‘Baby groups: a soft, cosy haven for the new mum, right? Um. No. Or is it just me?’ Stevie’s life has changed beyond recognition since having her first baby. She loves being a mum, but between the isolation and being vomited on five times a day, she really wishes she had someone to talk to. With husband Ted working hard to keep the family afloat, Stevie doesn’t want to burden him with her feelings. Turning to the internet, Stevie starts the anonymous First-Time Mum blog and blasts the rose-tinted glasses of parenthood right off her readers. In the real world, Stevie meets the formidable Nelle and gorgeous Will, along with their own little treasures, and starts to realise that being a ‘perfect mum’ isn’t everything. But when the secret blog goes viral, Stevie must make some tough choices about who she wants to be, and whether she’s ready for the world to know the truth... A perfect laugh-out-loud read for fans of Gill Sims, Fiona Gibson and Milly Johnson. Praise for Confessions of a First-Time Mum: ‘The story and the writing was hilarious, but the sentiment within it was awfully, wonderfully true’ Lilac Mills, author of Love in the City by the Sea ‘A fun, laugh out loud book also with lots of tender moments. Perfect for new mums, old mums and no mums! Everyone can enjoy this book! Would definitely recommend!’ Stardust Book Reviews ‘A fantastic, relatable read for anyone who has children of their own. Hell, even if I didn't have a child, I am sure I still would have loved reading about Stevie’ The Writing Garnet ‘Where the baby wipes was this book when my daughter was born?!’ The Writing Garnet

From the creator of The Honest Toddler comes a fiction debut “perfect for readers looking for a funny, realistic look at motherhood” (Booklist, starred review). There are good moms and bad moms . . . and then there are hot-mess moms. Confessions of a Domestic Failure introduces readers to Ashley Keller, career girl turned stay-at-home mom who’s trying to navigate the world of Pinterest-perfect mommies. When Ashley gets the chance to enroll in a mommy-blog maven’s Motherhood Better boot camp, she jumps at the chance to become the perfect mom she’s always wanted to be. But the pursuit of perfection has a way of going perfectly wrong. With her razor-sharp wit, Bunmi Laditan creates an unforgettable and hilariously relatable character while lambasting the social pressures every new mother faces. “Freaking hilarious. This is the novel moms have been waiting for.” —Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened

From the New York Times bestselling author of Confessions of a Scary Mommy and the wildly popular blog ScaryMommy.com, a hilarious new essay collection that exposes the “vicious lies” that every parent is told. Newly pregnant and scared out of her mind, Jill Smokler lay on her gynecologist’s examination table and was told the biggest lie she’d ever heard in her life: “Motherhood is the most natural thing in the world.” Instead of quelling her nerves like that well intentioned nurse hoped to, Jill was instead set up for future of questioning exactly what DNA strand she was missing that made the whole motherhood experience feel less than natural to her. Wonderful? Yes. Miraculous? Of course. Worthwhile? Without a doubt. But natural? Not so much. Jill’s first memoir, the New York Times bestseller Confessions of a Scary Mommy, rocketed to national fame with its down and dirty details about life with her three precious bundles of joy. Now Jill returns with all-new essays debunking more than twenty pervasive myths about motherhood. She’s here to give you what few others will dare: The truth.

You are having a baby! Congratulations! Now, the reality hits you -- what the heck am I doing? What if you could bottle the wisdom of all those parents who've come before you ... and combine it with the solid medical advice from an award-winning pediatrician? Baby 411 is the answer! Book jacket.

I don't know how she does it! is an oft-heard refrain about mothers today. Funnily enough, most moms agree they have no idea how they get it done, or whether they even want the job. Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile spoke to mothers of every stripe--working, stay-at-home, part-time--and found a surprisingly similar trend in their interviews. After enthusing about her lucky life for twenty minutes, a mother would then break down and admit that her child's first word was "Shrek." As one mom put it, "Am I happy? The word that describes me best is challenged." Fresh from the front lines of modern motherhood comes a book that uncovers the guilty secrets of moms today . . . in their own words. I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids diagnoses the craziness and offers real solutions, so that mothers can step out of the madness and learn to love motherhood as much as they love their kids.

While there are many areas of controversy in the world of nutrition, there is unequivocal evidence that breast milk is best to feed our babies. In Australia the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recently updated their advice after reviewing the scientific research. They now recommend exclusive breastfeeding to around 6 months of age and continuing to breastfeed alongside complementary foods until the baby is 12 months of age and longer if both mum and baby wish. Unfortunately we are not achieving anywhere near these recommendations. Although we have excellent rates of mums initiating breastfeeding after birth with 96% choosing to do so, this falls away dramatically in the first few months. By 3 months of age only 39% of babies are still being exclusively breastfed, and by 5 months only 15%. There are a number of reasons why this may occur. Mothers returning to work, lack of support in dealing with problems breastfeeding, concerns over whether the baby has enough milk, wanting others to be able to feed the baby, and a lack of confidence to breast feed, especially in public, have all been cited as reasons to cease breastfeeding. In some cases there is also a lack of understanding as to the benefits of breastfeeding for both mum and baby and so the motivation to continue doing so may dwindle.That is where this fantastic book from Rowena Gray comes in. Not only does she expertly explain the science and physiology of breastfeeding, clearly outlining the many benefits, she packs in all of the practical information a new mum needs to know. Every conceivable problem is covered with potential solutions and direction given as to where to seek further help when necessary. I have no doubt that this will fast become the feeding bible for all new mums and I sincerely hope the end result is far more babies reaping the benefits of nature's truly amazing first food.

What moms never expected when they were expecting. "Mom never warned me that my life would change this dramatically when I had kids. Some things, I could deal with. The others hit me unexpectedly, like a tsunami. Emma was my tsunami ..." Her expectations ... Megan Turner, a naive 28-year-old woman believed that all her planning would make her well prepared for Emma, her first child. Little did she grasp that all the research in the world would not prepare her for the changes in her body post partum and the impact of a new baby to her marriage. His expectations .... Caleb Turner, her aggressive, dominating husband had been patient the past nine months, throughout the whole pregnancy, but it was time Megan got her priorities right. He came first and she couldn't ignore him any longer. Torn between her responsibilities as a mother and wife, Megan struggles to overcome her obsession with milk. Will their tale end up as a tragic love story? And after all the painful words and actions, can their passions and love still remain strong? Sneak a peek into how this new mother feels: "Nursing Emma on the rocking chair, my frustration grew as I realized that he was punishing me for rejecting him, for not submitting to his demands and for insisting on doing things my way. I hated it when he tried to dictate how I should live my life and yet, it was this same strength in him - the ability to make decisions, to lead - that drew me to him in the first place. I wanted him to respect my right to make decisions for this family too but somehow or another, I had ended up pushing him further away." About the author Kathryn Michaels' first reality-inspired novel, Crazy for Milk, discusses the emotional and physical journey of a new mother as she was confronted with her husband's demands for sex while she was breastfeeding. Written in a story-based format, it addresses the things, many women have confided, they wished their own mothers had told them, to make their first year of motherhood easier - but sadly, few ever had that conversation