When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads

The double whammy of successful infertility treatments and an increase in the number of women having children later in life has resulted in a staggering--but perhaps not surprising--phenomenon: a tremendous increase in twin, triple, and quadruple births. When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads is an outstanding, much-needed addition to the pregnancy genre for women who face the alternating joy, terror, and ambivalence associated with carrying, delivering, and coping with young multiples.

Subjects like nutrition, mom's changing body and emotions, fetal development, potential complications, and labor and delivery take on new meaning when you add another baby or two to the standard equation. With the goal of minimizing risk factors associated with multiple births, Dr. Barbara Luke and her team of writers cover each subject with a buoyant determination to tell it all and tell it well--avoiding the typical "how to name and dress your twins" issues. Accompanying the detailed medical perspective of Dr. Luke are personal experiences gathered from the journals of a few articulate moms, making each subject as real as it is educational. Simple illustrations, valuable charts (including one to plot and monitor fetal growth in grams or pounds), specific menu examples (like how can you consume 4,500 calories if you're expecting quads???), and lots of reassurance make this book a winner. --Liane Thomas