YOU: Having a Baby: The Owner's Manual to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy

Can I get a cavity filled while pregnant? Will avoiding spicy foods make my kid a picky eater? Can I really increase my baby's IQ while she's in utero?

Whether you're pregnant for the first time, are trying to start your family, or already have enough children to start your own basketball team, you're bound to have questions about what it means to be pregnant -- and how you can increase your odds of having a healthy and happy pregnancy. But no matter how much you've read, watched, studied, or talked about this amazing biological journey, you have never read anything like this.

In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz act as mythbusters for the hundreds of questions surrounding pregnancy in the same scientific, informative, and entertaining ways that have made them America's Doctors. In these pages, you'll learn everything you need to know about the miracles of fetal development, your health throughout the pregnancy, and providing the best possible environment for your growing child.

Pregnancy is a complicated balancing act, but it doesn't have to be frightening. The doctors will help you de-stress as they describe accurately and rationally what happens during a thrilling nine months of life. While every pregnant body is different, odds are you'll experience some of the cravings, crying, and discomfort that almost all women go through. Your best tactic? Learn why these things are happening -- and what you should do about them. YOU: Having a Baby will teach you everything you need to know about what to eat (should I be eating for two?), how much to exercise, and what guilty pleasures will actually make pregnancy easier on you (and the loved ones who get to be around you for the whole thing). Each phase of pregnancy has different challenges, but the right information will prepare you for what's ahead. The interactive week-by-week calendar inside provides an even more detailed guideline for how and what you should feel through every step of the process.

Exciting, cutting-edge scientific research in the fi eld of epigenetics has changed the way the medical profession looks at pregnancy, and now it can change your perspective, too. Epigenetics explores what makes us develop in certain ways -- why some people thrive at math while others are prone to chronic diseases. It turns out that there are easy things you can do that will not just help your baby's development in utero but will actually improve his or her chances of living a healthy, fulfi lling adult life.

Filled with recipes for nutritious, satisfying snacks and meals even Pop can cook (yes, he can!), safe exercises for staying fit, and tons of YOU tips that will help you stay comfortable, YOU: Having a Baby is the ultimate guidebook for what to do from the moment of conception to the weeks after your child has arrived home. From morning sickness and food cravings to choosing a doctor and changing a diaper, YOU: Having a Baby will give you the real scoop about what's in store for you during this amazing time in your life.

Few life experiences feature the extreme emotional swings as pregnancy does -- it's a monumental mix of both intense excitement and skip-a-beat anxiety. If you're like most, you scour web sites, read books, browse blogs, and pick the brains of every friend, family member, and store clerk who's ever had a baby. You talk about the ups and downs, the cravings and the nausea, the maternity clothes and the stretch marks. During this 280-or-so day journey, this sometimes-scattered mindset is perfectly natural -- and healthy. But sometimes you need help cutting through the clutter.

Acting as mythbusters for the hundreds of questions surrounding pregnancy with the same scientific, informative, and entertaining ways that have made them America's Doctors, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen will help ease your tension by teaching you not only about what you can do, but also why you should do it. They'll explore the biology of your body with amazing insights about a cutting-edge new field called epigenetics, which gives you the power to change the genetic destiny of your child. And they'll give you all the ins and outs of nutrition, exercise, hormones, fetal development, and many more pregnancy-related issues. There's even a section for dads.

Using their signature wit and wisdom, they'll test your knowledge, give you oodles of tools you can use, and reassure you that your maternal instincts are usually pretty darn good. After all, the doctors want the exact same thing as you do during this journey -- a healthy baby (and a healthy mom).