At a time when more and more women are trying to get pregnant at increasingly advanced ages, fertility specialists and homeopathic researchers boast endless treatment options. But when Julia Indichova made the rounds of medical doctors and nontraditional healers, she was still unable to conceive a child. It was only when she forsook their financially and emotionally draining advice, turning inward instead, that she finally met with reproductive success. Inconceivable recounts this journey from hopeless diagnoses to elated motherhood. Anyone who has faced infertility will relate to Julia's desperate measures: acupuncture, unidentifiable black-and-white pellets, herb soup, foul-smelling fruit, even making love on red sheets. Five reproductive endocrinologists told her that there was no documented case of anyone in her hormonal condition getting pregnant, forcing her to finally embark on her own intuitive regimen. After eight caffeine-free, nutrient-rich, yoga-laden months, complemented by visualization exercises, Julia received amazing news; incredibly, she was pregnant. Nine months later she gave birth to a healthy girl.Unlike the many infertility books that take a clinical how to approach, Inconceivable simply professes the wisdom of giving expert status back to the patient. Julia's self-discovery, and her ability to see her body as an ally once again, yield a beautiful message about the importance of honoring the body's innate powers, and the power of life itself.

    And it provides you with essential information about your health. The Fifth Vital Sign: Master Your Cycles and Optimize Your Fertility brings together over 1,000 meticulously researched scientific references in a textbook-quality guide to understanding your menstrual cycle.   In this book you’ll learn: What a normal cycle looks like; The best way to chart your cycle and increase your fertility awareness; How best to manage critical aspects of your health, including better sleep, exercise and a healthier diet; Natural methods for managing period pain and PMS; How to successfully avoid pregnancy without the pill; and How to plan ahead if you do want to get pregnant. The Fifth Vital Sign aims to better connect women with their menstrual cycles, to break the myth that ovulation is only important when you're ready to have a baby.   READ THE FIFTH VITAL SIGN TO BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR HEALTH AND FERTILITY Whether children are a part of your future plans or not, your health matters. Start learning more now, and take control of your health.   ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lisa Hendrickson-Jack is a certified Fertility Awareness Educator and Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner. She teaches women to chart their menstrual cycles for natural birth control, conception, and overall health monitoring. In her work, Lisa draws heavily from the current scientific literature and presents an evidence-based approach to fertility awareness and menstrual cycle optimization.

    But as she went into labour things began to go wrong and Laura started to struggle. A traumatic birth, anxiety about the baby, sleep deprivation, a slow recovery - all these things piled up until Laura (like any new mum) felt overwhelmed.As many as 8 out of 10 new mums struggle in the weeks after birth. In Laura's case these feelings escalated scarily quickly into post-partum psychosis. She became paranoid and delusional and had to be institutionalised for a fortnight without her baby. Throughout this time she was haunted by a sense of: 'What have I done?', at first as she wondered if she could cope with her baby, and later because she was trying to grasp at reality as she slipped into nightmarish delusion.Laura's experience was devastating but this is a hopeful book. Not only has Laura slowly recovered she has come out the other side stronger and more assured about parenting on her own terms. Now she is determined to break the silence around post-natal mental health and with her story tell new parents: you are not alone.

    But as scientists are discovering, much of the trusted advice that has been passed down through generations needs to be carefully reexamined.A thought-provoking combination of practical parenting information and scientific analysis, Our Babies, Ourselves is the first book to explore why we raise our children the way we do--and to suggest that we reconsider our culture's traditional views on parenting.In this ground-breaking book, anthropologist Meredith Small reveals her remarkable findings in the new science of ethnopediatrics. Professor Small joins pediatricians, child-development researchers, and anthropologists across the country who are studying to what extent the way we parent our infants is based on biological needs and to what extent it is based on culture--and how sometimes what is culturally dictated may not be what's best for babies.Should an infant be encouraged to sleep alone? Is breast-feeding better than bottle-feeding, or is that just a myth of the nineties? How much time should pass before a mother picks up her crying infant? And how important is it really to a baby's development to talk and sing to him or her?These are but a few of the important questions Small addresses, and the answers not only are surprising but may even change the way we raise our children.

    Written by two leading experts who have been there themselves and officially recommended by La Leche League International, The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk incorporates the latest research and discoveries about causes of low milk supply, the way your body makes milk, and how babies contribute to your milk production. Best of all, you'll find valuable suggestions for both time-honored and innovative ways to make more milk.Learn the facts about:Determining if baby is really getting enough milkSupplementing without decreasing your supplyMaximizing the amount of milk you can makeIdentifying the causes of your low supplyIncreasing your supply with the most effective methods, including pumping, herbs, medications, foods, and alternative therapiesMaking more milk when you return to work, exclusively pump, have a premie or multiples, relactate, or induce lactation

    In this new edition of their classic book, Dr. Shettles and David Rorvik provide authoritative scientific studies and compelling anecdotal evidence demonstrating that the Shettles method continues to produce results unmatched by any other method. Dozens of testimonials confirm its ease of use and rate of success.How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby explains the simple, at-home, noninvasive Shettles method and presents detailed steps to take to conceive a child of a specific gender. The properly applied Shettles method gives couples a 75 percent or better chance of having a child of the desired sex. Some researchers have reported success rates of up to 90 percent!

