What to Expect Before You're Expecting

by Heidi Murkoff, Sharon Mazel (With)

Overview

What to Expect...The First Step

Expecting to Expect? Plan Ahead.

Everything you need to know before you're expecting to help you prepare for the healthiest possible pregnancy and the healthiest possible baby. Filled with practical tips, empathetic advice, and savvy strategies all designed to help you get that baby of your dreams on board faster. How to get your bodies into tip-top baby-making shape. Which foods feed fertility. Which lifestyle habits to quit and which to cultivate. How to have sex for conception success (from timing to positions to logistics). And when to seek fertility help. There's even a fertility planner to help you keep track of your conception adventure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761152767
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
Publication date:	05/15/2009
Series:	What to Expect Series
Pages:	275
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Heidi Murkoff is the author of the What to Expect® series of pregnancy and parenting books with over 38 million copies in print. She is also the creator of WhatToExpect.com and the WhatToExpect app, which reach over 18 million expecting and new parents, and the What to Expect Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping at-risk moms around the world expect healthier pregnancies, safer deliveries, and healthy, happy babies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments iv

Foreword Charles J. Lockwood vi

Introduction: What Can You Expect Before You're Expecting viii

Part 1 Getting Ready to Make a Baby

Chapter 1 Prepping Before You're Expecting 2

Chapter 2 Weighing In Before You're Expecting 36

Chapter 3 Eating Well Before You're Expecting 49

Part 2 Making a Baby

Chapter 4 The Biology of Baby Making 72

Chapter 5 Predicting Ovulation 84

Chapter 6 Figuring Out Your Fertility 94

Chapter 7 Getting Busy Making a Baby 100

Chapter 8 Are You Pregnant? 124

Part 3 Bumps on the Road to Baby

Chapter 9 Challenges to Fertility 138

Chapter 10 When You Need a Little Help 151

Chapter 11 Beginning Again After a Loss 178

Part 4 Keeping Track

Chapter 12 Your Fertility Planner 194

TTC Glossary 254

Your TTC Journal 256

Index 263

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The book to read before the journey of pregnancy begins—the one resource that will fully prepare you and your partner for one of life’s most miraculous experiences, at the time when preparation will benefit your future baby most: before you’re expecting.” —Charles J. Lockwood, M.D.

Editorial Reviews

Pregnancy guru Murkoff (What to Expect When You're Expecting) explains that a healthy pregnancy actually begins long before sperm and egg meet. In fact, she suggests that couples add at least three months to the requisite nine in order to prepare both their bodies for the best outcome. Backed by research and expert advice, Murkoff and Mazel present a preconception program that includes tips on what to eat (and not eat), how to maintain a healthy weight and advice about preconception medical care, such as having a physical and dental checkup. The text points out that dads are vitally important to pre-pregnancy health, with warnings that heavy drinking and smoking can damage or reduce sperm, as can certain sports such as spinning, cycling or heavy workouts. (Shaded boxes throughout the text address the ways in which men can contribute to baby-to-be's successful arrival.) The text also covers fertility issues, clearly explaining "the biology of baby making" and outlining the options available to couples who are facing conception problems. Readers who like to think ahead will also benefit from a detailed fertility planner, which includes a fertility chart to track ovulation and space to record various pre-baby appointments and information. Couples who are trying to conceive will find plenty of useful ideas to consider and implement in the months preceding their baby's debut. (May)

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