Well, no. The first thing I did was order a few books about pregnancy on Amazon, because I'm nothing if not over-prepared. But a few days after that, I went a little crazy researching pregnancy apps, and downloaded five of them.
Yes, you read that right. Five! I wanted to test out a few different ones, and I figured I could delete the ones I didn't like later on.
But eight months later, I still have four of the five on my phone. And they're not just taking up space—I use each of them at least a few times a week! Each of them offers something a little different, so I find that each one is useful in its own way.
My main criteria for the apps was that they had to be free. No paying for apps for this girl! Beyond that, each of them offers a range of different resources. Here's a list of my five favorite pregnancy apps, with a short review.
1. Baby Bump app
This is my favorite app because I love that little green tracker at the top. It's been so much fun watching it go from wayyyy over on the left to where it is now. The app includes daily tips, weekly development articles, and a little "photo diary" to fill out week by week. My favorite are the frequent "Just for Dad" tips—they are a great mix of funny and sweet. I often forward them to Frank.
2. Baby Center app
This app was built for the Type A amongst us—every single day comes with a "to do" item to check off. I enjoyed checking off items for the first few weeks, but long ago stopped keeping up with them. But their articles are awesome, and the weekly development updates are my favorites—very informative.
3. What to Expect app
One of my friends said this was her favorite app, but I wasn't as crazy about it. Too many cheesy videos, maybe? But I love the impressive variety of articles they link to every day—including great blog posts!—and the list of "Common Symptoms" for each week. They made me go, "Yes! I'm not the only one!!!"
4. Ovia app
Let's put it this way: if you love celeb gossip and have a fancy, tricked-out nursery planned for your child, you will love this app. (Seriously, they are always linking to celebrity pregnancy stories!) I'm not that kind of person, but I can't resist keeping this app around for one little reason: the "baby hand" feature. You can click to see exactly how big your baby's hand is, week by week.
It's kind of the cutest thing ever. I love looking at that tiny hand, comparing it to mine, and imagining holding it someday!
5. The Bump app
As you can see from the picture, this is your standard pregnancy app,
with all the usual features: calendar, weekly development updates, photo
diary. This was the first pregnancy app I downloaded, and the only one of the five I've deleted. It's just kind of boring and doesn't offer anything that the other apps don't.
Honorable mentions: Sprout and Pregnancy+ apps
Dang, these two apps are cool. I loved the 3D images of what babies look like at all stages of in-utero development. These two would be my favorites, but the downside? Both of them cost money. They do offer a free trial of several weeks, however, so I'd check them out. And if you're willing to pay for your pregnancy apps (I wasn't), these two should be at the top of your list.
The hand!! Aaahh so cute! Can't wait. :)
ReplyDelete~Ellie
Isn't it? You're getting so close! I'm jealous! :)
DeleteWould you mind sharing your favorite pregnancy/birth books too? I'm 12 weeks pregnant with my first and haven't bought a book yet, which is highly unlike me. I do have the apps and have found those helpful, but I'm starting to feel better and ready to tackle some actual books. Erin
ReplyDeleteHi Erin! Thanks for your comment and a huge CONGRATULATIONS on this exciting news of your pregnancy! I've actually had a post about pregnancy and birth books in the works, so I will try to kick that into gear and get it done. Thank you for asking!
DeleteThat is so fun! I'm now off to download the first one you mentioned. Make sure you tell us which labor apps you like too, after the fact! I didn't have my iPad last time, soooo I basically didn't time my contractions (super fast labor, Tom was at work, long story...). Anyway, this time I need a good one!
ReplyDeletehaha, I could totally see myself doing that. I think that some of the apps above actually include contraction timers, because I remember seeing seeing them somewhere at one point, but I'll do some more research and get back to you. So crazy to think about how quickly labor is approaching! I don't think I'm ready... but is anyone ever? :)
DeleteDon't forget to start shopping around for contraction-timing apps soon! :)
ReplyDeleteI need to do that! Any recommendations? :)
DeleteI used Full Term Labor Contraction Timer, and had no complaints.
DeleteI had BabyBump for awhile! I finally deleted it from my phone because while I found their forums reeeaaaally helpful in terms of reading what other moms due the same month as me were going through and getting an idea of what was normal for that, there was soooo much negativity and ugly fighting that it was bringing me down. I didn't have the self-control to resist browsing, though, so I just deleted it. lol. I just get their daily and weekly progress updates through email.
ReplyDeleteRight now I have Pregnancy+, which I really like except for... the cost. So I use the free version, which unfortunately doesn't have any of the coolest features! I downloaded it because it had a features to track my weight shifts, appointments, baby name ideas, and shopping list, which are nice to have in one place.
That's such a shame about the forums! I've honestly never even looked at the forums. In general I've found internet discussion forums to be pretty unhelpful and I know they have reputation for unpleasantness so I just avoid them. Good for you for deleting it instead of letting it bring you down!
DeleteI think a few other apps have features to track weight, appointments, etc. I know Baby Bump has a "journal" feature and Baby Center has a shopping list feature. Hopefully you can find something that will work to supplement or replace Pregnancy+ if you need a free one!