You: Having a Baby: The Owner's Manual to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy - Softcover

Roizen, Michael F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007313411 ISBN 13: 9780007313419

Publisher: Thorsons, 2009

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Few life experiences feature emotional swings as extreme as those of pregnancy--it's a monumental mix of both intense excitement and skip-a-beat anxiety. How do you respond to such a situation? If you're like most, you scour websites, read books, browse blogs, and pick the brains of every friend, family member, and store clerk who's ever had a baby. You talk about the ups and downs, the cravings and the nausea, the maternity clothes and the stretch marks. During this 280-day journey, this sometimes scattered mind-set is perfectly natural--and healthy. But often you need help cutting through the clutter. In YOU: Having a Baby, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen, America's Doctors, will help ease your tension by teaching you not only about whatyou can do but also why you should do it. They'll explore the biology of your body with amazing insights about a cutting-edge new field called epigenetics, which gives you the power to change the genetic destiny of your child. And they'll give you all the ins and outs of nutrition, exercise, hormones, fetal development, and many more pregnancy-related issues. Using their signature wit and wisdom, they'll test your knowledge, bust many myths, and reassure you that your maternal instincts are usually pretty darn good. After all, the doctors want the exact same thing as you do during this journey--a healthy baby (and a healthy mom). Be assured that YOU: Having a Baby will be one of your favorite passengers on this wonderful ride.

Amazon Exclusive Essay from Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz, Authors of YOU: Having a Baby

While many pregnancy books tell you what to do, we aim to add a deeper level of meaning in true YOU style and explain why. After all, when you truly understand the why, the what is much easier to adopt. Instead of giving you a week-by-week or hiccup-by-hiccup guide to pregnancy, we take a more holistic approach, focusing on how your mental and physical health affect your baby, and how--at the same time--pregnancy affects your mind and body. Of course, we provide plenty of our signature YOU Tips and YOU Tools to help you make the best choices for a safe and healthy pregnancy, but we're going to take you there a little bit differently than other pregnancy guides may. Here's what you can expect from us:

We want you to understand at the base level how epigenetics works and why it's important. Starting with the moment you go from making love to making a baby, we explain how you can influence your child's development through this field--perhaps the most important developed in the last decade. Many of us believe that the genetics of our children are predetermined the moment that the sperm locks on its desired egg. But the truth is that research from various sources is suggesting that during pregnancy, you may actually be able to turn your future baby's genes on and off--you have the ability to control genes anytime.

You'll also learn quite a bit about the key player that mediates between you and your baby, transmitting all signals that create those epigenetic changes. That player is the placenta. This beautifully functioning organ is the place where mom and child interact, where nutrients are exchanged, and where growth and development patterns are determined.

After explaining the workings of the placenta, we'll focus more closely on nutrition (both yours and baby's), explaining how too much, too little, or the wrong nutrients all play roles in the health of both you and your child. We also talk about such things as fetal brain development, how to manage (and prevent) postpartum depression, and important pregnancy-related medical conditions like gestational diabetes.

In the second half of the book, we'll help you manage the wide range of side effects you may be feeling--everything from heartburn and insomnia to medical complications like preeclampsia. Finally, we present a bunch of great features you can use, including:

Broadway to Birth: Our interactive board game will take you through the amazing adventure that is labor and delivery to help you understand which elements you can control and which elements you need to leave to the pros (whom we'll help you choose, based on your own labor and delivery goals).

A Top Eight List of Postpartum Issues: After you deliver your baby, you'll appreciate our chapter on everything you need to know to take care of yourself and your newborn in the first month of life. This is where the second adventure begins.

The Ultimate Pregnancy Flight Plan: Step by step, we provide the instructional dials, controls, and levers that will allow you to pilot your way to a safe landing. After all, you're carrying a very precious passenger. This plan is the shorthand version of all the best tips and strategies we give throughout the book.

YOU Tools: At the end of the book, we will give you specific advice about exercise, diet, vitamins, and the like that can serve as an action plan. We also provide guidance on everything from choosing a doctor or midwife to preparing your home for a baby to recipes your partner can make for you during your pregnancy.

We want you to relax and take time to enjoy the beauty of the pregnancy process. The most important thing to keep in mind is that most pregnancies turn out absolutely fine. Absolutely fine. Women's bodies are designed to carry children safely and efficiently. That doesn't mean everything will be smooth sailing on this journey, but it does mean that the odds are greatly in your favor. If you can learn how to maximize your chances that nature runs the course it's supposed to, you will increase those odds even further. This book will help show you how.

-Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz

(Photo © James Robinson)

About the Author

MICHAEL F. ROIZEN, M.D., is a New York Times bestselling author and cofounder and originator of the very popular RealAge.com website. He is professor and chair of the Division of Anesthesia, Critical Care Medicine, and Pain Management, and chief wellness officer of the Cleveland Clinic. MEHMET C. OZ, M.D., is also a New York Times bestselling author and the health expert of The Oprah Winfrey Show. He is professor and vice chairman of surgery at New York Presbyterian Columbia University and the medical director of the Integrated Medicine Center and the director of the Heart Institute.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thorsons
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0007313411
• ISBN 13: 9780007313419
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448