After the IVF

Just finished a great book...the title is above and the author is Risa Green. It is a sequel to Notes from the Underbelly, a book I one day just bought randomly at the bookstore. The 1st one dealt with being pregnant and the sequel is the aftermath of having a baby. The main character lives in LA, has a working dh, and is on leave for most of the book from her job. It is really funny and sometimes I got exasperated with her, but she is my kind of gal. There are some really funny lines and terms in the novel, one being "mommunist," which she uses to describe all the mommy clones in her Mommy & Me class (they all drive range rovers, have $800 Bugaboo strollers, and all plan to be stay at home moms). I enjoy taking a peek into her particular mommy world, quite different from mine (I don't think there is a Mommy & Me class within a 500 mile radius of my town). But I do like the points the book makes as the main character realizes there is no one way to do it and that if you try to force yourself into a certain mold, it may make you unhappy and that it may not be the best thing to do you for child.

I know I have had struggles with that as I have been adapting into my Mom role. The end of the book has some discussion/ interview with the author and she brings up an interesting point about motherhood and how it has affected some members of this particular generation. That more of us have lives before we become moms (esp if we have kids in 30s and 40s) and that we need to realize that although we may love having a child, we need to acknowledge that we mourn for our past lives. In previous generations, she notes, many women went from being a member of one household/ family (daughter) and into another (wife. mother) without having the "single" or "married without kids" life.