When I first found out I was pregnant, I remember feeling like there was so much I didn’t know. And that I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I also had tons of people telling me, “once the baby comes, you’ll figure it out.”
I’ve since learned that both of these things were true (for me at least). There are nuances to becoming a parent that no amount of reading or information gathering could have fully prepared me for, but I’m so glad that I did as much as I did to educate myself pre-baby. Not only did it help ease any anxiety or fear of the unknown ahead, but things I’ve read or watched have been immensely helpful a countless number of times (especially in those early postpartum days!).
Here are the books, classes, and resources that I relied on to prepare me for what was happening to my body during pregnancy, what the birthing experience would be like, and what to expect in the early days of my daughter’s life.
Books
I love to read, but self-help style books or those that are heavy on facts and light on narrative tend to lose me quickly. So, I honestly was kind of dreading picking up any pregnancy or parenting books. Thankfully, I found several books on these topics that I not only found incredibly helpful, but I truly loved reading. Here are my favorites:
 | Expecting Better and Cribsheet by Emily Oster
Shockingly, the author of both these books is an economist. Not exactly the profession that comes to mind when you think about pregnancy or parenting, but her books are just the perfect blend of data and storytelling. Expecting Better was the first book I read after getting pregnant, and I can’t tell you how glad I am that it was! Since it was my first pregnancy, I felt like I had people all around me, telling me all the things I couldn’t do. Like, I really wasn’t supposed to eat a turkey sandwich, or a steak that’s not charred to a crisp? Or get a spray tan or plant veggies in my garden? Seriously? Emily Oster’s book helped me understand the underlying factors behind some of these pregnancy “no-nos” and make the decisions that were best for me and my family. After reading Expecting Better, I knew I wanted to read her follow-up book as well, and Cribsheet was similarly helpful about making decisions for my daughter in her early life. |
 | The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp This one was a slightly less compelling read, but absolutely worth making my way through because it was incredibly valuable. Dr. Karp’s 5 S’s are swaddling, side/stomach, shushing, swinging, and sucking. They’re intended to calm fussy newborns and help them sleep, and they worked absolutely amazingly on our daughter during the newborn phase! He also has an accompanying video that may be helpful if you’re more of a visual or auditory learner, and is the inventor of the SNOO (which I LOVE and will talk more about in another post). |
 | Bringing up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman This was such a fascinating commentary on parenting and childhood in the US versus abroad. It helped me think through how to make decisions for my daughter that work best for our family’s lifestyle and values. I wouldn’t say this is an absolute must-read like the others on my list, but it was really entertaining and thought-provoking, so I wanted to include it. |
In-person birthing class
This concept always makes me think of a cheesy scene from a romcom, but my husband and I are both so glad we took an in-person birthing class together at the hospital where I planned to deliver. Getting a tour of their space and clear information about that hospital’s specific processes and procedures really helped us both paint a mental picture of what our daughter’s birth would be like when the time came.
I delivered at Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, CO - they offer birthing classes in a group setting on a regular cadence, and include a tour of the Labor & Delivery and Mom & Baby floors in each class session. Lutheran even offers a Daddy Boot Camp specifically to help new dads-to-be feel prepared and a New Grandparents class to teach grandparents about how things have changed since they had babies! Of course, each hospital will have different options when it comes to tours and birthing classes, but many offer them in some form (group, individual, etc.), so I definitely recommend researching what’s available at your specific hospital.
Online classes - birth & babies
My husband and I both took several online classes in addition to the in-person class before our daughter was born. We’re both a little bit type A, so while this may seem like overkill to some, for us it was just what we needed to feel as prepared as possible. There was some level of overlapping material amongst our various classes, but again, it felt worth it for us to help reinforce new information and it was helpful to have multiple perspectives on some of the topics. Here are the classes we took and what we liked about each:
I started following labor and delivery nurse Liesel Teen (aka @mommy.labornurse) on Instagram before I was even pregnant! She was my go-to for pregnancy and labor resources - I used her birth plan template, baby registry guide, and hospital bag packing list in addition to taking her online class. She offers three different versions of the Birth It Up class, depending on which birth method you’re planning (natural, epidural, or c-section). I decided relatively early in my pregnancy that I would likely want an epidural at some point during labor, so I chose the epidural version of the class, and loved the level of depth she went into about what the birthing experience is like. Although an epidural was my plan (and it ended up coming to fruition at about 8 cm dilated), we all know that labor doesn’t always go as planned, so I really appreciated that she still covered the basics of both a natural and c-section birth as well, so I had the information I needed no matter what direction my labor ended up going.
Karrie Locher (@karrie.locher on Instagram) is another must-follow account. She’s a postpartum and neonatal nurse and has five (yes, five!) kids of her own, so she’s a treasure trove of practical information on all things babies, breastfeeding, and postpartum. Where Liesel covered all things pregnancy and birth, Karrie became my go-to once my daughter was actually here! Her classes and social posts helped turn things that previously seemed abstract or theoretical in my mind (like giving a newborn a bath or getting a newborn to breastfeed) so much more real and doable.
This one is for the dads! My husband took it and absolutely loved it - he couldn’t stop telling me how helpful it was and how much more prepared he felt to support me and our baby girl after taking it.
These are all the things that worked for me and my husband as we navigated educating ourselves on pregnancy, birth, and babies. If you’re more go-with-the-flow than we are, you may be totally comfortable taking on all the newness that comes with becoming a parent without any of this - and that’s great! But if you do want a little help along the way, I hope my experience and recommendations are helpful.
Comments