Nancy Redd - Pregnancy, OMG!: The First Ever Photographic Guide for Modern Mamas-to-Be

Pregnancy (PREG-nuhn-see)

A combination of the Latin words for before (prae) and be born (gnasci) meaning the time in a womans life from conception until birth.

OMG! (oh-EM-jee)

The initials of Oh my God (or goodness, or even gosh if that better suits you). First seen in print in a letter to Winston Churchill in 1917 and used to express excitement, shock, disbelief, and many other pregnancy-related emotions.

The First-EverPHOTOGRAPHICGuide for Modern Mamas-to-Be

Foreword by Sherry A. Ross, MD

Photography by Brynne Zaniboni

St. Martins Griffin

NEW YORK

The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the authors copyright, please notify the publisher at: http://us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.

This book is dedicated to my husband, Rupak, and my two children, August and Nancy. Our little family brings me more joy than I could have ever anticipated. Im the luckiest mommy and wife in the world!

As a practicing OB-GYN for the past twenty-five years, Ive heard the concerns of thousands of pregnant women, not to mention having dealt with the personal challenges of my own three pregnancies. Still, I must admit: even I learned a few things reading this book!

I know that if ever there was a common battle cry along the pregnancy journey, it would invariably be Oh My God!as in, OMG! Whats happening to my hair, voice, vagina, memory, veins, ankles? You name it, Nancy Redd covers it in Pregnancy, OMG!

During pregnancy, women are especially and continuously plagued by questions concerning the changes in themselves. They go to bed with specific questions and wake up with new ones. What they craveaside, perhaps, from foot rubs, ice cream, and potato chips (preferably all at once!)are honest answers along with the assurance that what theyre going through is at least to be expected, if not normal. Symptoms that may seem obscure in theory because only a small percent of pregnant women experience them, such as pregnancy hemangiomas (), in reality affect thousands of women a year who are more than just statistics. These sufferers are childbearing women who desire honest, straightforward answers and total transparency from their doctors.

Oftentimes, unfortunately, that type of unbridled frankness is hard to come by. Doctors dont always have the time for or an interest in having detailed conversations with their patients (and if they do, their answers may be too complicated and clinical for the most nimble of foggy, pregnant brains). And female friends who have been through childbirth often develop a certain amnesia about their own pregnancies (and understandably so, otherwise how many of them would go through it again?). Both of which lead to a decided (and sometimes frightening) tendency for pregnant women to rely on Dr. Google.

In my practice, as soon as an anxious yet healthy patient begins a question with, So I Googled why I would be having vaginal spotting in the second trimester , I know Im in for a lengthy and emotional conversation peppered with multiple reassurances on my part to set her mind at ease. In a perfect world, a patient would first come to me with her pregnancy pains and concerns instead of searching online and landing on the worst-possible-case scenario. In addition, she would have a reference that addresses her bodys daily metamorphoses with equal parts integrity, insight, and humor, and a resource that illuminates all the surprising and infuriating symptoms of pregnancy she may be too embarrassed to discuss with even the closest of girlfriends. Instead, these patients are suffering and need more help than Google can offer, and thats where this book surely shines.

The particular blend of honesty and wit evident here in Nancy Redds Pregnancy, OMG! is unparalleled. This is a book that answers every question you might possibly have during your pregnancy, whether its your first or fourth. Nancy covers a host of unexpected topics, from ingrown toenails ()? Youll soon find out.

Offense is your best defense when it comes to what really to expect during pregnancy, and Nancy leads that offense, providing laughs and understanding every step (or pregnancy waddle) along the way.

Sherry A. Ross, MD

Sheryl A. Ross, MD, Dr. Sherry, is an award-winning OB-GYN, author, entrepreneur, and womens health expert practicing in Santa Monica, California. She is the author of She-ology: The Definitive Guide to Womens Intimate Health. Period. The Hollywood Reporter named Dr. Ross as one of the best doctors in Los Angeles, and Castle Connolly named her as a Top Doctor in the specialty of obstetrics and gynecology. She is also a 2017 Southern California Super Doctor.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I must have exclaimed that exact phrase to at least a dozen mamas that Id known for years. The answer was almost always some version of We didnt want to scare you, you might not have wanted to get pregnant. Thats insanity! Knowing in advance that pregnancy might cause your voice to change () isnt going to tamp down the average womans maternal yearning, but being prepared for these mind and body changes can make the experience soooo much better.

Im telling you now: Youre in for one crazy ride. If this is your first pregnancy, then for the first time in your life your body doesnt completely belong to youyou are the host to a very cute parasite. If youve been there, done that, youre still in for a new and unusual journeyevery pregnancy is different in both beneficial and bizarre ways.

I know because Ive been there, done that three times myself, and have two children to show for it. (If you also unfortunately find yourself searching for a rainbow after suffering a loss like I did, turn to ). My female friends are also all knee-deep in the fertility years, popping out babies left and right, and we collectively became exasperated over all the issues the other pregnancy books leave out or gloss over.

So after being a pregnant or postpartum mom for basically four nonstop years, in preparation to write this book, I scoured the Internet with fresh, nonhormonal eyes, hanging out in popular birth-message boards, perusing blogs, and checking out what questions preggos asked and the candid pictures they shared in the vast and anonymous online world. I then revisited about a dozen of the top pregnancy books that caused me such angst, many of them bearing bruised spines from being thrown across the room in terror or frustration or both, cross-referencing them all to come up with dozens of concerns that each and every one failed to so much as acknowledge, much less advise upon. And I dont mean just a couple of accidental misses: On the next page you will see a looong list of matters this book talks about that werent deemed worthy of discussion by the most popular pregnancy book on the market (you know the one).