Rating the reading

Some parents-to-be collect dozens of books, magazines, etc. telling them how to deal with pregnancy and such. We fell into that trap a little, but managed to avoid spending too much money on a bunch of useless stuff. For any future parents reading out there, here's a list of much of what we used to help us prepare and how useful it was, based on my experience:

What to Expect When You're Expecting: 5 stars. This, of course, is the bible of baby. It covers numerous possibilities, circumstances and issues. And it does a good job of keeping mom-to-be and dad-to-be calm about unexpected occurrences. Everyone suggests it, and there's a reason for that.

Baby Bargain Secrets: 4 1/2 stars. I though this was a fantastic time and money saver. On top of pointing out great bargains, it also helps explain what you'll need clearly and concisely.

"American Baby" segments on Comcast On-Demand: 4 stars. These 5-minute segments were quick and painless. They get right to the point (each segment has a different topic), talk to an expert or two, explain what's going on, and that's it. No fluff, just useful information. And at five minutes, Amanda and I could watch a few together before we felt like moving on to something else; or we could fit one in to our schedules very easily. On the other side, the "Alpha Mom" segments were longer, less focused and less useful (1 1/2 stars).

iVillage.com: 3 1/2 stars. Amanda has used this site fairly extensively through her pregnancy. It offers connections to other moms-to-be who are around the same point in their pregnancies that you are. Being able to talk to others in the same boat is always helpful.

"Parenting" magazine: 3 1/2 stars. This magazine would be rated higher if it didn't somehow manage to charge us for a subscription without our explicit approval. We're not sure how it happened, but it did. It wasn't a huge deal, though, because the magazine has plenty of information we'll be using as soon as the baby is born and for years to come. Good stuff, well organized by your child's age.

The Hip Mama Survival Guide: 3 1/2 stars. Fun, but not much of the info was covered elsewhere.

Your Pregnancy Week by Week: 3 stars. This was a useful book, but it didn't really offer any more than What to Expect. There's no need for both books, and the other one is the standard for a reason.

Birthing from Within: 3 stars. Non-medicinal pain management book. We looked at it, but were convinced by others that medicine isn't a big deal.

"American Baby" magazine: 2 1/2 stars. This just didn't seem as well-organized or useful as "Parenting." We figured we'd only go with one magazine, and the other one gave us more each month.

The Care and Feeding of Children: 2 stars. This is the 1915 book I've been quoting from throughout this blog. It's not very useful, but it is fun. And I definitely enjoyed being able to see how clueless medical professionals were 90 years ago. It made me feel better about how clueless I am today.

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Better Birth: 1/2 star. This one was a waste of money. Amanda quickly grew annoyed at the author's repeated suggestions that most things involving the medical profession were wrong because it's a male-dominated profession. The thinking was that men are most interested in seeing things as problems that need to be fixed rather than as the natural flow of life. So men always push for unnecessary medical procedures as the solution to any issue involving childbirth (something they can't understand in the first place). And, to top it off, female doctors aren't any better because they were taught by men. Amanda got through about 15 pages of the book before dumping it. Generalizations like this don't help anyone.