Author(s): Tori Bowman Johnson; Catherine Malady (Illustrator); Jacqui Porter (Designed by)

PARENTING

From the author of AFTERWARDS, Postpartum Life Mum to Mum. The Sweet, The Awkward, The Awkward, The Perplexing, comes BEFORE. After all, Before there can be Afterwards, there must be a big belly! Pregnancy should be peppered with beautiful growth & innocent bliss as you patiently wait to cradle your darling bundle. With every minute that passes, your heart deepens into immeasurable depths. It's sensational as you witness your body take such natural lead. While delving into the sweetness, we should also appreciate the more peculiar and somewhat uncomfortable aspects of pregnancy life, should we not? Chubby ankles, niggling nausea, ferocious fatigue ... and a few unwelcome toots. In a frank, sincere and unfiltered tone, BEFORE sets off to explore the pregnancy terrain! Understanding the plethora of scans & the medical lingo, to learning about safe exercise, sex, sleep, nutrition, mental health + all of the taboo aspects women may associate with an 'ick' factor ... depsite the fact we are all probably wondering, '...what's up with the swollen hoo-hoo?"A cast of brilliant professionals in the pre and postnatal space have joined the pages of BEFORE, as well as a collection of mothers who have written letters to their pregnant selves offering true understanding & light. Women carrying twins! Women in same-sex relationships! Stepmums carrying their first little wonder, and women who become spectacular mothers after suffering previous loss, long hauls with fertility, IVF and stillbirth. This book is a palmful of love & solace for every woman who reads.