Situation Momedy: A First-Time Mom's Guide to Laughing Your Way Through Pregnancy & Year One by Jenna Von Oy | Book Review

(Doesn't she have adorable kids?!  The big eyes!)

I'll admit to a little trepidation going into this one; celebrity authors can be hit or miss.  Let me tell you:  Jenna Von Oy is a HIT!  This was a total page-turner for me, and I literally laughed out loud at parts.

In each chapter, Von Oy relays a brief story from her teen years, then relates it to a situation in her current mommy-mode, then reassures other about-to-be- or new-moms.  She doesn't sugarcoat the fact that she had a very different young adult life, due to her fame on Blossom and then The Parkers, but she still manages to come across as very down-to-earth.  By the end of the book, I was really wanting to have coffee (decaf, of course) with her!

The book was good right from the start, but I fell head-over-heels in love with it when she said early on that it's absolutely ok and normal to be amazed at the miracle of pregnancy... and also to admit that it's incredibly uncomfortable at times.  She suffered from morning sickness like I did, and then admits to beached-whale feeling during the 3rd trimester (I feel like I'm approaching that).  She even shared a picture in the book of her stranded on the couch with an especially bad day of morning sickness.  That's brave!  Hubby would've suffered my wrath if he'd tried to photograph me on a day like that!

Von Oy makes it very clear that she's not an expert or a pediatrician or a lifestyle coach; she's just a mom willing to share her journey so that we can all laugh together.  She shares her choices for her kids, and also reassures that other choices are just as good; it's just what works for you and your family.  (For example, she breastfeeds, but she acknowledges that's not always feasible or possible.  No shame in formula.)

Overall, I think I would sum this book up in two words:  "reassuring" and "humorous."  I read the other pregnancy books.  You know, the ones that say that if you don't eat kale every day your baby won't have full brain development or something like that.  And I've read the other other pregnancy books that over-share on gross delivery-room tales.  *wince*  This one falls solidly in the middle, making it the Goldilocks of pregnancy/new-mom books that I've read so far.

*I checked out my copy of Situation Momedy from my local library.