Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-be by Rebecca Eckler

It has been a bit of time since my last review, but I’m back! Next up is Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-be by Rebecca Eckler

From Goodreads.com

Rebecca Eckler is a popular newspaper columnist who lives the fabulous life and gets paid to write about it. So when a tipsy romp with her fiancé on the night of their lavish engagement party leaves her unexpectedly expecting, she is utterly at a loss. How will a woman who loves nothing more than a night out on the town sipping cocktails with her fellow party girls survive the pregnant life?

Knocked Up is the witty, engaging and refreshingly frank chronicle of a modern woman’s journey into motherhood. We follow Eckler from the first trimester (a.k.a. the longest three months of her life), through the “fat months” of the second trimester, on to the “even fatter months” of the third. Flipping the pages of this Bridget-Jones-style diary, we share in Eckler’s discovery of prenatal vitamins and nursing bras, ultrasounds and obstetricians. And we experience her growing horror at the physical symptoms of pregnancy: all-day “morning” sickness, fatigue, varicose veins, and cravings. And the weight gain, oh the weight gain. Who knew the day would come when she could no longer put on her own socks?

Along for the ride is a cast of characters as comical as any met in fiction. There’s the Sexy Young Intern, a Sophia Loren look-a-like with her skinny eyes set on Eckler’s job; the glamorous friends who continue to drink Manhattans, while Eckler sips Perrier; and the Cute Single Man who knows just when she needs a carton of ice cream or a game of Scrabble. And then there’s the fiancé, living in another city, who, thanks to the miracle of long-distance phone lines, appreciates better than anybody the highs and lows of the hormonal rollercoaster pregnant Eckler is on.

Lighthearted, intimate, and very funny, Knocked Up is the diary of a modern mother-to-be determined not to let pregnancy and motherhood change her life. Not. One. Little. Bit.

The first thing I wanted to do after I found out I was pregnant was to go and buy a bunch of pregnancy books. Due to my love for reading I figured this would be the best way to learn about what would be happening over the next nine months. Being that this is my first pregnancy, I knew I had a whole lot to learn! It was off to the bookstore I went.

I was very excited when I saw the large pregnancy section at Barnes and Noble. That excitement turned out to be short lived. Instead of finding a bunch of books that might be interesting, I ended up surrounded by a bunch of books that just seemed cheesy. The delighted tone in which they talked about things such as nausea just put me off.

When I picked up Knocked Up, my excitement returned. I could tell from the back-cover blurb that this story did not fit the “cheesy/fake happy” vibe I was feeling from the other books. A read of this story confirmed my instincts. Its memoir style lead to instant credibility, as it had actually happened to the author! The honesty, the style, and the tone resulted in a book I enjoyed. I really did relate to Eckler and her experiences with pregnancy.

The thing I most enjoyed was that I felt as if I was having a conversation with a friend as I read. The author’s stories of food aversions and mood swings helped me commiserate as I remembered my own such experiences. These shared events made me feel better about my own journey into pregnancy. The book served as a great comfort in a confusing and unpredictable time.

Review: While I don’t agree with all of the author’s decisions during her pregnancy, I still very much enjoyed reading her journey. The book was hard to put down as I couldn’t wait to see what the author encountered next. Enjoyable read.