And Now We Have Everything

On Motherhood Before I Was Ready

By: Meaghan O'Connell

Narrated by: Meaghan O'Connell

A raw, funny, and fiercely honest account of becoming a mother before feeling like a grown up.

When Meaghan O'Connell got accidentally pregnant in her twenties and decided to keep the baby, she realized that the book she needed -- a brutally honest, agenda-free reckoning with the emotional and existential impact of motherhood -- didn't exist. So she decided to write it herself.

And Now We Have Everything is O'Connell's exploration of the cataclysmic, impossible-to-prepare-for experience of becoming a mother. With her dark humor and hair-trigger B.S. detector, O'Connell addresses the pervasive imposter syndrome that comes with unplanned pregnancy, the fantasies of a "natural" birth experience that erode maternal self-esteem, post-partum body and sex issues, and the fascinating strangeness of stepping into a new, not-yet-comfortable identity.

Channeling fears and anxieties that are still taboo and often unspoken, And Now We Have Everything is an unflinchingly frank, funny, and visceral motherhood story for our times, about having a baby and staying, for better or worse, exactly yourself.

Smart, funny, and true in all the best ways, this book made me ache with recognition." -- Cheryl Strayed

Critic reviews

"This honest, neurotic, searingly funny memoir of pregnancy and childbirth is a welcome antidote in the panicked-expectant-mothers canon -- though its gripping narrative will appeal to nonparents, too."—New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice

"Meaghan O'Connell writes with bracing clarity about the milk-soaked days of pregnancy and early parenthood, and I (truly) laughed and cried reading her account of crossing the great human divide. The biggest compliment of all: I used several hours of daylight childcare hours reading this book, just because I didn't want to put it down."—Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of Modern Lovers

"Smart, funny, and true in all the best ways, this book made me ache with recognition of what it felt like to be a new mom (and a human)."—Cheryl Strayed

"A stunningly insightful book."—Lydia Kiesling, The Millions

"The harrowing, hilarious, totally honest account of parenthood we've all been waiting for. O'Connell's story is compulsively readable for parents and non-parents alike, as much about being young and unprepared for life as bringing another human into this chaotic world."—Sarah Gerard, author of Sunshine State

"As someone who hopes to have kids someday, but has no idea what that might mean, reading this book felt like getting the first honest glimpse into that world after a lifetime of clichés."—Julie Buntin, authorof Marlena

"As any parent knows, having a child is akin to detonating a tiny bomb in the middle of your otherwise wonderful life. O'Connell is fearless when negotiating the mess and magic of such difficult terrain, the place where fantasy goes to die and a genuine adult must rise in its stead (and function perfectly on no sleep). And Now We Have Everything is like the very best conversations, the ones you have in lowered tones at the back of a smoky bar with a trusted friend-funny, dark, and threaded with just the right amount of hope."—CynthiaD'Aprix Sweeney, New York Timesbestselling author of The Nest

"And Now We Have Everything shows how the most normal thing in the world - having an ordinary, healthy baby after an ordinary, healthy pregnancy - means being visited with all possible extremes of pain, fear, and love. O'Connell renders this normal and horrific experience real, in both emotional sweep and brutal particulars. The question she asks is simple: What is it like? And this joyous, useful, grim book tells it straight: 'F****** awful.'"—NPR

"It's impossible to praise this book without realizing how the words we use to describe prose often originate in the words we use to describe the experiences of the body: laid bare, warm, ecstatic, brutal. And Now We Have Everything is a stark reminder of the beating, breakable hearts of the world's mothers."—AlanaMassey, author of All the Lives I Want

Thank you for this beautiful book

I cried so many times listening to this and recognized so much of the life experience it describes. Honest, beautiful, human.

Really interesting & personal perspective

I loved this book, perhaps because I can really relate, even though I have not had kids. The author is how I suspect I would be and sometimes even how I am now. The personal nature occasionally almost brought me to tears, but it was also reassuring to hear someone talk so openly about their struggles.

Amazing!

Nothing more real, I feel like someone is finally telling the truth. And yeah why the fuck are things so goddamn important it all passes.

A Must for Every New Mom

At first Meaghan's croaky voice startled me but as she read her words I realized that her voice matched the feeling that many new mothers have - desperation and confusion. This is a must for any new mom!

Plan B, C & D

I listened to this many years after I had our sons. “ The Plan” is never “the plan.” It’s validating to hear her story and realize it’s okay when things don’t go as planned. Loved the author’s honesty, voice and intonations.