We placed these books on top of the radiator in the bedroom to keep one of our cats, Hono, from tromping around in the early mornings.  The books we placed happen to be all the ones we have been reading for the past 12 months.  Here are my thoughts on them so far:

1. Be Prepared by Gary Greenberg & Jeannie Hayden.

A book for Dads-to-be, Phil likes this one because of the pictures.  The illustrations are really well done, and I’ve enjoyed reading this in the bathroom for tips that are concise and practical.  The delivery is well done so as not to overwhelm a new parent.

2. Einstein Never Used Flash Cards by Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek Ph.D. & Diane Eyer.

Phil picked this out at the book mart and it is a great book for guiding parents in how to interact with their children in a way that promotes intelligence and self-reliance, without being overbearing and crazy.  In some ways it gives a lot of common sense advice (i.e. “talk to your children as much as possible”), but common sense is sadly lacking in many people these days.  The advice is backed up by a lot of studies which makes the book feel valid and useful.  Coming from a Korean background, I also find this book especially helpful in reminding me to not be a crazy ass mom that forces her child to take violin lessons at age 2 and go to Kumon just to get into a specialized high school. (Okay so I did end up going to a specialized high school and I’m glad I did, but I’m not a doctor nor did I go to an Ivy League so I’m still a failure!!)

3. Parents Do Make a Difference by Michele Borba Ed.D.

We actually haven’t started reading this book yet, but will probably be useful after the baby arrives and gets a bit older.

4. Birth Partner by Penny Simkin.

This was lent to Phil by one of his co-workers, whose wife had two natural births.  I don’t think his co-worker read it and neither Phil nor I have started reading it yet.

5.  Natural Hospital Birth by Cynthia Gabriel, PhD.

I just started reading this book and I love it!  I skipped over the writing the birth plan segment (to do later) and have been reading about what labor is like and how to manage giving birth in a hospital naturally (instead of at home or at a birthing center).  I’m hoping to give birth at the St. Luke’s Birthing Center but there is always the possibility that I won’t be allowed to, which has made me nervous in feeling like a might get pressured by staff to take pain medication and be a bystander in the incredible experience of giving birth.  The book is very good in helping me to visualize what labor might be like (better to have some idea than no idea) in a more realistic way.  I also read Ina May Gaskin’s book Guide to Childbirth which I found informative but unattainable to achieve for myself.  All of the natural births that she described took place on her Farm utopia and the mothers were surrounded by these expert midwifes.  She also describes the hospital birth in a very demonizing way, and I was turned off by the “us vs. them” attitude.  I highly recommend the Natural Hospital Birth for Phil to read since it describes what labor will be like for the birth partner as well.

6.  Brain Rules by John Medina.

My brother lent me this book which I started reading months ago, before I was even pregnant.  I forgot what I read so far in it… and now I see that there’s a Brain Rules for Baby version out.

7.  That’s my 27 week belly!!! It’s so big that it can’t not stay out of the picture frame!!

Baby is now the size of an eggplant and is moving around everyday.  She even gently kicked pa pa in the face when he tried to talk to her through the belly.  So far, being pregnant is nice – I get to relax, and I don’t have to feel bad about over eating or spending a large chunk of the day napping or surfing mommy blogs.  Only 3 more months to go before life changes dramatically?!  Bring it on!