Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic

Martha Nibley Beck

Three Rivers Press, 2011 - Biography & Autobiography - 355 pages

“A wonderful book, funny unbelievably tender, and smart. It shimmers.”--Anne Lamott

Includes an all-new afterword about Adam.
  
John and Martha Beck had two Harvard degrees apiece when they conceived their second child. Further graduate studies, budding careers, and a growing family meant major stress--not that they'd have admitted it to anyone (or themselves). As the pregnancy progressed, Martha battled constant nausea and dehydration. And when she learned her unborn son had Down syndrome, she battled nearly everyone over her decision to continue the pregnancy. She still cannot explain many of the things that happened to her while she was expecting Adam, but by the time he was born, Martha, as she puts it, "had to unlearn virtually everything Harvard taught [her] about what is precious and what is garbage."

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - SeriousGrace - www.librarything.com

I love it when overly intellectual people have to rely on unscientific phenomenons like faith and hope and magic. I think being able to let go of factual reasoning and open our minds to blind trust ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - BookConcierge - LibraryThing

The subtitle of this memoir is: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic. John and Martha Beck were both working on their Ph.Ds at Harvard when they conceived their second child. Martha ...

Contents

• II: 5
• III: 16
• IV: 25
• V: 31
• VI: 40
• VII: 52
• VIII: 61
• IX: 71
• X: 82
• XI: 87
• XII: 96
• XIII: 105
• XIV: 116
• XV: 128
• XVI: 138
• XVII: 148
• XVIII: 157
• XIX: 168
• XX: 175
• XXI: 184
• XXII: 193
• XXIII: 204
• XXIV: 217
• XXV: 230
• XXVI: 244
• XXVII: 256
• XXVIII: 269
• XXIX: 280
• XXX: 291
• XXXI: 301
• XXXII: 310
• XXXIII: 319
• XXXIV: 331
• XXXV: 337
• XXXVI: 348
• XXXVII: 353

About the author

MARTHA BECK is a writer, life coach, and columnist for O, the Oprah Magazine. She has a B.A., an M.A., and a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard. Beck's other books include the New York Times bestseller Finding Your Own North Star, Leaving the Saints, The Four Day Win, The Joy Diet, and Steering by Starlight. Dr. Beck lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her family.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
• Author: Martha Nibley Beck
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press, 2011
• ISBN: 0307719642, 9780307719645
• Length: 355 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs; Family & Relationships / Children with Special Needs; Health & Fitness / Pregnancy & Childbirth