Baby Laughs By Jenny McCarthy

I have to give McCarthy more credit for this book; I liked it. Now, you probably won’t learn a whole lot of new stuff, and I’m sure you’ll survive if you don’t read it. But it is entertaining and funny. Everyone can relate to a lot of the things McCarthy mentions of the first year. Being a new mom, there are a lot of changes. It’s like no other time in your life. McCarthy takes a funny approach to these things to help lighten some of the situations. Not everything about recovering from having a baby is pleasant. This book, however, is balanced with the wonderful things a new baby brings.

McCarthy shares the same feelings as many mothers. I love how she mentioned the motherly instinct throughout the book. I’m real big on this, so I appreciated it. Of course, she ignored her motherly instinct when she circumcised her son. I do like how she mentions this topic, however. She talks about how hard it was for her to do it to her son and how she felt so bad and couldn’t even be there when they did it. Yes indeed, this was her instincts to protect her baby from harm and pain announcing themselves live and well. All women have this, whether we choose to listen or not is the issue. I would say something you can’t stand being present for is something that probably shouldn’t be done, especially if the majority of the world’s men are not circumcised, and there is no medical indication.

McCarthy also redeems herself in this book in the case of breastfeeding. She had some fears of breastfeeding due to having implants, therefore she chose not to. She readily acknowledges her ignorance in this book, and if I remember correctly, she plans to with her next baby. Good for her.

This book is also not as vulgar as the last one. It has some cursing that I could live without, but ultimately, it didn’t detract from the book as much as last time.
Now there are, of course, some cons to this book. It’s still written in the frame of mind as normal society. There’s nothing alternative or holistic about it. But really, did we expect that? There’s stuff on doctor visits and vaccines, medications- a lot about Tylenol, cribs, a disliking of cosleeping, and the like. There’s a lot about her difficult birth. A lot of things about this part I feel very strongly about, but I’ll refrain from getting into that again.

I do so wish McCarthy would quit referring to giving birth as blowing out your vagina. It is so graphic and also absurd. Some women do tear or are cut, but your vagina doesn’t just get blown out. Also, tearing and cutting are directly more likely with an epidural and coached pushing. There are plenty of ways to preserve that tissue. Many women don’t tear at all- though typically in a hospital birth, this is much less the case due to the way this stage of labor is managed. At least she didn’t say it quite so many times in this book.

There’s still a lot in this book about her a** and cellulite. She must have felt a lot of pressure to lose the baby weight. It’s not just Hollywood either. Many mainstream postpartum books focus on this. I personally was too consumed with breastfeeding and making good milk than to really worry about the weight. That can come later. Honestly, losing every bit of baby weight for us normal women is not a crisis.

Ultimately, this book is funny with a lot of good insight. It’s an easy and quick read. Don’t rush out and buy it though. Your local library probably has it.