    Filled with necessary and convenient advice that takes the reader from the first months of pregnancy and beyond, this indispensable book explains:- The safest ways to get the house ready for the baby - The best baby gear-from clothes to crib mattresses - Organic recipes for health-conscious breastfeeding moms - How to throw a green baby shower - The best solutions for storing breast milk safely - How to keep play areas safe from chemicals - How to handle the diaper dilemma: wash vs. toss - And much more!

    Using a powerful combination of mindfulness, hypnosis and relaxation techniques, Sophie will ensure you feel genuinely excited and completely prepared for birth.With stories from women who have successfully used the tools in this book, and downloadable hypnosis and relaxation tracks, discover how to:- use your mind and body together to stay focused and in control- draw on visualisation and breathing techniques to help birth progress- feel positive and empowered, before, during and after you give birthReassuring, practical and based entirely on what works, Mindful Hypnobirthing is your essential guide to giving birth the way you want to.

    Now, 38 and pregnant, she had become a habitat—for a population of one.Having Faith is Steingraber's exploration of the intimate ecology of motherhood. Using her scientist's eye to study the biological drama of new life being knit from the molecules of air, food, and water flowing into her body, she looks at the environmental hazards that now threaten pregnant and breastfeeding women and examines the effects these toxins can have on a child. Having Faith makes the metamorphosis of a few cells into a baby astonishingly vivid, and the dangers to human reproduction urgently real.

    It is a complete, practical guide to eating for good health.

    You have no idea the mountain and rollercoaster you're about to embark on, but Nurture somehow gives you a peek in and gives you essential information to help ground you." –Catherine McCord, founder of Weelicious and One PotatoA comprehensive and judgement-free pregnancy companion: Nurture is the only all-in-one pregnancy and birthing book for modern mothers-to-be and their partners who want a more integrative approach. Author Erica Chidi Cohen has assisted countless births and helped hundreds of families ease into their new roles through her work as a doula. Nurture covers everything from the beginning months of pregnancy to the baby's first weeks. Includes supportive self-care and mindfulness exercises, trimester-specific holistic remedies, nourishing foods and recipes for every month of pregnancy, and expert tips for every birth environment.More than 40 charming and helpful illustrations, charts, and lists can be found throughout.Covers dozens of important topics that every modern mom needs to know including fetal development, making choices for a hospital, home or birth center birth, the basics of breastfeeding, tips on what to expect postpartum, and more.Nurture is an all-inclusive pregnancy and birthing guide that gives soon-to-be mothers and their partners the information they need to make decisions, feel confident, and enjoy the beauty of creating new life.Nurture is a thoughtful and helpful gift for expecting mothers and their partners.Erica Chidi Cohen is co-founder and CEO of Loom in Los Angeles, CA. She began her work in San Francisco, volunteering as a doula within the prison system, working with pregnant inmates. She went on to build a successful doula and health education practice in Los Angeles and has been featured in Women's Health, Vogue, Goop, The Cut and Marie Claire.

    medical childbirth, circumcision, breast or bottle feeding, and work/life options The Endless No:What not to eat, take, and do when you’re pregnant-get the real facts behind the prohibitionsI Want My Life Back:Anxiety, regret, ambivalence, and other rarely discussed postpartum emotionsParents and partners:A look beyond the one-size-fits-all approach to family, with strategies for minimizing perfect-parent pressure and managing your real-life relationships through the changesSorting Through the Voices:A user-friendly guide to the dueling gurus, trendy techniques, and conflicting theories that confuse new parents A forward-thinking book that includes a wide range of voices and approaches, From the Hips reflects the many ways of being pregnant and parenting without suggesting that there is one right way.

    Based on her research of the nutrient-rich diets of healthy and fertile populations around the world, she lays out exactly what you should and shouldn't eat when trying to conceive, during pregnancy, and while breast-feeding. In the first half of the book she explains the ways industrialized foods can prevent pregnancy, how a low-fat diet can increase your likelihood of infertility by 85 percent, what to do if breast-feeding doesn't work for you, why babies can't digest cereal, and gives step-by-step instructions on how and when to introduce your baby's first foods. In the second half of the book she equips you with more than 50 recipes for incorporating traditional fertility-boosting foods into your diet. Beautiful Babies provides you with everything you need to know about having a healthy pregnancy and nourishing your growing baby.

    The experience demolished her Western preconceptions of how we should live and led her to a radically different view of what human nature really is. She offers a new understanding of how we have lost much of our natural well-being and shows us practical ways to regain it for our children and for ourselves.

    Broad in scope, thorough in detail, this nutrition-conscious cookbook is a treasury of flavorful, authentic recipes and menus, complete with protein and calorie counts, serving suggestions, and friendly tips on how to make each meal a family favorite.