The Belly Book: A Nine-month Journal for You and Your Growing Belly (Potter Style)

I absolutely LOVE my Belly Book! And let me start out by saying that I am not even pregnant yet. That being said, my partner and I plan on trying in not too long and I want to be prepared. I am a very nostalgic person and want to keep as many memories as I can. I think most people want to remember the pregnancy and birth of their children (and most people probably do with or without a pregnancy journal), but I love little keepsakes, so I knew I had to get this book after watching a review on it on YouTube. Like others have said, I love that it is fun and light-hearted. It is also sectioned into trimesters, which I find super fun and cute, but the only problem is that the trimesters/weeks seem to be a bit off. Sure enough, the first trimester is 12 weeks and in that regard the book gets it right, but one of the first questions asks whether you knew you were pregnant or not in week 1. Surely, you couldn't possibly know as week 1 is two weeks before you actually conceive. So when I start to fill out this journal, I will fill out week 1 as week 3, week 2 as week 4 and so forth. The book has a page for each week with room for a photo and also loads of space to write down thoughts about that week. Every other week it asks you different prompts. I am so excited to fill them out! Like it says in the book, you don't HAVE to fill out everything. I love filling out things, so I'm pretty sure I'll fill out every single prompt, but do as you please with this fun pregnancy journal. I also have to say that I love the look and layout of the book. Super cute! Oh, and at the end of the book there is a section for when your baby is born, which I also love. Have fun with your Belly Book! Hello belly, goodbye feet!

This journal is really cute! I love how each week there's a page to put a belly picture and write a little bit about what happened that week. It will really make a nice keepsake for my daughter when she's older and maybe she can look back at it when she gets pregnant too. I plan to keep this book in a keepsake box for her. There are also spots in each section (divided by trimesters) to put ultrasound pictures. There's a lot of other stuff to fill out too, like what your cravings are each month, what your feelings are on certain things pertaining to the pregnancy, your doctor appts, when you first start feeling baby move, etc. Then at the very end there's a few pages for labor and delivery and baby's first photo and prints. The only thing I find odd is that it only goes up to 39 weeks. This isn't a problem for me since I'm getting induced at 39 weeks, but may be for other moms who go beyond that. It also starts out with week 1 which is odd too because at week 1 you don't even know you're pregnant yet and there's not a whole lot to write! But overall it's really cute and a great way to document your pregnancy. I plan to get one each time I become pregnant so that each child we have has a special keepsake.

I purchased this book early into my pregnancy (this being my first baby) and have been very diligent about filling it in every single week! I actually find myself looking forward to filling in the week's activities. It only takes a few minutes to fill out each week (I am still working full time and going to college while pregnant - so no excuses!) Now, I am in my 39th week of pregnancy and looking back, reading the previous month's activities and feelings, I am SO very happy I filled this in! There are things I already forgot happened or things I felt that I had not remembered! What a treasure to have for my son AND myself. I will be buying this book for EVERY pregnant woman I know in the future. All my friends who already have kids are jealous I have this little Belly Book and wish they'd kept one for their children. I know it will be looked back on with a smile!! This book is basically a scrapbook-type of journal, where you have a roughly 3x3" square at the top of each week's page that allows you to place a picture (glue or tape). Below that, there is a place for you to write the week's date(s) and then a log to write what you did that week or felt that week. Some weeks mix it up by asking you questions like: What's going on in the news right now? Or.. What music are you listening to lately? - Its a really easy way to get a quick glimpse into your week's happenings and what you are feeling on the pregnancy rollercoaster. There are dividers for the trimesters, sections to list your baby shower, ultrasounds, other photos, other thoughts, your baby's birth, baby's footprints, keepsakes (flat ones of course), and other ramblings. I found that by now (week 39), my book is brimming with stuff and is kept closed nicely with the little elastic band that the book comes with. I've been able to keep ALL my doc appts listed and able to mention what happened at each appt, what I felt.. its been amazing to keep this journal and I cannot say enough great things about it! It also made a great conversation piece at my baby shower! Buy buy buy this!!!

This is our first pregnancy and I was looking for a book to record the experience. This one is good but not amazing. Pros: -- It's simple but cute. -- Some of the wording is clever and funny. -- It has a band that can be used to keep it from opening up randomly. -- It has pages dedicated to appointments and a spot to glue/tape your ultrasound -- It has belly pic pages (although I do mention a con with this one also) Cons: -- A lot of the first trimester (of mine anyway) will be empty because they have so many pages dedicated to week by week belly picks. I'm 14 weeks and only just started having a tiny bump a couple of weeks ago, so those pages are useless unless I just want to look at my normal pre-pregnancy belly. -- Another thing that didn't line up was our heartbeat appointment. In the book it is, I believe, the first thing for the second trimester. I didn't realize and wrote our experience in at our 12 week appointment, because that is when it happened. -- There is a lot in the book that is useless to me because it has nothing to do with pregnancy, to me anyway. Like asking me what type of music I'm listening to this week....the same music I was listening to last week and pre-pregnancy. I feel like with some of those questions it starts acting more like a diary/journal instead of a pregnancy book/journal. But if you like that sort of thing then that would be a pro for you of course! None of the cons are HUGE deal breakers and I did search many books on Amazon, some of which were awful in my opinion and even worse in the "diary" likeness. This one does help you keep a record of appontments and how you felt, and have the spots for the pictures, etc. Spend some time browsing the books before you buy and make sure this is what you were looking for though.

