Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir

by Aileen Weintraub

A laugh-out-loud memoir about a free-spirited, commitment-phobic Brooklyn girl who, after a whirlwind romance, finds herself living in a rickety farmhouse, pregnant, and faced with five months of doctor-prescribed bed rest because of unusually large fibroids.

Aileen Weintraub has been running away from commitment her entire life, hopping from one job and one relationship to the next. When her father suddenly dies, she flees her Jewish Brooklyn community for the wilds of the country, where she unexpectedly falls in love with a man who knows a lot about produce, tractors, and how to take a person down in one jiu-jitsu move. Within months of saying “I do” she’s pregnant, life is on track, and then wham! Her doctor slaps a high-risk label on her uterus and sends her to bed for five months. 

As her husband’s bucolic (and possibly haunted) farmhouse begins to collapse and her marriage starts to do the same, Weintraub finally confronts her grief for her father while fighting for the survival of her unborn baby. In her precarious situation, will she stay or will she once again run away from it all?  

Knocked Down is an emotionally charged, laugh-out-loud roller-coaster ride of survival and growth. It is a story about marriage, motherhood, and the risks we take.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Audiobook

316 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2022

About the author

Aileen Weintraub is an award-winning author, journalist, and editor. She has written for the Washington Post, Glamour, NBC, and AARP, among others. She has also published several children’s books, including Never Too Young! 50 Unstoppable Kids Who Made a Difference and We Got Game! 35 Female Athletes Who Changed the World.

Reviews

[Courtney Maum · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Two weeks earlier I had been spread-eagle on the examination
table in a bright yellow room looking up at a poster of an
imitation Georgia O’Keeffe flower taped to the ceiling while
my doctor put her hands in places that generally required a
lot more foreplay and at least a little bit of booze." If this sentence doesn't lure you in to the wonderful and messy-as-hell world of KNOCKED DOWN then...you need more than literature. I loved this book. Weintraub's writing is so charming, so relatable, so heartfelt but so funny-- I dare you not to fall in love with this tale of a pregnant commitment-phobe on bedrest.

[Natalie Park · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and The University of Nebraska Press for this ARC audiobook (released on March 1, 2022) in exchange for my honest review. In this memoir, the author takes a leap to commit to a relationship, moves to a fixer upper in the country, takes a stab at focusing on being a writer and deals with a difficult pregnancy. The story was fine but there was a lot less humor than I expected. The author did experience a lot of trying situations but I couldn’t help noticing the privilege that allowed her to decide to be a writer full time and buy a fixer upper. Possibly it wasn’t the story for me and the narrator’s reading was a bit flat.

[Jody Keisner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aileen Weintraub is a self-described "commitment-phobic" city girl living in a haunted farmhouse with her newish husband and even newer pregnancy--and on bedrest because of an "incompetent cervix" (she takes umbrage at the doctor's choice of words). What follows is a beautiful, funny, heartwarming account of life during five months of bedrest (difficult for anyone but especially someone with as lively as a personality as the narrator's), and also an exploration of faith and her stressed-out marriage. Occasionally explored through flashbacks, her parents are both memorable (and witty!) characters here, too, that come to life on the page. I loved the narrator's personality, wit, and warmth. A must-read!

[Sunflowerbooklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Two weeks earlier I had been spread-eagle on the examination table in a bright yellow room looking up at a poster of an imitation Georgia O’Keeffe flower taped to the ceiling while my doctor put her hands in places that generally required a lot more foreplay and at least a little bit of booze."

Oh my goodness.... that is just a glimpse of the sass and humor in Weintraub's memoir.

This is such a breathe of fresh air. The rare kind of memoir that is hilarious but also heart-breakingly honest. Each written word from Weintraub is prosed with self reflection and teaches/engages readers about the challenges of high risk pregnancy.

Knocked Down made me laugh my butt off and emotional at the end because it was just THAT good.

I highly recommend!

5/5 stars

Thank you so much to the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Jamie Gehring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this memoir!

After having three children of my own and spending some of my career as a postpartum doula, I definitely connected with the honesty and the humor that Weintraub brought to this book. The stories of the author’s parents, her husband, and the moment she became a mother were heartwarming and almost always filled with humor.

A book that touches your heart, makes you laugh, and comforts you as a friend would. I highly recommend! Very grateful for the ARC.

[Vanessa (bookscallmyheart) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not read memoirs very often, but every once in a while I find one that just begs me to read it! As soon as I heard about Knocked Down: A High Risk Memoir, I was intrigued and I’m so glad I read it.

