from the hips.

During my daily check of Apartment Therapy: the Nursery, I learned about from the hips, what seems like the latest {and most honest} of the pregnancy, postpartum, and new mommy books. It's labeled: "a comprehensive, open minded, uncensored, totally honest guide to pregnancy, birth and becoming a parent." It's like drawing on the experience of a panel of best friends that are willing to share the amazing, the crazy and the nitty gritty. Invaluable, really!

From their intro,

Should I have an amniocentesis? Should I eat this tuna sandwich? Should I circumcise? Will my baby be more comfortable in a $37 organic cotton onesie? Seriously, will this tuna really hurt the fetus? And what the hell is a doula anyway?

"Like most women, we found ourselves braving the road to motherhood without a decent map. We were shocked to discover that every piece of media we encountered on the subject of having a baby made us feel pressured to act in one way or another, rather than encouraging us to find our own voices as parents. There we were, newly pregnant, giddy with excitement as we browsed the bookshelves. To the right, the old-school medical advisory manual, bursting with what to freak out about when you're expecting. To the left, the wise-cracking Hollywood mom, wagging a manicured finger at us all the way to the hospital. Who else? The rustic midwife? The Belgian nun? The more we read the more lost and intimidated we felt."

I think we could all use a good manual. I flipped through my collection of books several times a day during my pregnancy with Cole. Because answers bring a little bit of settlement to a life that is suddenly upheaved {in the best of ways}. It would help with some of the I wish I knews.