Great book that has just enough guidance but also has space for you to add extra thoughts for your baby. This is our first baby and I wanted a simple book to remember these moments and for my child to have one day. I'm a crafty person but having too much "freeness" with things like this can stress me out. So I'd say it's the perfect amount of guidance questions with blank spaces to add other thoughts. It's separated into trimesters and by weeks. It also has some humor in it with questions like "How big is your appetite? The size of Rhoad Island, Texas, or Louisiana purchase?" I only wish it had a folder/envelope for each trimester to hold extra pictures and such but that doesn't take away from how cute and useful it is. Great way to track belly photos and doctor visits also with keeping track of the joys and not so joys of being pregnant. It's a good buy. If you do purchase, read through the whole thing once you get it so you remember to write down things like "first time I felt the flutter" or "first time I wore maternity clothes."

I am 25 weeks pregnant with my first child (a little girl!). And I don't know anyone who's ever had this book through their pregnancy. Thankfully I bought this book while TTC and had it ready to go from the positive test at home! It starts from week 1, which it has humor and says "Mommy and Daddy didn't know I existed" Or "See that shine in mom's eye? that's me." I LOVE THE HUMOR in this! It's meant to be fun and intriguing to those reading it. I love that it's not 'typical' each week or trimester. "How are you feeling" gets really boring to hear and respond to through pregnancy... why would you want a book that has you answer that same question!? I wouldn't! Only thing I don't like about the book is that each picture has to be horizontal... 4x6. A vertical 4x6 wouldn't fit within the given space for a picture. Also they need about 1-2 more spots in the 2nd trimester for prental appointments. And 1-2 less for the 1st trimester (since most doctors won't see you till 8 weeks!) I think there is 4 spots for prenatal appointments in the 1st trimester (I had two appointments) and then 5 spots for the 2nd trimester (I had six appointments) And in the 3rd trimester I don't know for sure how many spots there is since week 25 is the start of 3rd trimester in the book (?? Yeah didn't understand that since it's 28 weeks on everything else I've read!) but there is double what there is for 2nd trimester, atleast. Which is awesome. Only 15 weeks left... so I'm sure it'll work out great. Also has a ending of delivery and baby's arrival so it's like a 'internal baby book'. Which it really is when you think about it. It's about the baby in your belly not really YOU. I love it! And I'm so happy that my daughter can look back and see her growing from a positive line on a test to being born. Not just being born to age one or older. I recommend the baby book as well. It starts off where the belly book ends. And it's the same humor and fun questions as the belly book. Not typical same questions as typical baby books. We also just ordered the birthday book a couple days ago. So I'm excited to see if that one leads off of the baby book in any way. Great series!

I'm currently using this journal and From Pea to Pumpkin: A Pregnancy Journal to record my first pregnancy. I'm 26 weeks in, and after using them both (after reviewing tons of journals on Amazon), I have to say this one is my favorite. I almost didn't buy this one because the graphics and the emphasis on the "belly" really didn't appeal to me. I'm so glad I did, though! I've found that this is the journal that I've been most able to make my own. The structure of the journal allows for a lot of flexibility, and the number of extra pages allowed me to make some entries the book didn't anticipate (I had an extra ultrasound in my first trimester and it was very exciting; I used one of the extra pages to journal about it). Each page has room for a photo, which I love. There are separate pages for ultrasounds with room enough for even two photos per page. On most pages, you have room to write whatever comes to mind, which I really enjoy. From Pea to Pumpkin uses a "fill-in-the-blank" format that only allows you to follow their prompts. I find I'm much more able to express myself with the freedom to write what I want. However, The Belly Book also has some pages with multiple choice questions and some called "Snapshot of My Life" which takes up the whole week's page (but I really enjoy). These weeks ask: "Music that I (we) have been listening to lately: Recent movie I've seen: Book I'm reading: Top news story at the moment:" I like the balance of pages with tons of room to just write whatever comes to mind and other pages with direction that help ensure I'm including the important stuff. At the end of each trimester, there are several pages to list your reflections on the last 3+ months. I've really appreciated that, as it's allowed me to really think about the changes and get ready for the next trimester. I also appreciate the fact that each week has you list the dates of that week of your pregnancy (I've referred to this over and over as people ask or I wonder which week I'll be in on that date), and that there are many places to fill in info on your prenatal visits, with lines that ask pertinent information about the visit (like your size, the baby's size, etc.). Other fun pages include one where you list the names you've been calling your little one, places to list your cravings, and pages that ask about your feelings as you get bigger, tell people the news, etc. This journal is really well put together. It's a treasure for me and will be one for my child someday, I hope. It even has enough room (and a rubber band to keep it together) to put cards I've gotten in the back. I can't recommend this enough!

This is the perfect journal for expecting mommies. I did one of these for my first child, and bought a second one for my current belly bump because I like this so much! There are lots of places for belly and ultrasound photos, lots of room to write whatever you are thinking/feeling, and fun "premade" questions and answers that require a check in a blank. There is very little fluff and corniness--just a lot of honest, down-to-earth questions. There are also special sections to focus on, for example, whether or not to find out the baby's sex, baby's first movements, childbirth classes, belly nicknames, and finding the perfect baby name. This book is easy to write in and makes a wonderful memory to share with your child later on. You will love it. :)