I know you can’t fully prepare yourself for motherhood (especially those first few weeks!) until you experience it on your own, but I do believe you can try to be “educated” on what to expect. I’ve been around children my entire life, from hanging out with my little nieces and nephew to being a babysitter, nanny and daycare worker through high school and college. Kids were familiar to be, but for whatever reason when I was expecting my own, a bit of apprehension and anxiety set in along with the excitement. I knew I was about to take on the biggest change and responsibility of my life so I felt like I needed to try and at least be somewhat prepared. Despite a few laughs from a dear sister, read I did and I will say that I found it helpful. I learned a lot and when I had Adeline, I felt that I understood the content better and often used the books as a reference. I even found my husband frequently referring to certain subjects when we had questions about feedings, gassiness, ect. Here are some of the books I found helpful:
- Heading Home with Your Newborn – From Birth to Reality. By Laura A. Jana and Jennfier Shu. This book is written by two female doctors and is filled with practical information on feeding, sleeping, health issues, bowel movements and much much more. It is well organized, an easy read and filled with answers to everyday, basic questions. This is probably the book that my husband and I most referred back to during Adeline’s infancy. Great book!
- On Becoming Baby Wise – Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep. By Gary Ezzo and Dr. Robert Bucknam. This book focuses on Parent Directed Feeding (PDF) to assist parents and children in achieving sleep through the night. There is some debate with this book and the general concept of feeding on demand vs. PDF vs. hyperscheduling. My philosophy is take from it what you find useful. I may not have agreed with everything but I definitely gained some great knowledge from this book and it did guide me in establishing Adeline on a great feeding and sleeping routine – and yes, even sleeping through the night at a early age.
- The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (7th Edition) by La Leche League® International. I was planning on nursing Adeline so I wanted a book I could refer to with any questions. This book is filled with useful information regarding breastfeeding and other mommy related subjects. However, it is also probably the book I used the least. It is quite long and big on feeding on demand and shared sleeping – something I personally was trying to stay away from.
- Cesarean Recovery by Chrissie Gallagher-Mundy. This book I actually purchased after delivery but I wish I had it sooner. This is a great book for anyone that has to experience a C-Section. I ended up with an emergency cesarean so I really didn’t know what was going on or what to expect with recovery. This book is filled with useful, basic information on what to expect, how to cope and recover from a cesarean delivery.
