Monday, October 26, 2009

Mom NEEDS Chocolate: Hugs, Humor and Hope for Surviving Motherhood by Debora M. Coty

Tour Date: 10/29/09

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It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:


Mom NEEDS Chocolate: Hugs, Humor and Hope for Surviving Motherhood

Regal (April 1, 2009)

***Special thanks to Rebeca Seitz of Glass Road Public Relations, LLC for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Debora M. Coty is the author or contributor to several books, including Mom NEEDS Chocolate: Hugs, Humor and Hope for Surviving Motherhood. A resident of Florida where she lives with her husband, Coty raised two children and enjoyed a dedicated career as an Occupational Therapist before beginning to chase her God-given dream of writing. She is known for communicating sound biblical concepts with a refreshing, light-hearted style. Her writings can be read in her monthly newspaper column, Grace Notes: God’s Grace for Everyday Living.

Visit the author's website.



Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Regal (April 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0830745920
ISBN-13: 978-0830745920

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


My Cups Runneth Over

Pregnancy

A baby is an inestimable blessing and a bother.

Mark Twain

As for you, be fruitful and multiply; populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.

Genesis 9:7, NASB

There are a few things I’ve learned while fulfilling the “be fruitful and multiply” mandate.

Pregnancy draws you closer to your spouse. During an emergency stop in our driveway while I tossed my cookies in the grass, my husband, Chuck, tried to comfort me. Soon we were throwing up side by side. It was the most romantic thing he’s ever done. Those two brown spots on our lawn were the envy of all my friends.

Childbirth classes are invaluable informational sources. At the country hospital we’d chosen, one young farmer raised his hand the week after we learned about Braxton Hicks false labor contractions. He earnestly addressed the nurse instructor, “Ma’am, my wife’s been miserable all week. Could you tell us again about them Briggs and Stratton things?” He was the same strapping fellow who confided the first week, “We ain’t ever had any babies, but we’ve birthed a lot of cows.”

The budding momma’s swelling belly and the ledge over her innie-turned-outie navel aren’t the only evolutions in the body’s profile. Average-sized breasts become huge globes that bump into everything. It’s like having volleyballs attached to your chest. These alien chest globes take on their own personalities. I called mine the Bobbing Twins, Freddie and Flopsie. I addressed them directly: “Freddie, stop bouncing around or I’m going to fall off this bike,” or “Flopsie, you’re gonna have to squeeze into this DDD cup—there is no E.”

Finally, you’re in your ninth month. Ah, but the surprises are not over. After hours of sweating, teeth grinding and PUSHing, you are rewarded with a tiny screaming miracle. The little bugger has a surprisingly strong sucking reflex, and when he latches on, it feels like a vice grip to this incredibly sensitive part of your anatomy. You’re awfully glad you did that desensitization with the washcloth beforehand. I once commented to Chuck after performing this unpleasant ritual that rubbing myself with terrycloth made me empathize with that old table he was sanding.

“Hmmm. Yes, dear,” he answered, only half listening. I later overheard him inform his sister on the phone, “Debbie uses sandpaper on her chest to get ready for the baby.” No wonder his family thinks I’m weird.

Shortly after giving birth, my friend Julia (also a nursing mother) and I decided to take a well-deserved tennis break. Leaving the babies with their daddies, we headed for the courts. The blissful quiet was shattered by a wailing infant in a passing stroller, triggering that mysterious internal milk breaker switch. Julia and I simultaneously clutched our chests like gunshot victims at the incoming flood.

“Stop it, Freddie! Not now, Flopsie!” I pleaded with the Twins as two dark, wet spots appeared in strategic locations on the front of my white tennis shirt. Julia and I mopped ourselves between points with a soggy sweatband, bringing strange new meaning to the term, “bosom buddies.”1

Son of Man, thank You for the blessing of family and the miracle of babies. Make me more like You because they may end up being like me.



Note

1. Adapted from “My Cups Runneth Over” by Debora M. Coty, first appearing in Today’s Christian Woman, November/December 2004 issue. Used by permission.

16 comments:

Canadianladybug said...

I had applied for this one but never heard from it or received the book.

So please remove my contribution as I never got the actual book.

Thanks

Tarasview said...

I have this scheduled to post- but I never got the book either. It may still be on its way though... things definitely take longer to get to us Canadians.

Martha A. said...

Scheduled to post.....I loved this book! We are used and are going to use some of the readings for devotional readings at our MOPS group!!

Rose Casell said...

Set to post.

I also have an author interview up with Deb at www.mamabzz.com. It will be posted the same day.

Holly (2 Kids and Tired) said...

Scheduled, with a review.

Unknown said...

scheduled will add review later

Kristi said...

Scheduled with review.

Kristi
http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com

kalea_kane said...

Set to post. Not one of the books I sent for, but still good to share. :)

Canadianladybug said...

Posted. I've learned that the book was ship late for me and someone else (Tarasview maybe?).

Anyhow, the book is on its way since... earlier this week ! ARG!

I will read this whenever I have time and update it eventually!

Cackleberry Homestead said...

My post is up and my review is going up in a few minutes.

Sarah said...

I've posted and written a review. I got about half way through the book and enjoyed it very much.

quivermom.blogspot.com

Molly said...

I did not join FIRST in time to request this book but I have posted it to share with my followers as a preview!!!

April E. said...

I was supposed to have received this book, but it never arrived. I posted the information anyway, along with a note about how much I had looked forward to reading it. If it ever arrives, I'll post an actual review.

April E.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/elcloud

Finamoon said...

I have had the same trouble...I will post the Wild Card, but I never received the book...will add the review later if the book ever shows up. Thanks!

Liam Roberts said...

I received the book! Posted.

Shirley @ Sunny Glade said...

I'm a newbie and I forgot I was supposed to comment! It's there anyway.