9 Months In, 9 Months Out ― A Scientist's Tale of Pregnancy and Parenthood

Expertise can explain the science of what's happening to a fetus or a baby throughout development, but all the science in the world can't tell you what it feels like to have a baby: the pang of morning sickness, the pain of labor, the excitement of birth, and the joy that comes from seeing your baby's first smile. 9 Months In, 9Months Out explores what we actually experience in the nine months of pregnancy and the nine months that follow.

As a professor of infant and child development, author Vanessa LoBue had certain expectations about how pregnancy and motherhood would go. Experiencing it was a different story. As she learned, the first few months of parenthood are much harder than anyone tells you. Written month-to-month in real time as LoBue proceeded through pregnancy and first-time parenthood, 9 Months In, 9 Months Out integrates science and infant development with the personal journey involved in becoming a parent. LoBue also takes a researcher's lens to issues that are top of mind for new parents: breastfeeding, the sleep training controversy, gender development, the science (or lack thereof) behind the link between vaccinations and autism, and the debate over screen time.

Vanessa LoBue is Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Child Study Center at Rutgers University. She is an expert in the field of child development, particularly in infancy. Most importantly, she is a parent. She writes a monthly column for Psychology Today called The Baby Scientist.