How do I tell people I’m pregnant when I said I never wanted kids?
Some women dream of their child, the name, the sex, long before they even meet the partner they make their baby with. That's not me... Read more
When I got pregnant after being child-free for all my life, I realized that I knew shit about being pregnant. And I was full of questions about what was happening to my body. So I turned to the interwebs to find out the best pregnancy apps.
But one of my biggest pregnancy symptoms is getting nauseous over cutesy pregnancy speak. I get green around the gills every time I downloaded an app and read the phrase “bundle of joy.” Or it referred to my stomach as “your baby bump.” [Insert eye roll emoticon here.]
So after some trial and error with apps, I’ve narrowed down my favorite non-cheesy pregnancy apps to these…
Glow Nurture Pregnancy App
I like the Nurture’s dashboard the best. It’s very user-friendly, gives you everything you need in one glance, and I like their daily logging interface. And while I originally downloaded it because you can sync it to your iPhone’s Health app and/or the My Fitness Pal app, I haven’t yet figured out how they work together. Hmm…
Ovia Pregnancy Tracker
But I love Ovia the best overall. The interface is more modern, and they’re more creative in their descriptions. I love that you can choose what kind of illustration shows you how big your baby is. One is “french desserts” which brings me endless joy (and cravings). It’s not as user-friendly as Nurture, but they send daily baby progress emails, which is nice to wake up to, and they have a handy-dandy searchable “food safety” list.
Sprout Pregnancy
Sprout has a bunch of pregnancy apps — so many that I found it confusing. But I downloaded the free one, because all that it had that other apps didn’t is this SUPER RAD 360 view of what your baby looks like at all stages during your pregnancy. It also gives you facts about what’s going on with you and the weird Alien Tadpole Future Baby growing inside of you. It’s faaaascinating.
CineMama
Okay this one’s a bit dorky, but fun. I love progress photos, and Cinemama was created to make taking them easy and congruous. And, if you’re the artsy type, this app may help you make videos.
Expectful Guided Pregnancy Meditation App
Unexpectedly this may be one of my most helpful pregnancy apps. I’m not a meditator, but I have turned to these guided meditations many a time when I was feeling scared, uneasy, or just wanted a way to gain a deeper connection to what’s happening to my body. In short, it’s great for those of us with anxiety issues.
What have been YOUR favorite apps during pregnancy? Anything from learning to calming to making art — I wanna hear about ’em!
The expectful app was recommended by my ob and I haven’t tried it yet. Thanks for the helpful reviews!
If anyone has any recs for apps that are trans-inclusive, PLEASE share them here! I’m a trans man currently in my 31st week and I am using an app to track things, but I really find there’s a ton of it that I don’t at all relate to, and of course the language used is very exclusionary of anyone who isn’t a cisgender woman.
I use Clue for tracking my menstrual cycle and one of the things I *love* about it is that they totally recognize and address the fact that not all people who have periods are women. (There’s even an option for tracking your testosterone shots!) I really wish there was something similar available that was specific to pregnancy.