ward off any confusion I might have. This book covers all the topics a new mom needs, from pre-conception through conception to postpartum. I am happy with this read!

[Lily Johnson]

Quick background for my new job

[Ana Mardoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion / 978-1-592-33358-5

I've been digging through a lot of pregnancy books lately, in preparation for a hoped-for conception in the relatively near future, so I was excited to receive The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion. I was also a little overwhelmed, however - weighing in at 320 pages, this is not a book to skim through quickly and it took me a long time to finish reading it.

This book isn't really meant for sit-down reading, though. It's a week-by-week guide of your pregnancy, with each weekly chapter opening with a full page color photo of another pregnant woman at this weekly stage so that you can see what your body might likely resemble at this point. (I was pleased to note that the women are all pleasantly 'normal' looking - perhaps pregnancy books are the last vestige against needing to airbrush everyone into anorexic states.) The weekly chapter includes all kinds of data, accompanied by bright and gorgeous photographs, detailing what the baby looks like so far, what development hurdles it has passed, what symptoms you are likely to be feeling, what exercises and preparations are a good idea at this point (one of the weeks immediately prior to delivery advises loading up the MP3 player with tunes to listen to in the hospital, and trying to generally relax and not stress too much), and much more.

Some people have compared this book to a "coffee table book", albeit an exquisitely beautiful, informative, and extensive coffee table book, and I can see where they're coming from with that opinion. This book isn't as perfectly comprehensive as some "complete" pregnancy books, tending to speak in generalities as opposed to "here is everything that anyone has ever experienced and it may happen to you" subject matter material that definitely has its place in pregnancy literature. And the week-by-week layout obviously conflicts with a subject-matter oriented layout that allows you to find out everything about, say, morning sickness from the first week to the last. I think that's probably why the book was finally labeled a "companion" - this won't be your one-stop source for all things pregnancy related, but as a daily resource (not unlike a journal), it's invaluable. And since most women rarely stop at just one book for pregnancy, it's okay that this book does one thing well instead of all things broadly. Topping out at over 300 pages, as mentioned previously, this is not a light-weight introduction to pregnancy and it's definitely a book that I will consult frequently and repeatedly when the time comes, which is more than I can probably say for some of the more "comprehensive subject matter" books which tend to be of less use for daily application.

~ Ana Mardoll

[Margaret Chind · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this point I think I own a copy of every pregnancy book that goes weekly out there including journals and this one is the best by far. It does not go into all the medical jargon as to what can possibly go wrong as some other books, but give tips and specific notes on what changes are occurring in your your body and your baby's body this week. My only down note was that I did not discover this until my third trimester. IF you are looking for a more medically inclined book I strongly suggest Your Pregnancy Week by Week, it is absolutely fabulous in that aspect.

This book gives you the "crash course" of what's going on in a checklist format, and then throughout a chapter goes into more detail, so you can immediately find pieces you are curious about, and skip things you are not so intrigue about or rather come back to them later. The coloring and changing of fonts with various sections as well as the images and pictures through out really makes this a beautiful and esthetically pleasing to the eye book. It is a big book as in wide and tall like a text book, but it is a fabulous resource that I recommend for every pregnant woman to have around.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book specifically for its approachability. I knew I wouldn't have time (or the desire) to read something medically technical and tedious. The information throughout this book is easily digestible in that it is illustrated and organized in a way that I was able to read it and not be overwhelmed with knowledge. As the title indicates, I used it as a companion to accompany the numerous app blogs and websites I have been getting from other sources, along with my prenatal class information and doctor visits. It was easy enough for me to read week by week or a few weeks in one sitting at a time and I found it kept me fairly up-to-date on what to expect for my first experience with pregnancy.

[Ashleigh Furry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was done well but it would have been best to put the "things to watch for" near the end of each week rather than the beginning in my opinion. I feel as though the last thing an excited mother should have to read first are negative possibilities. The photos were very nice even though the one with the belly button piercing wasn't the best image as it shouldn't be in at that point at all. Great photos, helpful info, and I love the check lists in the back.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a friendly everyday (or every week) rundown of what's going on, and what to expect. I like that it includes random side topics, and although the weekly pregnancy affirmations can be quite hokey...they do make me smile!