Pregnancy Sucks: What to Do When Your Miracle Makes You Miserable

by Joanne Kimes, Sanford A. Tisherman

Pregnancy Sucks , by Joanne Kimes and Sanford A. Tisherman, M.D., gives you real solutions to all the annoying and somewhat awkward situations that can unexpectedly arise during your pregnancy.
Did you know
Full of insight, hilarity, and practical solutions on every page, Pregnancy Sucks shows how, through it all, you can survive with your health, dignity, and sanity intact!

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Self Help

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

I used to write for TV but when I became pregnant, I couldn't believe there wasn't a book out there that delved into the true perils of procreation. So I wrote "Pregnancy Sucks", sent it out to a handful of publishers and, at the lowest point in any woman's year, when trying on bathing suits at the mall, I got a call that it was going to be published! It became a best-seller and led to a dozen other books in the "Sucks" series, and an appearance on the Today show. I just released my first fiction book, "Finding Paris: A Novel" which is like going to the city of light from your coziest chair. I hope you enjoy it! Merci beaucoup.

Reviews

[Melissa Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! While there are definite parts of pregnancy that I just love, there are also many negative side effects. Why doesn't anyone ever talk openly about these? Reading this helpful (and hilarious) guide helped me to feel less guilty and more normal. I also got super excited over the fact that there are some symptoms I don't have--score!

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was strangely cathartic to read someone else complaining about her pregnancy. It depended on my mood - the grumpier I was, the more I liked reading about someone else who hated it too. I didn't find any of the advice particularly helpful. I read this for fun, not for information.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty darned good. Permission to hate being pregnant but love the end-product granted! Very funny and some practical advice thrown in for good-measure. By no means comprehensive but nothing controversial either. I am pregnant myself and it seems a great deal less fun this time around. I was feeling very bad about not being one of the glowing-happy-time-of-my-life moms and this books really helped. Being pregnant is not a crisis nor is it actually fun or comfortable much of the time. And it's not really meant to be. It's a pretty radical transformation that can sometimes be sucky. And that's okay.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious read. Literally laugh out loud funny and just what I needed in my ninth month of a horrible pregnancy. I would recommend this to any woman whom was expecting.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why is it the first thing people say when they find out you're pregnant is, "Aren't you excited!?" What are you supposed to answer to that? I guess if you ARE excited, this is your cue to gush. But if you're not excited. If, like me, you like the idea of being a parent, but you hate the actual preganancy thing, this question leads to an awkward, "I guess..."

Thank goodness Joanne Kimes understands. She doesn't ask, "Aren't you excited?" because she's been there and she knows that even if you don't have morning sickness, you have to pee every 20 minutes. And you can't breathe. And you don't even recognize your breasts. Or your feet.

Sometimes, you just want the facts, with no bias. Turn to "What to expect when you're expecting."

Other times, you want a funny, well informed girlfriend to commiserate with. Whether it's to read about your own pregnancy symptoms, for validation - yup, this sucks. Or whether to read about sucky symptoms you don't even have - wow, some women have it even worse! Please know that Kimes is there for you. You can hate being pregnant, and it doesn't make you a mutant monster mom. It makes you human.

[D'Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book for my wife who is currently pregnant. She started reading it and was laughing out loud, so I thought I should read it, too, not only to see what's so funny, but to also find out what she's going through. This is a good book for folks who are newly pregnant and want a more frank approach to the problems (aches, pains, annoyances and life threatening things) that accompany pregnancy. There aren't many books out there that just kind of lay it out there, and Joanne Kimes is often quite funny.

[Latina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very informative and very funny. Be warned you might need to cross your legs while reading, for fear that you might laugh the baby right out!

The author takes a funny approach at explaining the going's on of pregnancy from the day of conception to the day you go home with your new bundle of joy...she doesn't hold punches to spare feelings, pregnancy can sometimes suck and she explains why, so that you don't feel guilty for this feeling!

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was such a fun book. Obviously, not for one of those crazy people who LOVED being pregnant and wish they could be that way more often. I laughed hardest at the parts I identified with, which ended up being a lot of the book. :) It was pretty great.

[Emerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious and informative - great read for any pregnant woman!

[Minerva · Rating 2 out of 5]

A funny litany of complaints about pregnancy, peppered with some good one-liners. Not exceptionally helpful, but validating when you’re deep in the miseries of pregnancy. Describes common unpleasant symptoms month by month up through the first months postpartum. This book will not help if you’re naturally pessimistic, because as the title suggests, it focuses on the manifold ways pregnancy sucks, from beginning to end. Also includes some advice and descriptions of medical practices and interventions, pregnancy dos and don’ts, and childcare tips, but the accuracy for these was questionable. There are no citations or clear description of the sources.

