A personal chronicle of the journey through pregnancy, birth, and the first twelve months of motherhood. This description may be from another edition of this product.
"This is a fresh longing now for an experience I have lived before," writes Debra Rienstra, "First, the deep attentiveness of pregnancy, then the harrowing intensity of birth, then that surrender of the self to demands that press the boundaries of endurance and to a small person who, once here, will make any previous life seem impossibly incomplete." Great With Child: On Becoming a Mother is the true story of Rienstra's journey...
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A friend loaned me 'Great With Child' while I was expecting my own baby. I was immediately drawn to the author's thoughtful insight and beautiful prose. Rienstra reminds you, in the midst of the nausea and exhaustion, that you are participating in the creation of new life, which is an awesome priviledge and responsibility. Parts of the book were incredibly funny, and I found myself reading bits aloud to the amusement of my...
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This book was a gift from a dear Aunt who understood what was involved in the birth process. During my pregnancy, I struggled to keep up with the daily reminders of what could go wrong each week...this book was a great relief from an obsession with information. I now give it as a gift to others. Thanks, Andrea
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Debra Rienstra describes motherhood as I believe many women experience it, not as a blissed-out fulfillment of one's existential destiny as a woman, nor as an unpleasant surprise consisting of limitations and involuntary servitude. I was so gratified to discover a personal account of motherhood as institution and experience that acknowledges the messy yet exalting realities: having children makes your life a hundred times...
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This book is highly recommended for those who want a break from "What to Expect While You are Expecting." Although I have never given birth, I gave this book to a mother-to-be friend of mine, and she raved about it. It seems to be a very thoughtful and feeling book rather than technical.I am, of course, a bit biased as I had Debra Rienstra for a literature professor in college (and I pray that she is not checking my grammar...
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