What to Expect Before You’re Expecting

The Complete Guide to Getting Pregnant

By: Heidi Murkoff

Narrated by: Heidi Murkoff, Meeghan Holaway, Emma Bing, James Patrick Cronin, Khristine Hvam, Vanessa Johansson, Inés del Castillo, Almarie Guerra, Tanis Parenteau, Mat Vairo, Jasmin Walker, Sofia Willingham

Expecting to expect? Plan ahead with What to Expect Before You’re Expecting, America’s best-selling guide to getting pregnant, now available for the first time ever in audio, and narrated by author Heidi Murkoff. It’s your first step in What to Expect—an all-in-one plan for getting pregnant, from getting your bodies ready for conception, to getting that healthy baby on board faster.

With her trademark empathy, warmth, honesty, and humor, Heidi offers practical advice, savvy strategies, and reassuring, relatable answers to every conceivable question you might have about how to fast-track conception—and support through any bumps you might encounter along the way to that baby bump of your dreams. You'll hear how to figure out your fertility (and his); about baby-friendly foods to order up (say yes to yams); fertility busters to avoid (see you later, saturated fat); how to pinpoint ovulation, time baby-making sex, keep on-demand sex sexy, and separate conception fact (it takes the average couple up to 12 months to make a baby) from myth (position matters). Plus how lifestyle (from how much you work out to how much coffee you drink to whether you or your partner smoke or use marijuana), weight, age, and other factors can impact fertility for hopeful moms and dads.

This go-to-guide to getting pregnant presents the most up-to-date information on health insurance coverage, genetic screening, preconception travel, sex selection techniques, and family-building options for single women and same-sex couples. And, for the one in eight couples who experience infertility, What to Expect Before You’re Expecting offers the latest on both low-tech and cutting-edge fertility treatments, from medications to IVF and surrogacy. It’s everything you and your partner need to know for that baby-making adventure ahead.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, an accompanying PDF of charts and diagrams will be available in your Audible Desktop Library along with the audio.

©2009, 2017 What to Expect, LLC. (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Educational and helpful

I wish I had read this before experiencing my fertility challenges during my first marriage. I enjoyed the experience of learning this material while processing the loss of my marriage and cultivating realistic hopes for the future!

Ugh

I can’t stand the way this book is written. The puns, alliterations, and jokes are nauseating. It was so painful to listen to.

Old Fashioned Education

I am not pregnant nor have I ever been pregnant. I read this to get acquainted with what I should expect and I what I should be doing. A few things in this book were incredibly helpful while most things (like the reproductive system) was delivered in too much detail to be helpful. This is definitely a book where you can skip some parts because it won’t pertain to you. If you can borrow this book, then great. Otherwise, don’t waste your money.

Great Info, Terrible Narrator (sorry!)

I found the info in this book to actually be really helpful and informative, however the narrator's voice is hard to listen to. Her tone doesn't adjust for the subject matter so she will be talking about antidepressants or miscarriage in the most chipper happy voice with a slight giggle in her inflection. I actually burst out laughing when she said "Antidepressants" with the same tone of voice one might use when saying "Congratulations!" Or "Happy Birthday!" it was such an inappropriate tone of voice to use lol. Overall I stuck with it and genuinely appreciated the content, but be ready for a very cringey narrative voice.

Great Info. TERRIBLE Delivery.

I thought the info in this book was really, really good overall, but oh man. Heidi Murkoff was a BAD choice as the reader. It was difficult to get past her poor performance and focus solely on the information. I would recommend the book, but be ready for a cringe-fest.

Better as a physical book, most is common sense

There's nothing like the excitement of planning a baby with your partner to get your need for information and to-do's in gear (at least, if you're a Type A personality). Knowing the great reputation for this book's sequel, What to Expect When You're Expecting, I figured this would be the endless fountain of the information every uterus-owning person planning on a baby would want and need to know. What I got was a textbook, read by someone whose tone is less gal-pal and more slightly condescending nurse with bad attempts at humor and slightly sexist jokes. It's all a bit eyeroll-inducing. The first few chapters are all things anyone could guess at without even trying, followed by information that comes up after a quick Google search. "Planning a baby? Eat healthy, get your weight where the doctors tell you it should be, and stop drinking, smoking, or taking recreational drugs." That's literally the summary of the first third of the book, without the condescending tone.

The audiobook might have been better if you knew easily what sections you could skip, or if the narrator's tone weren't the same up-down pitch that sounds like the lady at the office who is fake-nice. It doesn't sound natural or conversational at all, but rather like someone who is the audio version of a motivational poster. I downloaded this on the first of the month and still haven't finished listening to it - it's that much of a chore.

The rest of the book does have some good information, but honestly would be more useful as a tangible book that you can take a highlighter to and just notate the stuff that's relevant to you personally. It's also still information that you can just as easily Google or ask your GP/Nurse Prac. Also, if you have anxiety, this might not be a good book since every symptom of conception and pregnancy is summarized as "It could be pregnancy, PMS, or -insert horrible medical thing here.-" Almost everything just says to ask your doctor. Um, thanks?

Find the book used cheap at Half Price Books and just mark up what you need with a highlighter, and save your monthly credit for something more entertaining.

OK But Needs Updated Information

I had zero issues with this book's information in any other section except the weight section. I felt it was inaccurate to boil down "health" to BMI especially for women. More modernly doctors (including my own) are including weight to hip ratios and other measurements to ensure a full picture is being taken. They spend a ton of time discussing this and I found it off-putting.

Must listen before TTC

It's really well written and easy to follow even if you don't know what TTC is.

I enjoyed how they made it easy to follow the abbreviated words and that it covers everything including infertility and how to cope with miscarriage.

I will also be reading /listening to the rest of this series.

Thank you

Informative but painful to listen to

I downloaded this book to educate myself on certain topics. The information in this book is useful but it is horribly narrated and the level of corny-ness is cringeworthy. I rolled my eyes so many times when listening to this, it was painful. I recommend if you can put that part behind you.

Not helpful

I’m really disappointed in how vague everything was. I wanted lists of medications, foods, and chemicals to avoid along with statistics and studies. Instead, it’s a whole lot of “maybe, could, potentially, everyone is different”. She also spends an absurd amount of time taking about the Zika Virus which only affects people in tropical climates who will probably never read this book. Will be returning it.