Customer Reviews

The Girlfriends' Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I purchased this book three weeks after my baby was born. I absolutely loved it! Just when you feel like you are the only person who is going through sleepless nights, breastfeeding pain, and much more, she makes you realize you are not alone. My husband and I laughed so hard at a couple of chapters we actually cried. She puts a humorous touch on some of the not so pleasant issues. I finally realized that everybody else who has ever had a baby has gone through these things. Having a baby is the most wonderful experience in the world, but there are some difficult times in the beginning. This book is NOT meant to be read before you have a baby; READ IT A WEEK OR TWO AFTER YOUR BABY IS BORN!

I read the negative reveiws of this book before I had my baby, and decided against buying it. Then, after my baby was born, I was frustrated with baby books that made me feel like the way I was feeling and the way I was doing things was all wrong, and I was hungry for anything that was written for new mothers (sadly, this was about it). I have to say, this book was the only thing that made me feel like I wasn't crazy, and that there wasn't anything wrong with me because I was having a hard time. I guess motherhood came easy for those people who wrote such scathing reveiws, but even though my baby is the best thing that ever happened to me, some days I can't stop crying and wondering how I will do this for the rest of my life. Yes, you will be sleep deprived, and your baby may cry for what seems like no reason, and it will break your heart and you will wonder if you are cut out for this whole motherhood thing. At least, that's how I feel, and thank God for this book so I know I'm not alone.

Not a book to take too seriously. Good if you're looking for a light read on being a mom - one that pokes fun at yourself and makes you chuckle. Certainly it's written from the perspective of a career woman/upper class household, which is the author's life. If you want an encyclopdia of information on baby topics a good choice is Gentle Baby Care by Elizabeth Pantley.

After my first baby was born, I recall the nurses commenting on how I wasn't freaked out by some of the grosser and bloodier aspects of childbirth. I was well prepared, because I had read Vicki's book!

Now, this is not a REFERENCE book or anything. It is an amusement, a "we've all been there and we survived, and so will you" sort of book. Do not rely on it for hardcore medical or parenting advice. Read it, accept that fact that Vicki is like one of your more colorful girlfriends who likes to share her opinions, and LAUGH!

Yes, it is quite obvious that Vicki (and most of her Girlfriends) are wealthy white women from SoCal, so if you are the sort of person who finds it unendurably vain for a new mommy to wonder if she will ever be slim again, or if you are extremely militant about things like breastfeeding and natural childbirth, you may find her annoying. However, if you have a good sense of humor you will probably find Vicki entertaining even if you don't agree with her.

I will confess I found this book vaguely frightening and depressing when I read the chapters on post-partum depression etc., while pregnant. However, in real life, when I was experiencing post-partum depression, severe sleeplessness, cracked nipples, colic, etc., it was this book I turned to for. All of my other "real" parenting books seemed to minimize the hard parts of motherhood or somehow suggest that I was just not doing things "right"; I found it oddly reassuring that Vicki had felt just as fat, crazy, exhausted, and depressed and yet had survived and in fact done it four times over!

This book is NOT meant to be an exhaltation of motherhood nor is it meant to suggest that once you become a mother, your life is over. It's meant to be a resource of straight NO BS information and advice. You can take it or not but one thing is for sure, they'll be no pussy-footing around here. The author tells you like it is and she attempts to throw in a bit of humor, which at times is needed to maintain any shred of sanity.

I found this book to be both enlightening and humorous. I don't agree with all of it but it was refreshing to hear someone tell it like it is. I did not find that this book made me nervous or afraid since I read it when I was pregnant. It actually made me feel better about my fears and concerns about not knowing what to do to stop my baby from crying or thinking I'm not a good mother because all I want to do is sleep. It gave me some comfort to know someone else who had been through it and had healthy, well-adjusted children felt at times like she was loosing her mind. If you want straight up, no BS advice about what the first year of motherhood is really like with a little humor thrown in, this is the book for you.

The title says it all: The Girlfriends' Guide to SURVIVING the First Year of Motherhood. Folks, this book is not about parenting so much as it is about SURVIVAL. I loved it because I didn't need, want or expect a book about the Nirvana of motherhood, I wanted a book to help me with the REALITY of motherhood. I needed a book that looked at motherhood with a sense of humor as well as dispensing advice. If you are looking for a book by a doctor, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for a book that tells you like a Girlfriend would tell you, then BUY THIS BOOK. Keep it next to the toilet (the only place in the world you might find solitude and a chance to read). I reads nicely in small chunks of time. A great reference for those of us who don't have mothers, sisters or girlfriends close enough to "get the skinny" on what childbirth, recovery, and the first year are really like.

I am a second time mom-to-be. While I didn't have this book with my first child, although it would have been nice, I picked it up for my journey back into babyhood, since it's been about 5 years.

There are a lot of negative reviews here. In fact, had I read some of them, I may not have purchased the book. I understand that first time moms are scared and sensitive, but some of the negative reviews really bordered on the ridiculous...someone who at 30 years of age who developed a near eating disorder from this book? "It was really depressing being told I wouldn't get my body back, no matter how hard I tried" Honey, you aren't. You can have a better body in some ways, you can have a body with a few changes, but you will NEVER have your "old" body back. Get over it, if you can't deal with that, then don't have kids. I'm sorry, but at 30y/o, you should have more common sense than that. Some of the other reviews blasted her about wanting to return to her old pre-preggo weight. Who cares? If you don't want to do the same, then ignore it. They accuse her of having an eating disorder(which, by the way, is nobody's business but hers) because she is very thin, and admits she has to work to keep it that way. God forbid. Well, again, this is all common sense. If you are overweight, begrudging someone who is willing to diet and exercise in order not to have a big butt is just immature. If that doesn't appeal to you, fine, but if you hate anyone skinnier than you, don't buy this book.

I wish someone would have acknowledged to me that it will take work to blast those last few pounds off. Because until I WORKED at it, those last 10 weren't budging. To some of us, being 15 pounds over a healthy weight is something we don't want. You don't have the right to make someone feel shallow or selfish for not wanting to be chubby for the rest of their lives, just because you are overweight or obese. Just like nobody has the right to make anyone feel bad for not wanting to lose the weight after baby. It just irks me, because it seems like reverse discrimination. You don't want people to judge you because you are fat? Don't judge people just because they aren't fat.

The negative reviews also mention things like the author's location and income. I am lower middle class, barely, and I could still glean usable info from the book. If you are someone who hates people who have more money or whatever, don't get this book, either.

Lastly, Vicki is obviously not the end-all,be-all of parenting how-to's, so don't get this book expecting to learn about hands-on baby care and vast expanses of medical info. That isn't the point, it's more directed toward mothers.

If you are pregnant and "traumatized" by this book, well, okay. You have to take everything with a grain of salt and a sense of humor, or you'll drive yourself nuts, especially after the baby comes. Even the "blessed" What To Expect books can give you anxiety, and to be honest, I found this book more reassuring as far as actually being a mommy goes, because it's funny and not so legalistic. But to be "traumatized" by any book is a little high-strung, imo. Calm down and use common sense. Maybe things won't be nearly as bad for you as written in this book, maybe sometimes, it will. You have to be able to deal with it, either way, and if one book bothers you that bad you are going to have to toughen up a little.

Parenthood is amazing, fun, a blessing, and sometimes very hard. If you just want a book that tells you it will never be hard or tiring, well, that's fine, but I assure you, it will not ALWAYS be rainbows and unicorns and meadows. But you'll figure that out later, I suppose.

Anyway, the best advice for any parenting book is take what makes sense to you, and forget the rest. No book is perfect.