What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, and Sandee Hathaway is one of those great pregnancy books that is good for just about any pregnant woman, regardless of whether you are making an adoption plan or parenting your first child or fourth. It explains pregnancy and all that goes along with it in general everyday terms that we can all understand.

The information in the book is presented month by month and includes information on how the baby is developing and addresses common concerns and questions during pregnancy and also features a nutrition guide for expectant mothers.

According to the book review on Amazon, “Each chapter begins with an explanation of what to expect at a particular month's prenatal visit and a brief description of how mom and baby are growing and changing before getting to the heart of the matter: What You May Be Concerned About. Topics are presented as questions ranging from "Should I be taking vitamins?" to "What if I forget everything I learn in childbirth education class?" The answers are generally reassuring and provide enough information to soothe a worried mom between prenatal visits. Despite the reassuring answers, however, the sheer volume of worries discussed may alarm an otherwise calm mom-to-be.”

This book was first published in 1984, but don’t let that make you think it’s outdated. It’s been completely revised and updated three times with all new illustrations and updated information.

In writing this post, I also discovered there is now a website, called What to Expect, that goes along with the book. It’s maintained by Heidi Murkoff, one of the authors of the book and contains different subtopics such as Pregnancy A-Z, Symptoms & Solutions, Your Baby This Month, and Week by Week just to name a few. I didn’t spend a lot of time browsing the site but it looks like it has some helpful information.

On a personal note, I read this book off and on through out my pregnancy with Noah and found it helpful since it was my first pregnancy and sometimes I was a little unsure of what was going on with my body.