Pregnancy apps/resources?

ThePecks

What apps or other resources are you using in addition to the bump community ? any trackers you really like?

jsweet-2

I don't know if the bump likes us talking about other apps but I really like the Ovia app

star_beagle

280 Days is really cute. Plus, you can sync it with your H and keep a diary, so-to-speak.

caribbeanmama-2

Are you looking for pregnancy books too?  I can check my stash and list them when I get to my room.

WorkinWeezel

I loved the book Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy. I use TB app and BabyCenter. Pregnology is a fun site to visit also.

ThePecks

Books are good too!

kat0607

I wasn't a fan of the Ovia fertility app, but I love their pregnancy app. 

caribbeanmama-2

I'm going to be a bit lazy and just put the titles without authors - it should be easy to find them but let me know and I can add it.

- Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
- The womanly art of breastfeeding 
- Natural hospital birth, the best of both worlds (love this book!)
- mayo clinic guide to a healthy pregnancy
- our bodies ourselves, Boston women's health book collective
- The complete organic pregnancy
- What to expect when you are expecting
- The natural pregnancy book

AdaByron

I read the Mayo Clinic book last time, and liked it. It was pretty much all the info I needed for the pregancy. Then toward the end I read a book about breastfeeding as well. I took a class to get all the info about L&D since I wasn't planning on going med-free. The class was taught by a doula who assists in a lot of natural unmedicated deliveries. So by the end of the course I felt really well prepared for anything that might happen.

MrsN092714

Here are a few of my favourite pregnancy websites.

https://alphamom.com/pregnancy-calendar-overview/  This is a week by week.  She is so funny!


https://www.babymed.com/hcg-blood-level-by-week-during-pregnancy-is-it-normal  This is a chart with average HCG levels per day of pregnancy (to be taken with a grain of salt and healthy pregnancies can result with numbers outside of these averages)

https://spacefem.com/pregnant/mc.php?m=01&d=23&y=15  Daily odds of miscarriage.  I personally find relief in watching the number decrease by the day.

https://www.msichicago.org/experiment/make-room-for-baby/  This shows what is going on inside your body... it is so cool to see how crowded it is in there and how much your other organs move to make space for baby.

RunRestRepeat

Does anyone have suggestions for good books for husbands? I read each weekly update from my Mayo book so DH can hear about what's going on, but I'd like to get him something for Christmas.

I'm thinking The Expectant Father, but I'd love to get any good recommendations from STMs (or anyone, really)!

OperaSingerMommy

This is for after baby comes but the Medela app is really great for keeping track of feedings and diapers.  After a few weeks I didn't write it all down anymore once I knew DD was eating enough.

For any FTM who might not know- your pediatrician will likely ask you to record everything for the first two weeks or so to make sure you are on the right track.

alcrimmins

RunRestRepeat said:

Does anyone have suggestions for good books for husbands? I read each weekly update from my Mayo book so DH can hear about what's going on, but I'd like to get him something for Christmas.

I'm thinking The Expectant Father, but I'd love to get any good recommendations from STMs (or anyone, really)!

Dude! You're Gonna Be A Dad is great! I used that to announce to dh last time. He laughed so hard at times. 

Other thank TB I use the Pregnancy MD app. 

virginiaunicorn11

Just a warning that while I and my friends all loved The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, it can feel a little brainwashing. I appreciated its advice and it got me through some tough times, but it is no way balanced. It is very "breast is the absolute only way."

A really good friend has been struggling with breastfeeding for three months, and one day she burst into tears and yelled, "It's that DAMN BOOK. I feel like it completely brainwashed me and I am terrified to give him formula and I feel like my body is failing when it just shouldn't be." 

Breastfeeding is good, but fed babies are better. 

I still recommend the book. It helped me troubleshoot my own BF issues. Just be aware that it is kool-aid...

SpongeWorthy

RunRestRepeat said:

Does anyone have suggestions for good books for husbands? I read each weekly update from my Mayo book so DH can hear about what's going on, but I'd like to get him something for Christmas.

I'm thinking The Expectant Father, but I'd love to get any good recommendations from STMs (or anyone, really)!

DH read the Expectant Father, and he didn't like it.  He's more interested in child care and less interested in pregnancy, so the book didn't help him that much.  If anyone else has any suggestions for men, I'm all ears!

MissKrisBliss

Ina Mays Guide to childbirth .... it is the Bible of childbirth.  Even if you don't want a hippy dippy squat in the forest birth,  - it will go far in helping you feel confident and trusting in your body!!

LarkSparkle

Maybe an unpopular choice, but Expecting Better is still my favorite book, and the book I've personally found the most helpful so far.

It's written by an economist who, when she got pregnant, dug through a lot of studies and research behind what she felt were "blanket statements" from her doctors.

