Book Review: The New Perimenopause

Title: The New Perimenopause: An Evidence Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again

Author: Mary Claire Haver, MD

Publisher: Rodale Books (An imprint of Harmony/Rondale/Convergent books division of Penguin Random House)

Publication Date: April 7, 2026

I was one of the first to check this book out from the library. I don't know what the original book cover was like, but the one that the library put on it is nice and sturdy. This is a meaty book with lots of pages of information printed in moderately large text on heavy paper stock. The covers are sturdy chipboard. It is obvious that the binding is a combination of sewn and glued. Signatures were sewn together before being glued together and into the binding proper. The paper stock has a hand to it that makes me think that the paper has a high fiber content. I can't identify what typefonts were used, but they have moderately large text that is clear and easy to read. The sidebars and callouts in the text was a slightly smaller typefont from the main text, but equally easy to read. For readability on the basis of the physical characteristics of the book this is a 10/10.

A general overview of the book is a detailed discussion of the symptoms, treatments, and lifestyle options for anyone in perimenopause. There is a combination of anecdotal and statistical evidence presented to support the premises that doctor Haver puts forth. Every chapter covers what the current guidelines and knowledge base discuss on the titular topic, puts forth alternative arguments, and then lays out the evidence to support the alternatives before summarizing each chapter. This structure is well established in scientific writing and when definitions of terms are needed, they're given in sidebars that work to enhance the reading experience.

The really nice thing about this book is the affirmative tone and the approach that perimenopause is not the beginning of the end of life but rather a transition point where you can make decisions that improve your life long health on all fronts. The discussion of symptomology is nuanced and patient (reader) focused. It covers the stereotypical symptoms like hot flashes and mood swings as well as the more obscure symptoms like changes in appetite. Dr. Haver relates not only the stories of patients and participants in studies but also her own experience of perimenopause in plain English. Where technical terms come up, she breaks them down into simple definitions.

This is especially helpful in the chapters where she explains the biological and neurochemical processes of perimenopause, also in the chapter where she details what hormone therapy is and how it works. Dr. Haver comes back to the topic of hormone therapy as a main theme when the discussion of treatment is approached. She does not, however, state that hormone therapy is the only modality that can be used to treat perimenopausal symptoms. She gives detailed synopses of the role of nutrition, exercise, mental health treatment, and supplements in helping perimenopausal people through the chaotic transition period that is perimenopause.

There is some names called out in the field of medicine that Dr. Haver works in (women's health) who have published before her on topics adjacent to perimenopause for the general public and have published academic research that supports the arguments that Dr. Haver put forth in her work. Dr. Haver makes very clear that the traditional approach to perimenopause is woefully inadequate for clinicians and patients. She rightfully pins that lapse of a body of work for people to work with on the bias in medicine and sciences towards the male body as the default through out history. While this book is a guide book for patients and the general public, Dr. Haver doesn't shy away from inviting others in the medical community to the discussion with a repeatedly stated goal of improving women's health beyond their fertile years.

I found this book reassuring as I myself am in this transition period. I learned a lot about how my body works and the interplay between different hormones during this transition. I found validation where I was expecting a fairly dry text about hormone therapy and symptoms. Dr. Haver treats the subject with honesty, delicacy, and a refreshing look at the medical community's evolving approach to perimenopause. It gives me hope that women who are going through 'the change' will have their dignity and health at the forefront of the discussion. 

NaBloPoMo: Preemie Hat Pattern for Charity

For a few years now, I have been making preemie hats for the local hospitals. They work up about as quickly as a washcloth. I use acrylic, worsted weight yarn and a size 'h' hook. I don't knit them because I'm terrible at knitting in the round on double pointed needles. I am a slow knitter as well, which makes the project a source of frustration. 

Acrylic yarn is hypoallergenic, which is super important for preemies because their immature immune system. You don't want to use fuzzy or extra fluffy baby yarn for these hats. The basic yarn is what you want because the other yarns are overstimulating for their still developing nervous system. I don't use baby yarn because the holes in the hat are bigger given that the yarn is thinner than the sport/worsted weight yarn. We want to have the holes small to help the babies keep their heads warm. While you could use a smaller hook to make the hat with the thinner yarn, it makes the project just as annoying as knitting it for me.

Starting chain: Chain 30 stitches plus 1 to turn.

Rows 1-60: Work single crochet into every stitch.
Bind off at end of row 60 with a long tail.

Fold hat in half and whip stitch to the corner where the fold is. Bind off and break yarn.
With another length of yarn, whip stitch from where the end of row 60 and starting chain meet to the corner where the fold is. Bind off and break yarn.

This size hat will fit a 3 - 5 lb preemie. You want your hat long enough to cover the preemie's eyes when they're under the bilirubin lights in their incubator. This will protect their vision from the effects of the lights. 

NaBloPoMo: Ideas evaporate.