Knocked Down is one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read (again, I don’t read many memoirs so do with this what you will) and I was enthralled from beginning to end. It was introspective, honest, and relatable while also being laugh-out-loud funny and heartwarming.

As someone who is not Jewish, I appreciated the own-voices Jewish representation. I realized there is so much I didn’t know or understand so it was really enlightening!

Thank you so much @getredprbooks for the gifted copy!

[Madhushree Ghosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a refreshing, amazingly crisp memoir of a serious topic of high-risk pregnancy.
I was lucky enough to get a pre-pub ARC of KNOCKED DOWN: A HIGH-RISK MEMOIR. I was thrilled to have been part of the author's words on her move from a Jewish life in Brooklyn to an almost pastoral existence after marriage and then a high-risk pregnancy upstate. But what this book is, is the author's reflection on grief, the loss of her father and how she comes to terms with it as she holds onto her pregnancy, her marriage, in a possibly haunted farmhouse that she now calls home. Aileen writes with wry humor, an easy conversational style, and it almost feels like we are watching that life unfold right in front of us in real-life.

Based on my research, a 1998 clinical study determined that as many as 90 percent of maternal-fetal specialists order bed rest for some patients in high risk pregnancies. The author obviously fell in that group--it is how she aligned with it, focused on her baby with humor, joy and Jewish candor and highlighted what it means to be a mother.

[Lynn Melnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

For such a laugh-out-loud funny book, I found myself bursting into tears more than once while reading Knocked Down. Weintraub is a dextrous writer, and she takes this personal story of marriage and family life to a place any of us can understand because the feelings and experiences she fearlessly recounts are universal: hopefulness and hopelessness, love and anger, worry and laughter, despair and survival. I don’t want to give anything away but I think you will, like I did, find yourself unable to stop reading once you start!

[Rebecca Rolland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the kind of rare book that manages to be both hilarious and heart-breakingly honest...with psychological insight and poignant self-reflection on every page. It's impressive how Weintraub manages to make her experience accessible even to those who have never been through the multiple challenges of bed-rest, high-risk pregnancy, isolation, and on and on--and how she explores her obstacles in a way that teaches, enlightens, and entertains. I am grateful to have never been in her shoes and am impressed at the strength and wisdom she's gained from her experience. Highly recommended.

[Debi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to get an Advanced Reader Copy of Knocked Down. Don't be fooled by this book's biting humor and cheeky observations: at the heart of Knocked Down is a serious exploration of how women become mothers in a medical system that churns out diagnoses and treatments as if they were nothing more than cheap plastic tiaras. Weintraub's story of pregnancy bed rest ambles back and forth in time as she sifts through the loss of her father, her feelings about commitment, and the economic forces behind her husband's new business and their crumbling farmhouse. Part love story, part medical tale, part family epic, Knocked Down leads with an incompetent cervix but ends with a fully competent mother and her community, full to the brim with love.

[Staci Greason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved a good "fish out of water" story and Aileen Weintraub's memoir Knocked Down certainly delivers.

What's not to love in a story about a Jewish Brooklyn born-and-raised writer who falls in love, marries, and gets knocked-up by a stoic, lovable Reniassance guy before they've even started renovating his crumbling family farmhouse in Upstate New York? We got a loud family. We've got a family who holds it all inside. And that's just the set-up of this wonderful memoir.

Before we know it, Weintraub's doctor diagnoses her with an "unstable uterus" and our heroine is lying flat on her back in the farmhouse living room without air-conditioning (and at one point not even a front door) doing her best to learn the gift of patience with her reliable though somewhat challenging dog while her new husband is busy trying to keep a new business, the farm, and a marriage all together.

Prone and mostly alone, Aileen has conversations with her deceased father who spent time on the family couch suffering from depression while she was growing up. She asks her straight-talking mother questions and learns about the inner life of her parent's marriage. Colorful, memorable characters make brief guest appearances: the UPS driver, the hardly-cleans cleaning woman, scary repair people, an elderly smoking friend, the guy in city who gives one-liner advice by phone, her loud mother and brother, her husband's reserved parents.

This is a full circle kind of honest story with a cast of characters who are so well-drawn and lovable, it's hard to leave them when it's done being told. Aileen Weintraub writes with grit, humor, vulnerability, and a real love for the whole mess of being human.

I just gave a copy to my mother.

