Half-Baked: The Story of My Nerves, My Newborn, And How We Both Learned to Breathe. Flotsam blogger and NPR commentator Alexa Stevenson has been a self-proclaimed worrywart for most of her life: avoiding amusement park rides, skateboards, and other activities that would just be “borrowing trouble.” But the series of worst-case scenarios that comprise her journey to motherhood – including the birth of her daughter Simone, more than 3 months early – force her into a Zen-like acceptance of uncertainty and absurdity; a journey she recounts in this uniquely sharp, funny, vulnerable and ultimately, hopeful memoir.