In 2007, I sat down with my infant daughter* in one hand and a pen in the other, and began a note designed to be read by my three children when they were old enough to become parents. That barely-decipherable scribble became a book full of notes about pregnancy and parenting. Eventually, those notes became a manuscript, which became The Mommy Greenest Guide to Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond.
I decided to self-publish The Mommy Greenest Guide to Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond after banging my head against the brick wall of agents and publishers who told me the market for eco-focused pregnancy books was saturated. Although I knew my pregnancy book was different—the sass of the Girlfriend’s Guide meets the essential info of Dr. Greene—I put the manuscript in a drawer and forgot about it.
Until a few months later, when a friend called in a panic to ask about VOCs—her infant nephew had just been admitted to the hospital and was having trouble breathing, and his parents were looking to reduce the toxic chemicals in his environment. After sharing information through email, text and phone calls, I realized: This would be so much easier if I could just send them my book.
And the drawer was opened once more.
Initially, I sold the book at events, but I’d rather give the rest away. If you’d like copy of The Mommy Greenest Guide to Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond, please email info@mommygreenest.com. As long as you pay for shipping, I’m happy to send it your way!
And thank you to Acure Organics, Barlean’s, Mixbook, Naturepedic and Weleda; their support made this book possible. Here’s more on the process:
Finally, a giant THANK YOU to the amazing parents, soon-to-be parents, and people who just love kids in the Mommy Greenest community. Your emails, comments, likes and shares inspire me each and every day. I can’t wait to hear what all of you think of the book!
*That’s Chloe on the cover, and that’s also her inside my gigantic belly in the pregnancy section!
P.S. Looking for my first self-published book, The Big List of Things That Suck—basically the old EcoStiletto site in a nutshell? You can download it for $2.99 or buy a copy for $4.49 by clicking here. Thanks!
10 Comments
Balaka B. Ghosal
Hi Rachel,
So excited to find your site. I really feel adding a sweet optin on “5 things to do when you’re getting pregnant.” to have the emails of interested women to educate them to their journey to parenthood and beyond.
And we could also create a network of similar writers who could raise the awareness in society. I constantly see innocent people doing the opposite of what needs to be done. I feel sorry for them and the impact they’re leaving on everyone else.
Be well in this historic health crisis.
Balaka
Wumou
I want to have a child,so i need pregnancy guide. Mommy Greenest Guide to Pregnancy is a great book for pregnancy women.I wii read it.
Sunnymay
You have such practical tips arranged in a way that makes sense – chronologically. Love the one about making your own tea using ginger. I like crystallized ginger, for the tummy for nausea or indigestion,which you can buy at the grocery store and take it with me still whenever traveling. Just take a little bit or else you’ll get the runs.
Brice.
Thank.
Sara
I’m looking too…I don’t see the arrows
Rachel Sarnoff
Hm… It may take a minute to load, depending on the speed of your service. Then there is a bar at the bottom with arrows. Maybe try refreshing if you don’t see that? I just checked it and it seems to be fine on my end but please let me know if you still have problems? Thanks!
Arline
I don’t see the e book
Rachel Sarnoff
It’s there! Just click on the arrows to read. Thanks!
Niki Traynor
I just wanted to say that I am really glad that I read your book. I’m currently going on 34 weeks pregnant with my second baby and also on bed rest. I had a preterm labor scare at 30 weeks pregnant and spent a week in the hospital. Now I’m on bed rest till 36 weeks. It’s been a pretty rough pregnancy. Anyway, I am always looking for a good book to read, and while on bed rest, I’ve have enough time to read even more.
You’re book is great. I read it all today and really enjoyed it. Quite often when I read books on pregnancy and beyond, I find myself disagreeing with so many things. However, with yours this wasn’t the case. It was full of a lot of good tips and I enjoyed reading about your own personal experiences. I found myself relating to you at many points in the book.
Thank you for writing this book and allowing it to be a free read for us. I am going to definitely blog about this book and share with everyone I know, not only for the contest that you have going, but also because I feel other parents can benefit from reading it.
Thanks again and hope you have a wonderful day!
Rachel Sarnoff
OH I so feel for you, Niki! Bed rest is so hard, especially with another little one to take care of. But you are already such an amazing mom for taking this time to nurture and care for your new baby, so yay you! I really appreciate you reading my book, and commenting. Congratulations, and please give me a head’s up when you welcome that new life into the world, either here or on http://www.Facebook.com/MommyGreenest. I love baby pictures 🙂