My Bump and Me: From Morning Sickness to Motherhood - An Honest Diary of My Pregnancy [Hardcover]

I had high hopes for his book, having seen Myleene promoting it as a "no-holds barred" account of pregnancy; a "realistic" account of being pregnant and what she claims most pregnancy books do not have the guts to mention- eg. stretch marks, mood swings, trapped wind etc..! However, this book left me feeling sorely disappointed. Having just had my first baby I was feeling ready to bond a little with other pregnant women/new mothers and to see if other new mums felt just a little of the overwhelming shock that a new baby brings, aswell as the amazing joy too.

Having heard Myleene on "Richard and Judy" saying that she wanted to write a warts and all account of pregnancy and birth I thought this might be just the book for me. Sadly, her lifestyle couldn't be further removed from mine if she tried. I actually do like the girl and I know she was trying in the book to maintain a "I'm just one of the girls" style but I just found some of her complaints plain ridiculous. At one point in the book she is bemoaning how hard it was being pregnant on a modelling assignment for M&S in the bahamas (or some other sun drenched paradise) and not having enough energy to meet up with the the other models (elizabeth jagger et al)for a cocktail in the evening. Well, sorry Myleene but how about you try being pregnant whilst working for the NHS on a repsiratory ward and hearing and seeing patients hacking up bodily fluids on a daily basis- perhaps the bahamas doesn't seem so bad now eh?

She also mentions in the book how hard it is to find decent maternity wear- and then has the gall to say in the next paragraph that as a gift for being their model, Marks and Spencers sent her their entire maternity range free of charge! She's certainly very lucky but most of us new mums don't experience any where near such luxury or benefits and to be honest I found it a little difficult to retain any sympathy (or even empathy) after hearing details like this. I also found it a bit mystifying why she went back to work a mere 6 weeks after giving birth- she's not exactly strapped for cash! I felt that this, along with her claim that she wanted to lose the baby weight "sensibly" and was then pictured in the press looking extremely thin may well put pressure on the non-celebrity majority to do the same.

I don't mean to totally slate her as the book is quite humourous and informative at times, and she does come across as quite likeable and genuine. However, I would take this book with a very large pinch of salt and don't allow yourself to feel inferior or inadequate in comparison. Most of the new mums I know (including myself) don't have the luxuries of a well salaried job in television, free gifts/holidays from major clothing stores, oh, and having Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Matt Damon give you advice about baby names! Like I said- a LARGE pinch of salt...

Hmm... Well Myleen, this certainly wasn't what I was expecting from a celeb who I always thought was quite down-to-earth. I read this when I was pregnant in 2008, yes there were tears reading this book but mainly from the green, envious, and mostly hormonal insight into life as a pregnant celebrity.

As if pregnancy isn't hard enough already, it's stressful enough deciding what £400 pram to buy or which £100 car seat would be safest... let's be honest, it's not cheap when it's time to welcome our little darlings into the world. But, for Myleen Klass, and probably most celebrities in the spotlight, she does love to go on about how it was all given to her! Here's a little extract - "I then discovered that the Mamas and Papas [pram] set that we liked wasn't in stock at the store, and that stressed me out as well as I suddenly thought - what if she comes now? That afternoon we went online to order it and the company said they would do their best to get it to us on time but there was an eight-week wait. And then the PR department got in touch and - incredibly generously - decided to give it to us. You might hear some celebrities moan about fame but I have to tell you it's not all bad! We had prams coming out of our ears!" Seriously!!! If I didn't have morning sickness already that was enough to make me reach for a bucket! I'm left wondering which poor non-celeb mum was left waiting for her pram to turn up only for it to have been given to Ms Klass!

I seem to remember I bought this book because Myleen said on some interview, or other, that her partner Gray included his point of view as an expectant daddy, I thought 'Great! My partner and I can read this togther!' Not the case there, ladies. His input is quite minimal and seemed like he quickly had to pen something down because you could imagine Myleen pestering him to write something (anything!).

By all means pick up this book, just don't forget to put it down again and opt for something a bit more realistic... I hear Jools Oliver's book is good!

Having had a guts full of all the medical and preactical information and advice it was refreshing to read a book that was simply someone else's experience. The relationship between Myleene and her partner Gray was probably the most valuable aspect of this book as it's such a massive part of your life but many pregnancy manuals etc tend to skim over this issue as though now you're pregnant your relationship with the father is just incidental.

I too had to grit my teeth at the freebies she was showered with and that one bad experience with her GP send her running away from the NHS. I've not seen my GP once since first telling him I'm pregnant - it's all midwife led. In this respect I felt that actually I have a lot more to share with other pregnant women in the real world.

On the whole though, this was a pleasant quick read with no new information but reassuring to know that as glamorous as she looked on tv, underneath it all she was still a sweaty, hormonal mess.

If you don't like reading about celebrities then obviously you should avoid this book as that's the world she lives in. But it's great for a nosey peak at someone else's experience. I'm not sure she'd have been quite so honest about the less desirable pregnancy joys like piles but there we go!