The Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant

By: Jean M. Twenge PhD, Sarah Appleton MD

Narrated by: Vanessa Daniels

Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Trying to get pregnant is enough to make any woman impatient. The Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant is a complete guide to the medical, psychological, social, and sexual aspects of getting pregnant, told in a funny, compassionate way, like talking to a good friend who's been through it all. And in fact Dr. Jean Twenge has been through it all - the mother of three young children, she started researching fertility when trying to conceive for the first time.

A renowned sociologist, Dr. Twenge brought her research background to the information that she encountered online, from family and friends, and in books and decided to go into the latest studies to find out the real story. The good news is there is a lot less to worry about than you've been led to believe. Dr. Twenge gets to the heart of the emotional issues around getting pregnant, including how to prepare mentally and physically when thinking about conceiving; how to talk about it with family, friends, and your partner; and how to handle the great sadness of a miscarriage. Also covered is how to know when you're ovulating, when to have sex, timing your pregnancy, maximizing your chances of getting pregnant, how to tilt the odds toward having a boy or a girl, and the best prenatal diet.

©2012 Jean Twenge (P)2017 Tantor

Better as a book

I love this book! Full of great facts and the list of references at the end definitely makes me feel like the author did her homework and can be trusted. The book is full of facts and figures, and after listening to about an hour I went and bought a hard copy instead. 1. So it would be easier to look up facts and figures at a fixture date and 2 so I could share with my husband.

I understand the author was trying to add a little humour into the mix, which did keep it on the lighter side of reading, but in doing so I found she made some large generalizations of the male population that I found bothersome at times. If we keep talking about how men do nothing around the house and need reminders to participate in our relationships with them, we put them at a different level and we're no longer equals and partners.

Great book that is very helpful.

I love that the author is realistic and is HUMAN. She explains why you might feel the way you do, she explains why things might happen, and she shares her own personal experiences (instead of a male doctor telling you its "normal to feel that way"). The absolute best parts of this book is that the author researches well known studies and finds that they are false or from the 17th century (far outdated for today's technology), and explains things in a way that a non-medical personale would be able to understand. I would recommend this book to everyone, including my close family and friends.

Good information, but pokes fun at men too much

I liked the book, and would read it again for the information it provides. The only thing that really irked me was a lot of sexism and jokes at men’s expense. My husband is an awesome fully developed human who is just as complex emotionally as anyone else. It felt pandering to “use sports statistics” to teach men fertility stats as just one example. These things were attempts at humor, but instead of making me laugh it just made me uncomfortable. Otherwise I really enjoyed the science statistics, and feel better informed about ttc now.

Too many male/female stereotypes and bad jokes

I really wanted to like this book but it was not the case.
1. There is some important information within the book, however, most of the data you could find by google-ing online, using a period app, or joining a TTC community.
2. The chapter on healthy eating wasn't really helpful as she is obviously someone who simplifies fertility dieting to just eating spinach, olives, and salmon.
3. The jokes actually get annoying very quickly
4. The book was written around 2012 but sounds like it was written in the 1940s. Women are stereotyped as "crazy" or "irrational" but she uses the word "impatient," as if wanting or planning a baby is a symptom of hysteria. Men are stereotyped like Homer Simpson: too stupid or not invested, other than just doing it when they aren't busy watching sports and scratching their crotch.
5. Doesn't consider single women wanting kids or gay/lesbian couples.

Feels like it was written in the 1950's

The author seems to either hate her husband or be so enmeshed in ancient and offensive gender stereotypes that it's hard to see through her delivery to the data.

Cringey

The constant jokes about how the husband won’t care or will “roll his eyes” at parts of the conception process made me want to crawl out of my skin. It’s a dated, out of touch reference to what fatherhood used to be which took me entirely out of the content. The jokes were just…rough.

Repetitive and not helpful

Maybe this book is useful if you’ve only been trying to get pregnant for a short amount of time. Otherwise, it’s crappy advice from someone who doesn’t know what it’s like to go through years of infertility.

Fun informative good read

Fun informative read. Helps set right expectations. Totally relatable. Highly recommend to TTC women. Enjoyed it!

Exactly what I needed

Short, sweet and very much to the point. Honest about the facts vs the myths and sprinkled with some humor, this book helped so much. I would recommend it to everyone, even those who are not necessarily impatient. Pack with info every woman trying to have a baby should know.

Good primer, relatable

Not going to lie—the most funny lines are in the sample, but the author was relatable and there was good information.
I would argue some small details about nutrition, but the author acknowledges that there are lots of different and changing opinions, so I’m not holding it against her. I would just recommend further research, yourself. Personally, I’m more into animal fats and red meats and less into greens, but you’ll have to research it, yourself.