The Girlfriends' Guide To Pregnancy

Your doctor gives you medical advice. Your mother buys you baby clothes. But who can give you the real skinny when you're pregnant? Your girlfriends, of course -- at least, the ones who've been through the exhilaration and exhaustion, the agony and ecstasy of pregnancy. Four-time delivery room veteran Vicki lovine talks to you the way that only a best friend can-in the book that will go the whole nine months for every mother-to-be. Here is straight talk about those little things that are too strange or embarrassing to ask anyone about, practical tips and hilarious takes on everything pregnant. From learning you're expecting ("Oh my god, how do I get out of this?") to the day your newborn arrives ("You mean I have to take the baby home with me?"), she gives you the lowdown on: -WHAT REALLY HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY -- from morning sickness to eating everything in sight, what to expect when going from being a babe to having one. -COMMON FEARS AND PARANOIA -- from turning into your mother to leaving the baby on the car roof, rest assured your anxieties are perfectly normal. -THE MANY MOODS OF PREGNANCY -- or why you're so irritable/distracted/tired/lightheaded (or at least, more than usual). -THE PREGNANCY YENTAS -- from your mom to his mom, they think they know everything -- and they don't hesitate to tell you what you're doing wrong. Girlfriend, take heart: if it's working for you, then you're doing just fine. # HOW TO HAVE SEX DURING PREGNANCY, SHOULD YOU SO DESIRE -- bearing in mind you'll have no interest afterward. # LOOKING AND FEELING YOUR BEST -- cautionary style tips from your best friend, who really would tell you if your perky newmom haircut makes you look like a pinheaded whale. When you need a reassuring voice or just a few good belly laughs, turn to The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy.Beginning with the "10 Greatest Lies About Pregnancy" (number 10: Lamaze works), and ending with postpartum dementia, Vicki Iovine's Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy has fast become the laywoman's mouthpiece for the American pregnancy experience. Iovine is irreverent, sassy, and incredibly reassuring as she exposes the "truths" of pregnancy and childbirth, from sex to cellulite to cesareans. Iovine birthed four kids in six years, none of them twins, which certainly qualifies her as an expert. The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy does reveal Iovine's particular cultural biases (pregnant or not, most of us don't have record-producer husbands, hang out with supermodels, or wear size-four pants) and philosophical beliefs (she's not a particularly strong proponent of natural childbirth or nursing), but, taken with a grain or two of salt, she provides many hilarious moments, acres of advice, and honest reassurance readers will find nowhere else. --Ericka Lutz