When I was pregnant with Grace, I knew I would be hit by tons of advice whether I wanted it or not. To take advantage of that, I created a pregnancy survey that I sent to my friends. I even posted the survey on Craigslist!
Over the next several weeks I’ll be sharing the results of my survey in the Pregnancy Advice Swap series. There is nothing scientific about my results, but during my first pregnancy I found them very interesting and helpful. I had 34 women answer my questions and now I’m asking you to share your experiences.
You can catch up on the entire series here: Part 1 (books & maternity clothes), Part 2 (where to register & buy furniture), Part 3 (diapers), Part 4 (bottles & formula), Part 5 (regrets & raspberry tea), Part 6 (hospital bag & visitors).
Let’s get started! The most popular answers are listed first and include the number of people who responded with that answer.
What is your all time favorite pregnancy book or other resource?
- What to Expect when Expecting – 18
- Your Pregnancy Week by Week – 4
- Dr. Sears Parenting Books – 3
- The Girlfriends’ Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine – 3
- The Girlfriends Guide to Surviving the 1st Year of Motherhood by Vicki Iovine – 2
- Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon – 3
- BabyCenter.com – 2
- Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy
- I’m Pregnant by Lesley Kegan
- Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr Harvey Karp
- American Baby Magazine
- Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads by Hayden & Greenburg
- The Birth Partner: Everything You Need to Know to Help a Woman Through Childbirth by Penny Simkins
- The Moms On Call Guide to Basic Baby Care by Laura Hunter
- Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg
- Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron
- For establishing a feed/sleep schedule, use Baby Wise by Ezzo and Bucknam
Rebekah’s Thoughts: For pregnancy I enjoyed What to Expect When Expecting (just ignore all the scary this-could-be-wrong parts) Belly Laughs (funny!), and Your Pregnancy Week by Week (fun for seeing how your baby is developing each week). I did not care for The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy. Parts of it were amusing, but I wasn’t impressed with her thoughts on natural childbirth and breastfeeding. For labor I benefited from Birth Partner and Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way. For after the baby is born I highly recommend The Baby Whisperer.
Where was your favorite place to shop for maternity clothes?
- Motherhood Maternity – 20
- Old Navy – 8
- Kohls -5
- Target – 6
- Gap – 3
- Borrow from friends as much as you can – 2
- Goodwill
- Walmart
- JC Penny
- BonTon
- Sears
- H&M
Rebekah’s Thoughts: Hands down Motherhood Maternity is the best, but so expensive! I was pretty pleased with Old Navy and Target. The selection at Kohls is pathetically small. Borrowing from friends was the biggest blessing!
Did you shop for maternity clothes at a consignment shop? If so, what was your favorite place?
- No Luck at Consignment Shops – 6
- Yard/Garage Sales – 8
- Goodwill/Salvation Army – 6
- Ebay – 2
- Craigslist
- Freecyle
Rebekah’s Thoughts: I didn’t end up going to consignment shops for maternity clothes. For both pregnancies, I was able to borrow some from friends and used gift cards. Plus I earned $120 in Target gift cards through online searching with Swagbucks.
How would you answer these questions?
The image in this post was taken by Doriana Jane Photography. I was 32 weeks pregnant with Grace.
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I just posted about books to read during pregnancy too! This time I’m reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and it’s got to be the best book about giving birth that I’ve read – highly, highly recommend it!
I like Old Navy for maternity clothes – I had good luck with shopping online, since not all stores carry maternity and the selection can be small. I love the look of the Loft maternity clothes, but way too expensive for my budget! Motherhood Maternity clothes never fit me right and seemed cheaply made for how expensive they were.
We have a new women’s second hand shop in my town that carries maternity clothes that I can’t wait to check out, but just haven’t had time yet. And I definitely agree with borrowing from friends for family when you can!
Let’s see –
1. My favorite book is the Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy. It combines the What to Expect with the week by week and keeps the really frightening stuff in the back of the book. You probably have heard about the Babywise controversies by now, but I’d caution moms to avoid it. The AAP has even spoken out against it because of how many babies have failed to thrive because of it.
2. Stores – good grief. Nowhere! Ha! It is so hard to find maternity in petite sizes that don’t cost a fortune. I had the most luck with JCPenney.
3. No luck at consignment shops. Our church does have a twice yearly “Blessing Boutique” where donated items are all free. I did find several things there.
Can’t wait to hear what other questions you had on your survey! What a fun idea!
I’m not a Babywise fan, but was an answer given – so I left it. The recommended routine suggested in The Baby Whisperer fit my style much better. There are some other things in that book that I ignored, but I think you’ll find that in almost any parenting book.
With my first, I religiously read What to Expect When Expecting… though that was back in 2001-02. I was really glad I read the scary parts because they prepared my for the really scary birth of my son. Now I pretty much stick with TheBump.com. It’s more of a fun reference now that I’m on #3 and it keeps me on track with my to-do’s.
As far as maternity clothing goes, I don’t just do maternity clothing. Anything with an empire waist that’s long enough will work. I find the clearance racks at Target offer a wonderful selection of affordable buys, especially when paired with coupons from Target’s website.
I can’t imagine not wearing maternity clothes. Do they work for you through all 9 months?
They sure do. I make sure that I buy ones with enough room… I’m picky. I’d say I have a 50/50 mix of maternity to “normal” clothing that I wear. It allows for more clothing that I can wear post-pregnancy, as well.
How awesome is that picture of you with your pregnant belly poking out!? So cute!!!
I can’t remember what books I liked during my pregnancies . . I definitely enjoyed Your Pregnancy, Week by Week.
I got lots of clothes from Target and Old Navy. They always had cute stuff. I never had luck at consignment shops.
I love that picture. It makes me so happy. 🙂