I had insomnia last night. As I laid in bed trying desperately to sleep, I had all of these grand ideas for my serial stories and how to resolve a quandary in the book I'm currently stalled on. I then fell asleep and woke up with only vague memories of the over arching theme of it. It was most vexing. I consoled myself with cuddling next to Beloved and taking a morning nap after my youngest son was out the door and off to school.

I would keep a notebook beside the bed but the last time I did that, my insomnia got worse because I sat up writing. If I were in my 20s, I would bounce back from losing a few hours of sleep writing in the middle of the night. At 47, that doesn't work so well.

NaBloPoMo: My brain hates me.

I woke up today at 0630 and thought I was going to have a productive day. It is currently 2034 (8:34 pm) and I have just begun my writing for the day. I spent most of my day just staring blankly at the computer, the snow falling outside, or my coffee cup. I just had my brain go blank. Did a few errands, so the day was not a complete waste. I wasn't happy with the situation. Beloved tells me to be patient with myself and the process. He tells me to keep in mind that I'm out of practice at doing this stuff. I get grumpy at that fact. But, it is a fact that I can't avoid. It's why I have nothing written at all for NaNoWriMo. 

NaNoWriMo & NaBloPoMo: The wind's shifted.

NaNoWriMo word count: still 0 (it's hard to find time to work on a manuscript right now.)

This morning, I had to step out to run an errand. The first thing that struck me as I stepped out the front door was I could smell snow on the wind. The lower atmosphere is too warm for snow to fall but those clouds are billowing up above. The low tonight is supposed to be 33 deg F. That's just above freezing but I think it might dip into the freezing zone. I don't think we'll wake up to everything blanketed in snow (or ice). But that raw, bitter cold is on it's way in the immediate future.

In some ways this is reassuring. Before climate change kicked into high gear, we'd typically get our first snowfall somewhere between the last week of October and Thanksgiving. The last several years of unusually warm Novembers has had me concerned. I'm a farmer's daughter and I tend to look at the weather patterns from the perspective of how it is going to influence the growing season. It's just something I grew up doing and never really stopped.

We're currently in a serious drought. Whatever precipitation we get would be helpful. Last winter we ended in a drought. It doesn't make sense to say that we were in a drought in winter, but we were. The growing season started late this year because of the flooding and lots of mud that we had in the early spring when planting usually goes on. The summer left us shy of rain and a lot of fields were stunted because of it. When the corn being grown barely comes to your shoulder and in a good year it's taller than you are, it's a rough season.

Surprisingly, there was enough of a harvest that the next town over was still able to hold their annual corn festival like there was no problem. I'm hoping the farmers around were able to get a decent profit off of their corn. It seems like more of that stunted corn was chopped up for silage to be fed to the dairy cattle during the winter than was brought to market to be sold for human consumption. There's a bigger problem than my region's drought, however.

The western and midwestern US have been in extraordinary drought conditions for a couple of years. This is making it hard to grow enough produce, grains, and feed for livestock. As a result, we're operating on a beef shortage for at least the last year. I think the reason why the president is sinking money into the Argentinian economy is because their major export is beef. That's the only logical reason I can come up with.

All these tariffs are hurting the economy here. With bad growing seasons and a major drought spreading slowing across the country, only a fool who is disconnected from where their food comes from would be making these policies. I can only hope and pray for rain or snow. The rest of it falls out where ever the dice land. I'm frustrated that I wasn't well enough to keep a garden this year or do any food preservation. The victory gardens of old are starting to make a comeback as people are doing their best to learn how to preserve their food. People can smell trouble on the wind. It's going to be more than a bad snow storm.

NaNoWriMo &NaBloPoMo: The rules are all made up!

 NaNoWriMo Word Count: 0

 I had a minor freak out yesterday over all of this. It didn't help my migraine any. I panicked that I wasn't going to be able to write again. It had been so long since I had a productive streak on any front that I was afraid that I lost my voice and my ability to tell a story. It wasn't pretty. I ugly cried in the bathroom where no one could hear me for a bit.

 Then a realization hit me. The only one putting pressure on me was myself. It was a rather silly feeling to realize that. I wasn't on a deadline. There wasn't a paycheck waiting for me to meet one. We're not dependent on my writing to pay the bills, keep the lights on, or get groceries. There wasn't anyone stomping their foot and throwing a temper tantrum. It was just my anxiety running riot. It has been doing that a lot over the last year.

I can do my NaBloPoMo posts and work on my NaNoWriMo word count at separate times. I don't need to sit down for 4 hours and write. (Your butt goes numb at about hour 2.5, ask me how I know.) I can write a bit here and there. I just have to schedule and stick to it. There's lots of random downtime in a week that I can use to write a whole lot of words. No need to panic.

NaBloPoMo meme edition with cats!

 I have been stalled on everything. It doesn't help that I've had a migraine for the last 4 freaking days. I blame the weather.