[Brijana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to be given an advance reading copy of Knocked Down, and the best compliment I can give it is that I miss it now that I've finished reading it. Which is honestly the best kind of book and so rare, to physically miss reading it and to be sad it's over.

I've never been married or pregnant, let alone had a high-risk pregnancy. And yet I relate to this book on such a deep level. Due to an autoimmune disease, I know what it's like to be bedridden. Due to Covid, I know what it's like to be labeled "high-risk". And because of being alive in an often cruel world, I definitely know what it's like to feel knocked down.

You'd think all those things would make it a hard read, but because of Weintraub's genius, this was one of the most COMFORTING, LAUGH-OUT-LOUD books I've ever read.

There is so much heart and humor in it that it was so soothing to read. Whenever I felt anxiety start to creep in, I would read another chapter and actually FEEL BETTER. That is the power of good writing.

Knocked Down made me giggle throughout and I got all choked up at the end because it was just so beautiful.

This book is a gift. Go read it! I know you'll miss it, too.

[L.L. Kirchner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious and endearing ride that traverses the road from single New Yorker writing a book about dating to becoming a wife and mother in very short order.
If you're a fan of Jenny Lawson, you will adore Weintraub's storytelling style. Chock-a-block with larger than life characters and situations, you could be forgiven for forgetting the high stakes nature of the tale being told. But in the end, Weintraub delivers a memoir with a heartfelt message.
I was given this book in exchange for an honest review, and count myself lucky to have seen a copy before everyone else reads it, because you will want to read this.

[Eileen Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was laughing at opening scenes where the author’s father was gruff and relatable, then by page 11 I was in tears. This is exactly what I want from a book, whether it’s fiction or memoir. Written in straight-forward language with both humor and poignancy Knocked Down delivers. (pun intended). I wish I’d had this book years ago when my own pregnancies were uncomplicated but a close friend was on bedrest. It would have helped me be a better friend.

[Suzanne Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have zero interest in pregnancy, childbirth, or babies, but I loved this book--which is really saying something. In other words, the book is about more than just a high-risk pregnancy and bed rest; it's about grief, family relationships, marriage, and friendships. The narrator is funny, quirky, and very likable. I definitely recommend this book!

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

At some point, I'm going to learn to read the whole description of books before deciding I want to read it... or I won't. I do come across some enjoyable reads I likely wouldn't have picked up otherwise. LOL I am not a woman who is obsessed with children or pregnancy, nor do I usually enjoy hearing a lot about either. I don't hate kids; I just don't particularly like most of them all that much. I'm pretty ambivalent. So, a book about one woman's difficult pregnancy? Not the obvious choice. But you know what? I enjoyed this!

After growing up in NYC, Weintraub finds herself recently married, living in an old farmhouse and enduring a complicated pregnancy and marital discord. There were moments I literally laughed out loud, beginning with a story about a funeral, of all things. The story is heavy on pregnancy details so if that really turns you off, this might not be the best fit, but as I said, that's usually a subject I avoid and I really enjoyed this. There are also stories about dealing with an old house, previous building decisions and contractor woes. This author is a great storyteller.

Thanks to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

[Jennifer Wulfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most hysterically funny books I've ever read. Aileen is not afraid to put it all out there: she shares what others might not dare to create a world we can relate to on many levels while making us laugh along the way.
Overall, this book is about how one woman copes with life, religious differences, marriage, moving to a foreign land (upstate), finding herself, relating to her mother ("My keys!"), and, good heavens, bed rest for the sake of motherhood in the midst of it all.
I would give this more stars if I could!

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book stressed me out. Aileen had a very difficult pregnancy, forced on bed rest for 5 months. I felt a lot of compassion for her husband, who bore the brunt of juggling three jobs while the debts mounted. Some of the scenes were quite funny: the jeep buying scene and parts of the delivery. It’s an interesting memoir.
Thanks to NetGalley and the University of Nebraska Press for the early copy.

[Sadie-Jane Huff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of feels in this emotional rollercoaster of a book.

I was lucky to be given the audiobook from the publisher and @NetGalley for an honest review.

It captured my attention for the most part but I have to be frank, the narrator wasn't the best. In fact, she made this possible 4 star story fall flat.

Still, i persevered.

[Juliet James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aileen Weintraub's memoir about her experience with bed rest during a high-risk pregnancy is absolutely exceptional. I became so invested in Weintraub's story, and it flows so perfectly that there were times when I had to remind myself it was a memoir, not a novel. Her wit and humor shine throughout, but she doesn't shy away from majorly challenging, life-altering issues, either. The challenges her difficult pregnancy creates in her marriage, for her mental health, and while grieving her father's death, are articulated beautifully. You cannot help but root for Aileen, Chris, and their baby throughout.

