she's coming!

A former co-worker of mine (and his lovely wife) are expecting a baby girl any minute! She may actually even be here now. I asked them some questions about the different books they've been reading to prep for the pregnancy and about the books they've been receiving to start building baby Sierra's library. I sent over some questions via email and despite the early labour pains last night they were nice enough to send over their answers. Incidentally, Brian's wife, Kyle, went into labour shortly after the email was sent. Good luck you two!

Like many soon-to-be parents Brian and Kyle have read many pregnancy/parenting books during this 9 + month ride. One of Kyle's favourites is a book entitled "Sippy Cups are NOT For Chardonnay" by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. She likes it because it talks about the experience of pregnancy from a more realistic (and sometimes cynical) point of view. However, she says that the book shares great advice, is well-written, and very funny!


As for the papa-to-be? He read "Pregnancy Sucks for Men: What to Do When Your Miracle Makes You BOTH Miserable" by Joanne and Jeff Kimes. Brian says that it is kind of in the same vein as "Sippy Cups..." but "I honestly preferred the more informative books. I didn't really agree with his opinions - call it my sympathy female hormones, but I found the book a little bit chauvinist and more irreverent than it needed to be.


Another book in the batch was "What To Expect When You're Expecting", a book that I wanted to get for my friend but she had picked it up already! Brian says that "this is like the owner's manual for pregnant chicks." The couple also picked up "What to Expect During the First Year", their owner's manual for babies!


I was curious to see if they had encountered any interesting factoids about pregnancy that they'd like to share. Some tidbits are that the amount of blood in your body increases during pregnancy by almost half as much as you had before pregnancy! (ahhh!) Also, pregnancy actually lasts longer than the 9 months we're always told! Kyle says, "It feels more like 9 years!" (ahhh!)

Non-pregnancy related books?
- Brian: The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Excellent book and very appropriate for a new father - even though it's really dark. It follows a man and his son wandering around and trying to survive in the aftermath of an unexplained apocalyptic United States.


- Kyle: "I Am America (And So Can You!)" by Stephen Colbert. Hilarious! One of our favorite TV shows and such a funny book, too. Captures the spirit of the Colbert Report perfectly!

As a child, Brian had two books that he loved dearly. The first was "Where The Wild Things" Are by Maurice Sendak. "I loved this book because of the beautiful illustrations and its sense of adventure and imagination. I definitely read it a lot when I was little." Look! They've even created a little "shrine" to the book in Sierra's nursery!

The other book he read all the time (and pretty sure he took everywhere) was an Incredible Hulk trade paperback. "It was about 200 or 300 pages long, a collection of a bunch of old Hulk comic books from the 60s. I was a huge comic book nerd when I was younger, and still am, although I don't read comics much anymore. The Hulk was my favorite super hero when I was little, so this book was perfect."

Favourite book as a grown-up? The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. "This book has it all. It's the ultimate adventure book and has influenced countless fantasy writers since. What makes it great is that it is so dense with detail. Tolkien did not just write a story, but created an entire world. I've read it a few times - which is necessary since there is so much going on. I am also a big fan of the films by Peter Jackson." And I can attest to Brian's love for such books. I remember he was one of many co-workers who would sit in their cars in the parking lot before work, voraciously reading the latest Harry Potter books that came out - both because the loved the books so much and because they wanted to finish it before one of us spoiled the ending!

Have they been reading to the baby in the belly?
Yes! "We have been reading to the baby a little bit, but not too consistently. We recently got a bunch of books for her and have read a few of them to her.



We've read her books like "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, "Counting Kisses," "Where The Wild Things Are," and "Goodnight Moon."


And how about audio books with the headphones attached to the belly? Kyle says,
"We haven't played her any books on tape. We mainly want her to hear our voice. The books that we read aren't that important, as she can't really understand what we're talking about. The trick is to get her used to the sound of your voice so she associates it with the calm of being in the womb after she is born. Brian takes some time to talk to her almost everyday. A bit of advice that we got is to read or talk about something that appeals to you as it can be a bit weird (and boring) talking to a belly. Brian mostly talks to her about the Lakers and sports."


And finally, since daddy is half-Mexican, do they read to the belly in Spanish?
"Yes. We have been reading her a book in Spanish. It's called "Quiero a Mi Papa Porque..." which translates to "I Love My Daddy Because". It's a great book with lots of pictures of different animals and there is a running English translation (so we can know what we're reading her and learn a little Spanish at the same time.)


Parents: Would you want to write your own pregnancy/parenting-how-to book?

Everyone: What book would you give a child as a present?