Pregnancy: Your Ultimate Week-by-Week Pregnancy Guide

by Laura Riley

The most up-to-date, comprehensive pregnancy guide on the market, delivering an unforgettable visual journey of developing life. Week-by-week pregnancy format is easy-to-follow, enjoyable to read, and follows the standard development schedule used by the OB/GYN profession. Detailed descriptions and eight pages of amazing full-color in-utero photographs guide expectant parents through a visual journey of the monthly changes of their growing baby. The only pregnancy book on the market authored by a leading OB/GYN who is a doctor, an academic, and a mother. Straightforward, comforting professional advice on the topics that are most important to expectant parents: having a healthy pregnancy, real-life labor, preparing for life as a family (both emotionally and financially), and juggling a career and motherhood. Exclusive interactive due-date wheel makes it easy to determine conception date, week of pregnancy, and delivery date. Special sections on labor and delivery, feeding options, and the first 12 weeks after babys birth. Important checklists, including one for each prenatal check-up help the expectant mother prepare for and make the most out of each session with her doctor.

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting

455 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked how this author (a doctor) explains each week of pregnancy, plus childbirth and the first 6 months after. Her tone was just right, like having a heart-to-heart with a really cool, down-to-earth, comforting doctor who makes you feel like you're not alone.

The information in the book is interesting and applicable, although sometimes it does get repeated multiple times. You might not notice that if you're reading the book one chapter per week as you progress through your pregnancy because you may forget what was already said previously. Since I read it straight through, I noticed the repetition quite a bit. Still, I like how each section gives a detailed description of the baby's development, helpful information or insights into what you may be experiencing at that particular time, and the doctor's sense of humor.

A nice overview of the whole process, and I must say, I prefer it to "What to Expect When You're Expecting".

[Ginny Pennekamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my main resource during my pregnancy, mostly because it was the one my sister liked best -- it was informative and had a lot of info, but it was all very upbeat and didn't dwell too much on any of the unpleasant stuff. Very nice guide to everything going on, with really helpful asides and chapters for the man, and an overall tone that didn't make it too girly or too specific. It was also a pretty general overview, so I found for most things it was helpful to cross reference Babycenter.com and get a little more info, and honestly, that website was still the first place we looked when we had any huge questions. But this book was soothing, and easy, and definitely better than the horrors of WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING.

[Minna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was definitely the most useful, helpful, clear, and informative book that I have read so far on the subject. It is the only one I really "sat" on and kept checking back out (I think I've had it for about 6 months at this point). The tone is very positive and not condescending, with a minimum of 'horror stories from fellow moms' and dire predictions of what would happen if you made a misstep or bad choice during pregnancy. It does cover some things repeatedly, but since I was reading week-to-week I pretty much forgot most of the repetition (or was happy to be reminded).

I would recommend this book, HIGHLY, to any woman who was pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, or even to her partner if that person wanted to be (really well) prepared.

[MC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I initially thought I wouldn't like this book as much - because its summaries of each week of pregnancy were fairly brief (several pages per week, with information about what's happening with the baby, the mom, and some comments about topics that are relevant around that time - whether potential challenges to look out for, things to think about when planning maternity leave from work, exercises you might try, etc.). Turns out, this is ideal - this book was the one we most frequently referred to for a quick reminder about what was going on in a given week. I wouldn't recommend it as the only book to have, but I'd *definitely* recommend it as a useful reference.

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course I work with this amazing, talented, extremely intelligent doctor so I might be biased, but I love this book. It is an amazing reference for pregnant women and I've bought it for all my pregnant friends. It's way better than What to Expect When your Expecting. And it goes week to week in pregnancy rather than trimester or month which I think is better. I've never sat down and actually read the whole thing just looked through it at work a bunch of times. A lot of my patients have it and have read it throughout their pregnancies and love it.

[Jaimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is almost entirely week by week information, so what you get is more detailed. At the end there are small sections on feeding your baby, the postpartum weeks, and questions for your doctor. Each week has sections on Your Baby, Your Body, Your Self, Diet and Exercise, and Common Questions. It also includes a pregnancy wheel and full color photos of a fetus at different stages, which are nice bonuses. The writing is simple yet thorough and I found that the topics she chose to write about were often extremely relevent to what I was going through each week.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this week-by-week book quite a bit. Frustratingly, sometimes it would introduce a topic at the end of the time it was relevant (telling you that something often occurs between weeks 10-14 for example, in the chapter for week 14). I wanted a bit more out of each chapter, so I bought additional books, but I found this to be accurate, informative, nonbiased and interesting.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This pregnancy book is a bit better than the others I've looked at, since it's a bit more frank and less obsessed with body weight. (Aren't most of us obsessed about this enough already?) It has some cool/creepy pictures of babies in utero, if you're into that kind of thing. It's a pretty good reference, I think, and is the book that was recommended by a prenatal nurse I know through work.

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous book. I like how it is broken down into bite sized sections. Even my husband got into it. We would read about what the baby was doing and how big it was and how it was developing every week. It is a book I like to give to expecting mamas.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I read it throughout both of my pregnancies and have loaned it to family and friends who were expecting. It's neat to see what the baby is doing and how it's developing each week.

[Amanda Boone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great weekly guide!

[Cari · Rating 4 out of 5]

this one is lighter than the "what to expect" book. great details, tons of info broken down by each week. i am enjoying it so far.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this week by week guide. It had a lot of great information.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

yay! this was what i needed to navigate the craziness of pregnancy!

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

there are better pregnancy books out there. (see anything by sheila kitzinger, ina may gaskin, and penny simpkin)

[Sheina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It was very informative, easy to follow and it has some good pictures.

[Doug Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

No, we are not pregnant. I'm just interested to know about it.

[Randi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given to me by my doctor. They give this to you on your first pregnancy doc visit. Very informative! Week by week info and a whole section on postpartum care.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very happy with this book- loved the week by week information.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. One of many books I checked out of the library, it had some useful info but not the best for me.

[Yonglu Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good. It concludes more details than the same kind of book in china. I like it very much. I think it should be translated to other languages.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have re-read this with each pregnancy and found so much helpful information in it. I even let an old friend borrow it because she had so many unanswered questions.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great week by week update of what is happening with the pregnancy