The Girlfriends' Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood [Paperback]

Vicki Iovine (Author)

Book Description

Series: Perigee | Publication Date: October 1, 1997

The author of the enormously successful Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy brings a mother's wisdom and a girlfriend's candor to the first book in a fresh new series of guides to motherhood. Readers will learn about baby euphoria, postpartum mood swings, salvaging one's sex life, and fitting into that favorite pair of jeans.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Just had a baby? Lie down, rest your weary womb, and muster up a rousing cheer! (Shh! Don't wake the baby!) Now, from the author of The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, comes the book all new moms have been waiting for, whether they know it or not. Vicki Iovine talks turkey ... and stitches, and weight loss, and depression, and sex (trying it for the first time after labor and delivery? "Inebriate and Lubricate"). Vicki--yeah, I know I'm calling her by her first name but after reading this book you'll be on a first-name basis with her, too--is funny, informative, and utterly (udderly?) irreverent. New mothers have never had it so good.

From Library Journal

Iovine follows up her successful The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy (Pocket, 1995) with this breezy, irreverent guide to the first year of motherhood. She covers everything from labor (when you feel "like you've swallowed a bucking bronco") to "poo-poo that smells like roses" to nursing, sleeping (or not), postpartum depression, and more. The idea here is to provide insider information (girlfriends share and share alike, right?), but the tone is more often flippant than confidential. There's not much new material that is not already found in classics like Arlene Eisenberg's What To Expect the First Year (Workman, 1988), and nervous first-timers may not respond well to Iovine's approach. Not a priority purchase.?Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Perigee Trade; 1 edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399523308
• ISBN-13: 978-0399523304
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (222 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Relationships > Motherhood

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and Depressing & not first first timers, September 11, 2002

By 

No one you know (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Girlfriends' Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood (Paperback)

I was very excited to get this book because I enjoyed the Girlfrinds Guide to Pregnancy very much. I understand the approach, it's not a medical guide. Neither was the first, and I found it amusing and helpful.
This one left me depressed. I started reading it when I had just brought my baby home. And it left me terribly upset and fearful for this awful future. It wasn't postpartum, it was the book. It's such a downer. It made it seem like I would never sleep again, and never find any joy in motherhood. 18 months later I can tell you the book made it sound a lot worse than it was.
I think Vicki is very funny and very talented. This book might be very entertaining to seasoned Mom's who get the joke, or have enough experience not to be daunted. I think a book of anecdotes by Vicki would be priceless.
But first time Mom's Steer clear! The encouragement so abundant in the first book is lacking here. Vicki steers towards worse case scenario a lot, and although she states clearly it's different for everyone, it all sounds horrible by the end. First time Mom's, pass on the girlfriends and find a warmer kinder book. You need encouragement not worse case horror stories.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for new moms--loved it!, July 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Girlfriends' Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood (Paperback)

I loved this book because it was so honest and humorous. My mother gave me this book as a gift, and I started reading it the day I came home from the hospital after giving birth to my first child--it provided a wonderful outlet for my initial anxieties, guilts, and questions. I thought the tone and style were down to earth, realistic, and laugh-outloud funny. Since so many of my close friends live out of town and since newborns make phone calls almost impossible to carry on, this book was a great substitute for an actual, in-the-flesh girlfriend. It was also great to read (aloud) while I nursed my daughter. I could relate to so many of the topics Iovine discusses. Thank you Girlfriend! I can't wait to read the other Girlfriend books now.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars flawed, but worth it, August 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Girlfriends' Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood (Paperback)

Other reviewers have pointed out the flaws in this book--basically, all the "girlfriends" seem to have the same priorities and opinions which the reader won't necessarily share (I too got a little tired of the comments about losing weight, for example, and she could've promoted breastfeeding without being a snot). However, while you're pouring through all those books on baby, it's nice to read a fun, down-to-earth, honest, and reassuring book about YOU--a book that acknowledges the terror of seeing all that blood coming out of you postpartum, or the difficulty having intercourse or even wanting to have it, to give two examples. It's so important to remember your own needs after you've given birth, and Iovine helps you do just that.