What to Expect Before You're Expecting

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.

Answers to all your baby-making questions:

• How can I tell when I’m ovulating if my cycles aren’t regular?
• Should we be having sex everyday? Every other day? Three times a day?
• I’ve heard certain sex positions can help you conceive—true?
• I’m overweight—does that affect my chances of getting pregnant?
• Can certain foods help you get pregnant?
• I’m 37. Does that mean I’ll have a harder time getting pregnant?
• How long should we keep trying to conceive before we get some help?
  

Publishers Weekly

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)

Heidi Murkoff is the author of the What to Expect® series and author of Eating Well When You're Expecting, The What to Expect Pregnancy Journal & Organizer, What to Expect the First Year, The What to Expect Baby-Sitter's Handbook, and the What to Expect Kids series from HarperCollins. Her interactive website is www.whattoexpect.com, and she lives with her family in Los Angeles, California.