There are no perfect people in this memoir, just as there are no perfect people in life. But the flaws of each individual, of each relationship, are shared fearlessly and with compassion and love. I laughed and I cried. I needed to read a memoir for one of my MFA classes, and I'm so glad I chose this one.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really fun book that's like talking to a friend who puts ahilarious spin on a lot of things we don't usually talk about.

[Kennedy Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was ... ok- a well written memoir but I found myself getting a little bored.

[Lisa Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to be able to read an advance copy of this charming, engaging memoir chronicling the months Weintraub spent (mostly) on bed rest during her pregnancy. Rich with Jewish humor, the angst of pending motherhood, and Weintraub's imagined conversations with her father, Knocked Down manages to swerve from poignant to laugh-out-loud funny -- sometimes on the same page --while weaving in loss (of various friendships, of her father, of how she imagined her pregnancy would be) and does it all seamlessly.

[Samantha Kolber · Rating 5 out of 5]

An honest and candid memoir about bed rest, grief, marriage, and family. I laughed out loud and couldn't believe some of the medical hardships Weintraub endured to gestate and birth her baby. I also had a high risk pregnancy with fibroids and so felt a kinship with this author and her fibroid experience. I am grateful for this story to be in the world; we need more stories about the experiences and treatment of high risk pregnancies. Medical gaslighting is real and needs to be combated at every step! I also loved this book for the author's depiction of a dysfunctional yet loving Jewish family--another kinship I hold. Honestly, this book was written for me! But it's a lovely read for all.

[Jana Eisenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having never been married or pregnant, I was worried I wouldn't relate to the author's story, yet from the very first chapter I was hooked. Aileen has an engaging way of luring the reader in like a friend and confidant. Her story is perfectly punctuated with humor and levity so that, as a reader, I never felt overwhelmed by the insane pressures she endured as a young newlywed experiencing a high-risk pregnancy.

I also love the way Aileen wove her father into the story to parallel her own experience. Her relationship with him helps give context to her relationships with the others in her story - her mother, husband, and unborn child. He was also just a fun, quirky character to read about.

If you're not sure if this book is for you, I highly recommend you pick it up and read the first chapter. This story describes a physically and emotionally challenging experience in a graceful, honest, and humorous way. And, after two years in a pandemic, I think we can all relate to the experience of feeling caged. If only we could all handle it as well as Aileen did in her story.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Whoever would have thought a memoir about a high risk pregnancy could be so laugh-out-loud? This is such a comforting, feel good read whilst tackling serious subjects. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author shared her story in such a lighthearted way, and was sad when the book came to an end.

[Angela Yarber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotional, laugh-out-loud, and page turner all come to mind in Weintraub's memoir. Read if you want to laugh, cry, and be changed in the process.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of “Knocked Down” and super excited that I did. There have been many things in my life that I have experienced and when I started to read this book it brought back many of the feelings I had at those times. Were all of those happy feelings? NO but the way Aileen wrote about her experiences helped me and will help so many others work through events.

So many women now deal with fertility, fibroids, PCOS as well as bed rest before, during and after pregnancy that the way Aileen explains her experiences it makes it more normalized and will help women not be so afraid or ashamed about it.

This book was just what I needed when I received the advance copy and I can’t wait for a few friends to be able to read it as well.

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knocked Down is about a Brooklyn girl who moves to the country, has a whirlwind romance, and ends up on pregnancy-related bed rest in a rickety old farmhouse for five months. Everything starts to go wrong. Her marriage starts to crumble, and the house is falling down. Suddenly, her father dies, and she realizes she never gave herself the chance to grieve. So she starts processing the entire relationship with her father and allow herself that time to unpack his life and the man he was. All this is going on while she's fighting for the survival of her unborn child.

The author did a great job of really bringing her father to life, which I feel is a mitzvah for this book. I can practically hear his voice, and then she writes, "There is a saying that a boy becomes a man when he loses his father, but what about a girl? What does she become?" I loved it.

To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://www.momsdonthavetimetoreadboo..."

[Megan Margulies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book is like sitting down with your best friend and talking about the hard shit--all while laughing and crying. Readers are lucky to hang with the hilarious author and go for the ride with her. If you've ever had to surrender to the needs of your body, you need to read this book.