This book drove me to the brink of insanity as I realized that it is not financially possible, without a windfall, to do everything organically when it comes to our eventual pregnancy, let alone the two others that we will hopefully endure to follow. From food to beauty products to furniture to toys to household cleaners...AHHH! I've come to the conclusion that I have to prioritize. I'll do the best I can, and that will have to be good enough.

So basically, the book was a little too informative, lol. I really got a kick out of the reference to people thinking that following an organic lifestyle can be likened to the hippie generation of late, as my sister and brother-in-law often tease me about this very thing. What a load of malarkey! The Hippies were these zen-like, incense burning, stressfree people. Clearly racing thoughts of phthalates, parabens, pesticides and growth hormones is anything but stressfree and zen-like, and following suit, I am most definitely the polar opposite of any hippie I've ever had the chance of encountering.

This book drove me to the brink of insanity as I realized that it is not financially possible, without a windfall, to do everything organically when it comes to our eventual pregnancy, let alone the two others that we will hopefully endure to follow. From food to beauty products to furniture to toys to household cleaners...AHHH! I've come to the conclusion that I have to prioritize. I'll do the best I can, and that will have to be good enough.

So basically, the book was a little too informative, lol. I really got a kick out of the reference to people thinking that following an organic lifestyle can be likened to the hippie generation of late, as my sister and brother-in-law often tease me about this very thing. What a load of malarkey! The Hippies were these zen-like, incense burning, stressfree people. Clearly racing thoughts of phthalates, parabens, pesticides and growth hormones is anything but stressfree and zen-like, and following suit, I am most definitely the polar opposite of any hippie I've ever had the chance of encountering.

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I've never been (and never plan to be) pregnant, but this book is invaluable anyway. I was given several review copies and felt silly for not sending all of them to baby-bearing friends, but even for the not-pregnant, the book contains all kinds of useful information about how to avoid daily toxins. And that's something that has served me as the mother to already-born kids, too! ( )

Like most every other pregnancy book on the market, this one preys on the fears and insecurities of women who are pregnant for the first time and not sure what to do. This book doesn't concentrate so much on pregnancy, rather on pre-pregnancy planning and the hundreds of hidden dangers out there and how you should avoid them. Some of the advice was sage; you shouldn't use household cleaners that contain loads of toxic chemicals because those chemicals could have a negative effect on your developing fetus. But, some of the advice was hooey, like you shouldn't drink out of plastic water bottles because you can ingest plastic vapors that have seeped into your water. I don't personally think drinking out of plastic water bottles is bad. There are definitely worse things you could do. After reading the section about toxic chemicals in beauty products, I did get rid of things that contained toxic chemicals, and I even found several new brands of products that are all-natural and don't contain these bad chemicals (Burt's Bees, Dr. Bronners, Alba Botanica, Oyin and some Lush products) but it has taken a lot of searching.

I don't think the author should encourage drinking while trying to conceive. In one part she recommends if the pregnancy test comes out negative, pour yourself a glass of wine and try again. While it sounds hunky-dory to have a glass of wine, she doesn't mention that some pregnancy test results could deliver a false negative (say you aren't pregnant when you are) and it's dangerous to drink alcohol with a developing embryo/fetus. So, my advice to people trying to conceive? Don't drink at all. Just resign yourself to not drinking.

If you are looking for a good book about pregnancy, check out "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" by Dr. Glade B. Curtis. ( )

This book is exactly what I was looking for. It's a thorough overview of everything you need to know if you want to give your baby an organic start to life. The book covers food, home and work environment, beauty products, and on and on. But what I really loved was that it provides all this information without stressing you out about it and making you feel like a loser for not doing everything right away. The authors are great about reminding you to do what you can because anything you can do will benefit your baby.

The only thing I really wish it had was a checklist or summary to pull it all together so I can see everything in one list. So I think I'll make my own checklist.

I'm glad I own this one because I'll be referring to it often! ( )