[Leanne Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting to the point where pregnancy is painful? By the time you are in your third trimester, I guarantee it is not fun. I had twins inside of me, plus a herniated disc too. Two babies or one, pregnancy is not comfortable to say the least. From hemorrhoids to the things about labor no one tells you before you get pregnant, this book provides an honest look from someone that has been there. It isn't all candy coated and covered in rainbows, but it will make you feel better, and laugh about it too! After all the recommended pregnancy books, I found this one, and it really hits the nail on the head.

[Lauren Cunningham · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it was nice to hear an honest review of pregnancy and there was some useful information, some of the information was out of date, some of the attempts and humor were questionable, and the book suffers from lack of inclusivity. The author explains the use of “husband” as a blanket term, but seriously, how hard is it to just say partner instead? I have a husband and it rubbed me the wrong way. If the book gets updated, it could be a more entertaining way to ingest some of the plethora of information that you’re trying to absorb if you’re reading it.

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up as much for the cover (stone-washed maternity jeans!) as I did the title. During my 2 trimester pukefest, it was a relief to read a book that didn't paint pregnancy as a perfect miracle. To those who felt there was too much complaining, I can only assume they had happier pregnancies than I or the author did. My only complaint is that I lost my copy when we moved, so I didn't have it to refer to when Miserable Pregnancy #2 came around.

[Channelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

As it promises, it's full of humour as well as useful and honest explanations of things to possibly expect in pregnancy. I really valued this book because other books only mentioning vague things like "some discomfort" really made me mad. Kimes' book was validating and useful. Recommended for anyone also discovering that pregnancy, from the beginning, is not necessarily a glowing and happy journey.

[Ksenia Sourina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wrong advices and not funny

Don’t waste your time! I got this book during my second pregnancy just because I needed something fun to pick me up, and I just couldn’t really read this book because it was not funny and simply gave numerous wrong suggestions, especially medical ones! Please don’t follow! Or at least check with your doctor before doing anything this author suggests.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

honest and lots of fun. totally relatable and I actually learned some new things

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the relaxed tone of the book and the friendly voice of the author. As someone who has spent a lot of her pregnancy rolling her eyes at the unicorns-and-rainbows attitude expressed by most of those around me, this author's viewpoint was certainly refreshing.

On the other hand, the information here left me kind of flat. There were several things she says that are contradicted by other books that I've read, and given that her greatest source of information seems to be other mothers and random people she knows, I'm not sure how much anybody should take her information seriously. Yes, women who have given birth certainly have a lot of information and advice to offer, but anybody who has experienced any sort of social interaction with any type of group of people will know that there are quite a lot of people who haven't the foggiest clue what they're talking about but will spout of random bullshit as if it's gospel truth.

Basically, entertaining and a nice break from some of my other more serious pregnancy books, but definitely not something I would recommend as any woman's central source of information on pregnancy or birth, and, ultimately, not as helpful as a lot of other books out there.

[Jaimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Trouble enjoying your pregnancy?, August 15, 2006


If you've been having a difficult time with your pregnancy like I have, you will enjoy this book. After months of nausea and more aches and pains to look forward to, Joanne Kimes gave me a good laugh and made me feel less alone. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of everyone asking me, "Aren't you just so excited?!" I smile meekly while holding in a gag and let them know that yes, I'm very excited. Truthfully I'm miserable. This book reminds you that it's okay to feel less than excited about dry heaving every day.

With a refreshing sense of humor, Kimes mixes personal stories with quotes from fellow mothers and helpful suggestions for common ailments. While Kimes does portray her bias toward hospital births, epidurals, and episiotomies, I didn't find it as distracting as Vicki Iovine's biases in The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy. So, if you need a laugh and some comfort pick this one up along with Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy and The Morning Sickness Companion by Elizabeth Kaledin.

[Callie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an amusing enough read; the author gives a no holds barred type of perspective on her own pregnancy, as well as some of the trials of becoming a mom for the first time. I got the sarcasm and dry sense of humor, and I appreciated that... However, that's about as far as it went for me. I didn't find it all that useful, to be honest, and it got some things about pregnancy entirely wrong. Finally, it had a few too many typos and misprints, and it got incredibly annoying after a while. I can't necessarily blame this part on the author, but somebody wasn't paying enough attention when this book went to print.

As a resource during pregnancy, this is definitely not comprehensive... Go with something like "What to Expect..." or "You Pregnancy Week by Week," and read this one just for the laughs and the sense of humor.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It did give a comprehensive list of troubles that could happen during pregnancy, and thorough solutions, but I disliked the sarcastic tone of the book. In the beginning it was amusing but after a few pages it just got abrasive and annoying. The author complains so much about her pregnancy that it's almost like she forgot there is a baby in there. Some people are desperately trying to get pregnant in the first place, with IVF and the like. I think the whiny tone might make someone in that situation mad.
The problems seem exagerrated and worst-case-scenario. I'd be afraid to get pregnant in the first place.

The saving grace of the book is the list of *potential* problems and what to do about them, but I wouldn't recommend reading it for fun unless you have the problem to begin with.

[kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I agree with some of the other reviews -- there is a quite a bit of outdated information here, and some of the remedies/recommendations for ailments should be more accurate -- so read this for fairly informative fun, NOT as your primary source of up-to-date info. That said, it's also incredibly, hysterically honest -- and that's not something you find in many popular pregnancy resources. Kimes writes with an informal "girlfriend" tone, and discusses a ton of the most embarrassing pregnancy problems with serious candor. Overall, it was an entertaining, engaging and quick read, and I'd recommend it to expectant mamas who'd like a little bit of levity in the midst of all of the more rigid books out there!

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so thankful that I am finally successfully pregnant and that a little baby will be joining my family in a few months, but I really can't say I love being pregnant. I feel awful 90% of the time, and it constantly changes from one type of pain to another. I disbelieve anyone who says their pregnancy was just great!

This book is a fun read, sort of as commiseration. It'd probably be really annoying if you read it all the way through (she's very sarcastic and sometimes dismissive), but each chapter is broken into month of pregnancy, so I read one chapter a month. I've skipped ahead to the end, where the baby is home (finally, yay!) and I only have two more chapters to read in between then and now. It's close.

[Emilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first pregnancy sucked. It was awful. I hardly had a moment's comfort. And because I was such a wreck instead of a glowing, nesting mom-to-be I thought something was horribly, horribly wrong with me as a person and as a mother. This book gave me permission to be miserable, plain and simple. It let me know that I was not alone in my misery and that I didn't have to necessarily glow in order to procreate. This book was a godsend. It listed all my symptoms (and a few I was beyond delighted to find out I didn't have) and practical ways to try to alleviate them. It is a guidebook, a how-to book. It is a realist's answer to all that What to Expect garbage without being that sensationalist crap Jenny McCarthy turned out.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very funny, actually helpful, and nicely contrasting with other "Aren't you just soooo excited!???!??!?" types of pregnancy books. Her permission and, in fact, encouragement to complain and be realistic about the reproductive process was a huge psychological boon to me. However, once the book got into the 7,8, and 9th months, her topics started getting scary and I had to put the book down. I really didn't want to read about or think about being put on bedrest (::shudder::) or cervical failure leading to fetal loss... no good. If I did have something traumatic happen, this book would be nicely supportive. Since I haven't and hope not too, I'll just stop reading now, thanks.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I laughed, and I cringed. On one hand this book is like having a girlfriend with whom to commiserate about the more unpleasant parts of pregnancy. The author didn't enjoy her pregnancy, and it's comforting to know that you aren't the only mother-to-be who was tormented by various pregnancy-related ailments and felt simply terrible at one time or another. But on the other hand, despite the humor (most often self-deprecating), the author takes an incredibly negative tone towards pregnancy and displays a cavalier attitude towards many important things such as exercise during pregnancy and routine medical interventions during childbirth.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like some other reviewers have mentioned, the author of this book is a little negative, but the title is "Pregnancy Sucks." She's blunt about what can go wrong during your pregnancy, but she also tackles "problems" like dealing with strangers rubbing your belly and annoying coworkers. I never felt like she was trying to scare me during my pregnancy. In fact, I appreciated her understanding of how much it sucks to have to spend half of my pregnancy on bed rest. If you don't appreciate sarcasm and frankness, this book probably isn't for you.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the best pregnancy book I have read. If you really had a horrible time being pregnant, you will love this book. Luckily I didn't have all the symptoms she complained about but I also had some of them. Plus her discussion of postpartum stress and caring for a newborn was right on target. I gave it 4 stars out of 5 because it was written in 1996 and needs updating, ie no one needs to bring a VHS tape with them to the ultrasound. Nowadays they hand you a CD of pictures when you are done.

[Meghan Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were so many things I just did not appreciate
about this book and the author's writing style. I could tell she was trying to be sarcastic and really hilarious (beginning with the title itself) but mosly it just came
Across as pessimistic and whiny. I didn't like the way she talked about her husband --"walkie talkies allow you to yell at your husband no matter where he is in the house!" I didn't like that the whole book she kept saying she would never have another baby again. I did learn a few new things but think I would have enjoyed learning about them from a different source.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of an irreverent look at pregnancy, but I really hated the author's tone. She was really flippant about potential problems and issues like loss and serious complications. Maybe I'm sensitive about it, but her approach rubbed me the wrong way. She also had a lot of straight-up wrong information, like the list of things to avoid during pregnancy. I think this book would be best for women who have really hard pregnancies or didn't intend to get pregnant in the first place. Anyone who has experienced fertility troubles or loss will probably find it offensive.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really funny and practical book. I was a little turned off by all the monthly pregnancy books that made me feel guilty for not feeling over the moon about my pregnancy. This book made me laugh and feel connected knowing I wasn't the only person who didn't think being pregnant was the best feeling in the World. It also allowed me to enjoy the good moments more, because I could recognize that someone else was being honest too.