Wow! Third edition! I’m thrilled, blessed, and extremely grateful to everyone who made it happen. This book has always been a true labor of love. My coauthor since the first edition, Rose Ann Hudson, RD, LD, is a remarkable woman. She combines deep knowledge of perinatal nutrition with a warm and compassionate approach to her patients, and life in general. I’m so proud of our awesome collaborators: Elna Narula, RN, CDE; Shoshana Bennett, PhD; and Linda Wade, PhD. All are experts in their fields with decades of experience. I am thankful that Dr. Knight’s beautiful words and her infinite wisdom are immortalized in these pages. She will forever be my hero.
Claire Schulz, my acquiring editor at Da Capo Press, brought her sensitivity and smarts to this edition and embraced my new approach of chapters divided by months. I’m indebted to Dan Ambrosio, senior editor, and his skilled team for their insights and wisdom—a serious group of talent including Renée Sedliar and Miriam Riad in the editorial office, and Anna Hall and Lauren Ollerhead in publicity and marketing. Cisca Schreefel, my brilliant editorial production manager, worked with copyeditor Iris Bass, proofreader Katie Malm, and indexer Elizabeth Parson, to push this edition across the finish line. I owe a big thanks to interior designer, Trish Wilkinson, and cover designer, Kerry Rubenstein, for their beautiful work. Big hug of appreciation to all of my recipe testers for this edition and all the previous ones. I am grateful to my literary agents, Lisa and Sally Ekus, who have been by my side for decades.
My family is my anchor and sanity. My two incredible children, Aleksandra and Hale, bring me more joy, pride, and love than they will ever know. My husband, Paul, has given me the strength and freedom to reach for the stars. His intelligence, humor, and love are bottomless. My parents and siblings, Jack, Paul, Mark, and Elizabeth, have always been my bedrock of support. My mother is a gem, a smart beautiful woman who raised us all with grace and patience. My late father always believed in me and gave me courage to chase my dreams. I miss you, dad.
To all moms, dads, and others who read and cook from this book, thank you! Whether this is your first baby and you’re embarking on your wondrous journey of parenthood, or you are already riding the sometimes crazy, always gorgeous road, you are the reason we wrote this book. Keep your sense of humor. Tell your little ones you love them and are proud of them every day. Hug often. Exhale. There is no perfect. You’re amazing!
I would like to thank my parents, the late and beloved Thomas and Lilian Angotti, who have always given me the love, guidance, and support I needed to achieve my goals. They have my deepest gratitude. Other members of my family have given a part of themselves to this project and I thank them: my wonderful husband, Mark, and beautiful daughters, Emily and Rachel, who gave me love and encouragement throughout. My sisters, Angela Angotti Morris and Antoinette Angotti, who have always been there for me. And, my eldest sister, Alma Angotti, who helped me organize my thoughts for this book on paper.
I would like to thank all of my colleagues for sharing their expertise and words of encouragement through the revision of this book: Martha Betts, RD, CNM; Julie Thorsen, RD; Elyse Kouri, RD; Ruth Osborne, RD; Maria Novak, RD; Brandi Suarez, RD; Katy Azzam, RD; Taylor Horne, RD; and Hannah Hallgrath, RD. They are an outstanding group of professional women making an impact on patients’ health and nutrition every day. Finally, I would like to thank Catherine Jones for her hard work and tremendous dedication. It has been my great pleasure to work with Catherine, and I am confident that this new edition will help pregnant women for many years to come.