The Book: Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood

The Story: Pretty simple:  Jenny McCarthy made a lot of dough off of her first book, Belly Laughs, and figured that she should keep on riding that train.

She talks a lot about the big things that parents deal with in the first year:  recovering from delivery, feeding their new little one, dealing with poop, having sex again, making time for yourself and buying fancy baby stuff.

What I Thought: I really loved Belly Laughs.  It made me feel so normal through my pregnancy.  I loved that Jenny kind of bared all and was really honest not only about her physical changes but also about her emotional and mental state through her pregnancy.  She made breaking stuff and eating enough for a football team seem normal and hilarious.

This book didn’t really do that.

She talked a lot about delivery and “blowing out your vagina” (even though she had a c-section…) and feeding your baby and the effect it has on your breasts (even though she formula fed) and about having hemorrhoids…. again. The jokes about leg hair and cellulite and butt fat and avoiding sex were all the same ones that she had used in Belly Laughs, so while they made me chuckle, I really didn’t laugh at this one like I did at the first one.

I think what kind of turned me off was how she tried to give genuine medical advice at certain points.  Huh? You’re not a doctor, you are a former Playmate.  You hosted Singled Out.  Just be funny and perky and pretty. Thanks. (And I haven’t even read her book on vaccines causing autism. Eek.)

This was a quick, easy read, but I still don’t really think that it was worth the time it took to read it.

Conclusion: Skip this.  Read Operating Instructions instead.  It’s amazing.

The Book: Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Child birth, by Jenny McCarthy

The Story: Former Playmate and host of that hilarious show on MTV (Singled Out?) gets pregnant.  She and her husband had been trying for awhile, so she was excited but also totally shocked.

The book is set up in these short little chapters that are pretty much just little quips about different aspects of being pregnant.  She covers morning sickness, weight gain, over eating, exhaustion, and then stuff that people don’t talk about as much: hemorrhoids, constipation, pooping while giving birth, and having sex when you are the size of a whale.

Some of it is heartfelt, you can tell that she is truly excited about being pregnant, but her take on it is more humorous.  Belly Laughs is written really conversationally so it feels like just  a good friend who has gone through this letting you know what to expect.

What I Thought: My first exposure to this book came probably 5 or 6 years ago.  I was working at a summer camp and my mom sent this to me in a box with other care packagey goodness. I thought it was so strange. I was single then and not even in the “thinking of baby” ballpark.  She just thought it looked funny and knew that I’d always cracked up at Jenny McCarthy.  I read it then and laughed, but not half as much as I did this time.

Mostly I laughed because I was just like, “Yes. That is exactly how it is.”  In one part she talks about the Psycho Chick that comes out during pregnancy and she says that you know what you’re saying is totally crazy, but knowing that and doing anything to stop it are two totally different things. Amen, amen, amen.  I’ve had Psycho Chick come out a couple times and afterwards, Shaun and I have kind of laughed because… what just happened?! It was hilarious to read about her throwing the remote at her husband because he pointed out that her tea had caffeine in it.  I get it. I really do.

The other part that made me laugh til I cried was when Jenny talked about how she’d see food on TV and have to have it NOW.  She talked about NEEDING some shake n bake chicken. Oh, so funny.  She said that she’d make her husband run out and get just random stuff in the middle of the night.  Sort of like how I made Shaun go get some sparkling grape juice so I could make an ice cream float in it.  Which was delicious, might I add.

And I think that that is the appeal of this book.  It is not a pregnancy book where you are going to get a lot of medical advice or get to read what will happen week by week.  I’m sure that there are books for that, but none of them will be as relatable as this book.  I would recommend this as light reading for any pregnant woman. And their husband too, if he is a brave, brave man.

Conclusion: Read this.  Buy this for your pregnant friends.  This is one that will not make you have nightmares, but will make you cringe for sure.  Good stuff.