When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy, 3rd Edition [Paperback]

Barbara Luke (Author), Tamara Eberlein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2010

You're expecting more than one baby? Congratulations!

Effective, encouraging, and up-to-date, When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads is essential for you and your babies.

Like all mothers-to-be, you're experiencing the full spectrum of human emotions: joy, fear, confusion, and excitement—maybe all at once. As a woman pregnant with more than one baby, you're feeling all these things . . . only more so!

In When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads, Dr. Barbara Luke, an acknowledged expert on the prenatal care of multiples, outlines a practical, nutrition-based program to keep you and your babies healthy, and she offers a comprehensive tour of what you can expect during your unique pregnancy and childbirth experience. Women who follow this program have significantly fewer complications during pregnancy—and their babies are born weighing 20 to 35 percent more than the average twin, triplet, or quad. Included is crucial information on:

• Finding a qualified maternal/fetal medicine specialist
• Dietary guidelines for maximizing birthweight
• Safe limits on exercise, physical activity, and work
• Taking a leave from your job and negotiating the best deal
• Reducing your risk for pregnancy complications
• Recognizing the signs of preterm labor and what to do about them
• What to expect during and after delivery
• Feeding and caring for your newborns . . . and yourself
• Getting back into shape after delivery

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The double whammy of successful infertility treatments and an increase in the number of women having children later in life has resulted in a staggering--but perhaps not surprising--phenomenon: a tremendous increase in twin, triple, and quadruple births. When You¹re Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads is an outstanding, much-needed addition to the pregnancy genre for women who face the alternating joy, terror, and ambivalence associated with carrying, delivering, and coping with young multiples.

Subjects like nutrition, mom's changing body and emotions, fetal development, potential complications, and labor and delivery take on new meaning when you add another baby or two to the standard equation. With the goal of minimizing risk factors associated with multiple births, Dr. Barbara Luke and her team of writers cover each subject with a buoyant determination to tell it all and tell it well--avoiding the typical "how to name and dress your twins" issues. Accompanying the detailed medical perspective of Dr. Luke are personal experiences gathered from the journals of a few articulate moms, making each subject as real as it is educational. Simple illustrations, valuable charts (including one to plot and monitor fetal growth in grams or pounds), specific menu examples (like how can you consume 4,500 calories if you're expecting quads???), and lots of reassurance make this book a winner. --Liane Thomas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Barbara Luke, Sc.D., M.P.H., R.N., R.D., is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Michigan State University. She has published numerous research studies on multiple pregnancy through the University Consortium on Multiple Births, with colleagues from universities around the country. She is also the author of Every Pregnant Woman's Guide to Preventing Premature Birth and coauthor, with Tamara Eberlein, of Program Your Baby's Health.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 3 edition (December 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061803073
• ISBN-13: 978-0061803079
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (242 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Relationships > Twins & Multiples
  • #29 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Personal Health > Women's Health > Pregnancy & Childbirth

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect. An Important resource!, December 29, 1999

By 

Fred C. (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: A Complete Resource (Harperresource Books) (Paperback)

When I found out I was pregnant with twins, I looked to pregnancy books to help, but they approached twins as "a little extra pregnant". It wasn't until this book that I started REALLY knowing how to care for myself and my 2 babies. It saved my pregnancy and my sanity. A MUST! For example, the worshipped "What to expect when you're expecting" books gave me absolute INCORRECT information regarding exercise, diet, weight gain, working... and I spent the first part of my pregnancy miserable that I was losing weight and feeling awful. Something in my gut told me that 10 pounds in the first half of the pregnancy wasn't enough for twins. Also, the diet they wanted me to follow was making me throw up every day. My body, again, told me to just eat whatever I could keep down, but "THE BOOK" made me feel guilty about even LOOKING at a cheeseburger. Well, again, THANK GOD I found Dr. Luke and Tamara's book. It confirmed everything I'd already felt was right. Plus, it is written with a great positive attitude with so much encouragement. I would not be having such a healthy pregnancy without it. I will never stop being grateful for this book! I've told so many people about it and am happy to spread the word. READ IT READ IT READ IT!

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far & away the best pregnancy book for multiples, August 13, 2001

By 

Carol S. (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: A Complete Resource (Harperresource Books) (Paperback)

I have several of the leading books that cover twin and supertwin pregnancy, and this is by far the best of them all. First, this is one of only a handful of books devoted primarily to multiple pregnancy, as opposed to what you do with the babies once they are born. It therefore covers in much greater depth issues like special dietary requirements for multiples, signs of preterm labor, how to cope with bedrest, and more. I bought this book shortly after my multiples were diagnosed because I didn't want advice on whether to give the babies rhyming names or let them sleep in the same crib -- I wanted guidance on how to get through my high-risk pregnancy with as few complications as possible, so that I would be able to go home with two healthy babies. And this book does an excellent job of educating you about potential problem areas (without being unduly scary) and more importantly, listing concrete and do-able things that will maximize your chances of avoiding these problem areas. Second, this is one of the few pregnancy books that isn't patronizing, cloying in tone or hopelessly dumbed down. The authors clearly respect their audience and this comes through in the style and tone. Third, this book is written by people who know of what they speak: a physician who runs a moms of multiples clinic at a well-regarded teaching hospital, and a medical journalist who has twins herself. Also, anecdotes taken from real moms who survived multiple pregnancy are interspersed throughout, giving excellent tips and helping reduce that "I'm a freak" feeling one can get when instead of having a blissful trouble-free pregnancy, one has to deal with serious medical issues. If you are pregnant with twins or supertwins, you owe it to yourself and your babies to read this book and discuss it with your doctor.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YOUR TWINS NEED YOU TO GET THIS BOOK!!, September 18, 2000

By 

suzanne h (Louisville Ky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: A Complete Resource (Harperresource Books) (Paperback)

This book is worth its weight in gold. I was shocked to find out I was having twins and came across this book which opened my eyes to how different a multiple pregnancy is from a singleton pregnancy. I read and reread this book during my pregnancy and even read it now after the twins have arrived - it was a fabulous resource on everything from my emotional state to how and what to eat to how to survive once the twins arrive (I am surviving just fine!) to how to eat while breastfeeding multiples. I truly believe that this book and the information in it played a large part in me carrying my twins to 35 1/2 wks and them being born large (6 lb 1 oz and 6 lb 3 oz) and healthy. I urge you to get this book if you're expecting more than one baby - you need to understand what is going on in your body and understand how important nutrition and rest is for your growing babies - Dr. Luke explains it all in a way that is easy to understand and comprehend. Good luck!