I don't really care that Cameron Diaz is supposedly signing on to star in a movie version of What to Expect When You're Expecting, the dry-as-dirt, doomsday pregnancy manual that completely tramautized me and about a billion other women when we were expecting (expecting the worst, most apocalyptically horrific childbirth ever, that is, thanks to that cursed book).
I do care that they're making a movie about it, though, especially as it's apparently going to be a comedy. Yay! At last, we as a society can laugh off the panic-inducing power of the book that sent me to my OB in hysterical tears on more than one occasion ("But I have this tiny pain on my right side and the book said that could indicate I'm carrying conjoined twins!!").
Pregnant ladies, please do what what most people do in this kind of situation: Skip the book, see the movie instead.
In case you somehow managed to avoid having what some people call the pregnancy "bible" foisted upon you the second a "plus" sign appeared on your preggers test, I'll give you the Cliff Notes version: A month-by-month guide to every possible pregnancy complication, including lots of footnotes indicating why said complications are ALL YOUR FAULT.
Imagine how many emotionally vulnerable expectant moms could be saved from recurring nightmares about placenta previa and cord prolapse and a host of other things that might happen but probably won't happen and in either case, worrying about it ahead of time won't help anyway!
I also hope to high heaven that the movie will prominently feature pregnant women eating foods besides cottage cheese with wheat germ sprinkled on top (the best snack ever, sayeth the What to Expect authors). What to Expect When You're Expecting (nicknamed by a friend of mine as Eating Disorders to Expect When You're Expecting) had me convinced that if I didn't get the right amount of green leafy vegetables and/or measure my protein gram consumption with scientific accuracy, I'd give birth to a Chia Pet. Or a paperweight. Anything but an actual, healthy, child.
The movie hasn't even started filming yet, but I'm already sure it's going to be better than the book -- how often does that happen!?
Were you traumatized by What to Expect When You're Expecting?
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Comments 9
The book is HORRIBLE! I was worried that I had a a molar pregnancy (no actual baby) because of this book! lol. When I told my midwife she asked if I had been reading "What To Fear When You're Expecting." Haha! :) She suggested that I put the book down and check out Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. Glad I did. :)
Yup it had be conviced I wasn't even really pregnant becasue I didn't have half the symptoms, why dont i have that, i have no nausa, ya i know lucky bitch but my second made up with it with such severe nausa i had an i.v. I didn't show untill I was 7 months, I never felt any kicking, i freaked over my lack of symptoms. Then when i ended up with chicken pox i was sure i was going to loose him, acutally had no complications from it at all
YES!! I took it to my OB b/c I wasn't having morning sickness or any other 'typical' symptom. He laughed and asked me where I was getting this info and I told him about the book. He said put it down and walk away!! He also told me to BE HAPPY I was not hugging the toilet every chance.
I did not think the book was very good, it seemed to normalize a lot of things that are wrong with modern pregnancy care.
I HATED this book. I was equally repulsed by "what to expect the first year." What sickened me the most, was how the auther basically accused of women opting for natural births, as uneducated masachists (not their exact words, but thats basically the gist.)
Once I started seeing my midwife I got rid of the book. There are many other excellent books out there which give a month by month guide to healthy pregnancies, that don't scare the poop out of you.
I had this book recommended to me by someone who also told me to lie to the doctor and claim I had severe nausea because " the pills they give you make you hallucinate when you overdose on them,and it's just fine for baby"...."you can snort some xanax and the baby will be fine"....yikes!
hmmm this book must be for idiots ;)
Definitely not my favourite pregnancy book- especially the birth sections, which had a definite 'Do exactly what your doctor says or you and your baby could DIE!' vibe to them. And I don't see how on earth anyone could possibly eat the amount of veggies/grains/proteins assigned to them on a daily basis. The pregnancy where I tried to stick by that ridiculous diet just happened to be the pregnancy where I gained sixty pounds... I was trying to pack all that 'nutrition' in, and I wasn't even eating junk!