I would never suggest What to Expect for any young first-time mom. That book could make anyone think something is wrong when it isn't.

I read eagerly all throughout my first pregnancy, and refreshed my memory with my second, though I pretty much knew the drill. (We purposely conceived our second child only four months following the birth of our first, so the information was still very fresh.)

I didn't read all that much with our third, even though there was a six year span between him and our second. My pregnancies had always been uneventful, and really pretty great (compared to the experiences of many other women).

I read every relevant book I could locate when I found out I was pregnant with twins the fourth time around -- unfortunately, only one of my precious babies survived the pregnancy. Once the partial miscarriage had passed (in my fifth month), I tucked those books far away. It was too emotional for me to read through them any more during the remainder of my pregnancy. I needed to focus on keeping in good health and good spirits; I didn't need a book for that.

Before I got pregnant, not a bit. During pregnancy, I mostly just asked my doctors if I had a question, or asked friends who had experience.

I agree that the What to Expect books are AWFUL. Someone gave it to me and afterward another friend took me aside and told me to read it sparingly, and to skip week seven altogether. Week seven is all about miscarriage.

The What to Expect The First Year book skips a month, and different versions skip different months. I enjoy pulling them every so often to see which month is skipped. And their breastfeeding diet is not only a complete joke, but completely restrictive in ways it doesn't need to be, not to mention the fact that their breastfeeding advice essentially sets out to sabatoge a nursing relationship from the very beginning.

I could go on, but I've vented enough.

i actually really liked the WTE book. i'm the sort of person who needs absurd amounts of information and while it did have a lot of "here's everything that might go wrong" it had heaps and heaps of "this weird thing that's happening is completely normal." if it wasn't so thorough, i'd worry it was leaving out something obscure-yet-vital.

i only read about a month or two ahead of schedule, though, and not more than the first couple of months before i got pregnant, so that i wouldn't get over-loaded. i went back to it several times a month when something weird happened, too. (i also, you know, chatted with my doctor about all the stuff that happened to get second opinions/keep her in the loop)

i also read "the mother of all pregnancy books" and "from the hips" which were much easier to read (and had completely different tones from each other and WTE), but for me, needed WTE to fill in the science blanks. i like knowing the why behind things, and a lot of books just give you the "what" and/or leave out stuff that's less pleasant.

i've found the "first year" WTE book to be much less helpful. i can't keep up with the reading, and children develop all over the place so sometimes the book is months ahead of what i need and sometimes it's months and months (and months) behind.

I found that too much reading while pregnant just made me freak out something was wrong at every turn. Same with Googling my symptoms on the internet. I read quite a bit at first, but less as it went on when I realized I was much more calm not reading 24/7. I just consulted for specific things, like the embyronic development or what to take to the hospital and that sort of thing.

Sorry you had to go through that, nonny mouse.

I think I'll read when I'm pregnant. I can also just ask my mom, cousins (especially the one who has been pregnant 5 times - I'm sure she got the hang of it), aunts, and my grandmother.

I read WTE also and there was a lot of information that I found quite helpful. I did pick and choose a lot of things, but when I had general questions, it could usually answer them for me.

I HAD to stay away from the internet though. I would read horror stories that were just terrible about mis-carriage/stillbirth/SIDS/birth defects/you name it. My husband pretty much banned me from searching pregnancy related websites and forums.

The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy was pretty humorous and a nice balance to all of the strictly informational stuff.

My husband pretty much banned me, too, luckyme (and he's a doctor). He thinks the internet is generally evil for medical and parenting/baby information and still rolls his eyes if I report something I've read on a message board. Heh.

I found that the "scientific" info in WTE was often inaccurate or at the very least misleading.

I barely read at all, but my husband finished The Expectant Father AND What to Expect!!!! He was annoyed at me a ittle for not wanting to read, but once I explained to him that it was happening to me and so I didn't really need to read to know what was going on (and I read all day at work- it was the last thing I wanted to do when I got home) he was more understanding.

i read everything i could get my hands on, books, online reads, magazine articles. it all fascinated me. and that was for the first child. the last two.....i didn't read a thing, nothing had changed really.

I read "the girlfriend's guide to pregnancy" as I enjoyed the humor. I skipped WTE with this pregnancy as I had the internet (I think I had the internet with the first one 9 years ago but I know there was no googling back then

I liked the Girlfriend's guide too. WTE not so much. My advice is to skip the pregnancy books and start reading up on toddlers! (Specifically, Screamfree Parenting by Hal Runkel... awesome book)

My husband didn't read anything, I would just read him the important parts out loud, or tell him the interesting parts.

I've definitely been reading a bunch of books. My favorite was Baby Gizmo though. I like reading up on all the baby junk, and only want to read so much about constipation, hemrrhoids, and varicose veins.

I read a bunch of books and visited well known sites when I was pregnant with my daughter. This time around, not so much. My husband read The Expectant Father

mac girl... i read the girlfriends book also... and totally enjoyed it, as well as belly laughs... both were gifts. i was warned about the wte book... my dh read a few books that my mom got him... one was called Rookie Dad, it was cute!