For All Maternity: What They Didn't Tell Me About Marriage, Motherhood, and Having a Baby

When should I start a family? Why do I want to become a mother? How will my life change after having a baby? It's easy for questions like these to plague the mind of an already multi-tasking woman who just wants to shop for cute onesies.

In For All Maternity, Emily Pardy encourages newlyweds and would-be parents to ask the hard questions while humorously sharing her own tumultuous journey into motherhood. From sitting awkwardly in marriage counseling to learning how to breast-pump in the middle of the workday, her bumpy road to motherhood encounters lessons about body image, boundaries, and belief in a God who is more trustworthy than any baby book around. Includes practical and witty advice on subjects like:

· Are we ready to start a family? First steps for a baby

· The value of creating a Value System for our household

· To tell or not to tell

· Boy, oh boy, is that body a'changin'!

· Choosing a birth plan

· Expecting the unexpected

· The Unicorn Effect--the celebrity status of a pregnant woman

· Determining which postpartum feelings are normal

· To work or not to work

· How friendships change and mom-friends become a lifeline

· Never neglect your spiritual growth

· Making friends with your new body: a Jesus view

· The Selfish Scale

· How real is social media?

· Parenting, love, and logic

· Remembering What's-His-Name: Dating Again!

This funny pregnancy book will have you laughing and crying as Pardy makes crystal clear from her own experience that when you have a baby you give birth to a new marriage, a new home design, a new schedule--and last but not least--new friendships.