On Pregnancy
- And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready
- Let’s face it, is anyone ever 100% ready for kids? Even if you think you are I bet there will still be things that will catch you off guard. I read this before getting pregnant and found author’s frank honesty refreshing, despite some of the more graphic details.
- What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions from Pregnancy to Motherhood
- A lot of pregnancy books and guides will talk endlessly about the physical changes your body goes through, this book talks about things that might seem invisible but felt intensely.
- Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong–and What You Really Need to Know
- Do pregnant women really have to abstain from alcohol, caffeine, and sushi? Maybe not.
Your Relationship
- How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids
- I found this book helpful for navigating those inevitable conflicts in every relationship (even without kids), especially ones that can really get under your skin when you are living under the same roof. Afterall, sharing a kid is much more challenging than sharing a living space, but you have to start somewhere right?
- To Have and To Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma
- Decades of studies have shown marital satisfaction takes a nose dive after the arrival of a child (and it never quite recovers). This book shares insights to why that might be the case and how it can be avoided.
Raising Kids
- Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool
- A follow-up to Expecting Better. What does research say about breast feeding, sleep training, and starting solid foods?
- Bringing Up Bebe: One American Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting
- My main take-away were: (1) pay attention, (2) establish firm boundaries (aka cadre)
- The Happiest Kids in the World: How Dutch Parents Help Their Kids (and Themselves) by Doing Less
- Don’t be a competitive, helicopter parent. Respect your child and let him/her play.
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