Monday 11 February 2013

Stuff we like: Pregnancy Apps

 

Now I never bother paying for apps, I'd rather make do with the ads/slightly less content on a free app that bother coughing up for however much it costs. Also I get bored of things very easily and end up with a phone full of crap I never look at. However, I do like to keep my apps grouped by type, and have been using the 'health' section a lot recently.

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The only reason I could give the midwife an accurate (ish) date of conception was due to the period tracker lite app. It lets you note when your period starts and ends, therefore tells you when it is due, and you can keep track of symptoms, and when you 'make love' (for want of a better term!) You can also save the data or have it emailed to you, so if you change phone you have a back record (my previous years of poor diary keeping meant I genuinely had no idea when I was due on, because I had such irregular periods anyway)

Once I knew I had a bun in the oven I downloaded a couple more apps, some of which I have since deleted, but the ones I use the most are:-

'What to Expect Pregnancy' (from the same people who published the book (and subsequent spin off Hollywood blockbuster... hmmmm) my version has ads as it's the free version. You enter in your EDD (estimated due date) and when you open the app you get the screen that tells you how far you are, what size the sprog is and a countdown. Along the bottom you have the weekly and daily sections, with the weekly giving you an overview of what's happening inside overall, and each day giving you tips (varying from food, exercise, symptoms, and once a week or so a tip for the dad (my fave basically being 'ask if she wants to have sex don't assume')

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It also has a pictures section, where you can store a picture for each week, but I've not bothered with that as Sam takes one every two weeks for himself (which I share on instagram and here anyway). There is also a forum, based on your expected birth month (access to other forums is possible too) and I've not really bothered with this either.

Sprout app - Very similar to the above, but gives you a creepy 3d sort of image of your unborn child, with bits to click to find out more. The next section 'doc says' also gives a weekly and daily breakdown of information, but if a certain topic interests you you can click it to add it to the 'ask your doctor' list, which appears in the organiser tab, which lists things by section (ask the doc, a to do list, a list of new-born essentials and what to pack in your hospital bag) Obviously I am too much of a list-addict to pass up on writing my own lists, and as previously mentioned I have a whole sectioned notebook for preparing for this child, BUT if you are not manual-to-do-list inclined then its a useful feature for shizzle!

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The last section 'tools' has a weight tracker, so you can monitor your weight gain, a kick counter and a contraction timer (most of which are the 'paid for' features in other pregnancy apps)

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Womancy - more similar to the period tracker app, it shows you a calendar and lets you put your current symptoms in, along with the option of your weight and waist size, which you can then view on a graph. However I weight myself in stones and pounds, and the idea of converting it first is too much effort so I've not bothered so far, but for a free app if you did want to keep track of these then its a decent option.

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IMG_7401The other often used app in my health section is 'white noise' (I have two, each app has slightly different sounds) and although these days I am so tired I can fall asleep anywhere generally, pre pregnancy I used to get a few sleepless nights, particularly when I was really stressed. Basically the app plays a background noise that lulls you (hopefully) to sleep, but I have friends who say that these apps can work well with young babies too (and are a cheaper, if somewhat far more inconvenient (if you actually need to USE your phone) option that Ewan the dream sheep, for example)

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