It gets into a lot of data, but it's a really interesting read. It's not for everybody, and there are many people who disagree with her methods. I personally feel like it's helped me to understand some of the reasons behind the "rules" we're supposed to follow.

chiquita928

RunRestRepeat said:

Does anyone have suggestions for good books for husbands? I read each weekly update from my Mayo book so DH can hear about what's going on, but I'd like to get him something for Christmas.

I'm thinking The Expectant Father, but I'd love to get any good recommendations from STMs (or anyone, really)!

DH loves "Dude, You're Gonna Be a Dad!"

virginiaunicorn11

Anne Lamott's book Operating Instructions is a memoir about her son's first year of life, and is so funny and poignant. When I was in Baby Mode but wanted to read prose, I really enjoyed it. 

caribbeanmama-2

My husband was insulted that I bought him 'Dude, you're gonna be a dad'.  He thought it confirmed that I must think he is an idiot.  He thinks it's for 'tools' - whatever that means.  He will pick up the books on growth and development (once baby is here) and read those on his own though.  He seemed to like the wonder weeks and the AAP's Birth to age 5.

RunRestRepeat

@caribbeanmama That's kinda the feeling I was getting on that book from reviews and from reading an excerpt - I think my DH would be annoyed with it. He is super into equal roles, and really wants information on every part of pregnancy and baby. I think I'll stick with The Expectant Father for now, and I'll definitely look into some of your recommendations for once baby is here! Thanks!!

kat0607

This isn't necessarily an important "pregnancy resource", but a fun app to have is Baby Story, which is great for bump pictures!! It has filters and really cute stickers to add to each photo. The app itself is free, but I paid $1.99 for the stickers with the number of weeks and the "fruit" size of the baby! 

Kelsey813

Shari Criso RN, CNM, IBCLC Facebook page is a good one to follow, and you can post questions for her that she will answer in a Facebook live video. She is a certified nurse midwife and lactation consultant, she also has a website with classes and videos as well that are really informative. 

Her website : https://www.sharicriso.com/

ETA- link to website 

stokesm21

I too, love the Ovia Pregnancy app.  I used the Ovia Fertility app with much success (2nd try in combination with ovulation strips)  My 2 books of choice thus far are: 

Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding - This book is so amazing!  I am learning things about breasts that I never knew before!  They truly are wonderful works of art!  I personally feel like this book will help give me the best shot at BF.
 
Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy - I have What to Expect and read it even before we started trying.  After some research, that one now gets crappy reviews but the Mayo Clinic one kept coming up so I bought it.  Admittedly, I'm kind of immersed in Ina May's book so I haven't got that far in this one.  But it's good as well. 

stokesm21

LarkSparkle said:

Maybe an unpopular choice, but Expecting Better is still my favorite book, and the book I've personally found the most helpful so far.

It's written by an economist who, when she got pregnant, dug through a lot of studies and research behind what she felt were "blanket statements" from her doctors.

It gets into a lot of data, but it's a really interesting read. It's not for everybody, and there are many people who disagree with her methods. I personally feel like it's helped me to understand some of the reasons behind the "rules" we're supposed to follow.

This sounds like my kind of book!   I'm a research junkie!   

caribbeanmama-2

Let me preface this by saying that a fed baby is the most important thing regardless of 'how'.

If you plan to breastfeed... Ina May's - The womanly art of breastfeeding is your go-to.
@stokesm21 Yes, I completely agree with you that the book is amazing - you won't regret reading it.  I had an incredibly difficult and painful journey with breastfeeding that I.could.not.have.survived. without that book.  Having read it before baby (there's no time after baby gets here) - it put me on a kind of mind game that was absolutely critical to me surviving.  I would have given up much earlier without that knowledge as an undercurrent in my psyche.  That and having a doula (who was a certified lactation consultant) in the first couple weeks while breastfeeding is being established were immensely important.  So, I would add 'experienced doula' to resources - especially in the third trimester and post-delivery.

virginiaunicorn11

I'm not into podcasts normally, but I was obsessed with The Longest Shortest Time during third trimester and DS's "fourth trimester." 

SpongeWorthy

virginiaunicorn11 said:

I'm not into podcasts normally, but I was obsessed with The Longest Shortest Time during third trimester and DS's "fourth trimester." 

I second this!  I've been listening to the longest shortest time for years and I think the stories are great for everyone - moms, dads, kids, people without kids.

chamomile-2

@LarkSparkle I'm in the middle of Expecting Better right now and have mixed feelings! Not about her conclusions that may be controversial, but rather the way she approaches data. When issues simply don't have enough data, she goes in one direction or another based (it seems) on what she already wanted to believe! As a science person this drives me nuts. In some sections she says that since variation in a set of outcomes is not statistically significant, any difference could be due to chance and shouldn't be paid attention to. In other sections she says the variation isn't statistically significant but there's a trend in a direction and therefore you should act based on it! Aaggh! Make up your mind! Lol @stokesm21 You should read it too and let us know what you think! 

stokesm21

caribbeanmama said:

 I had an incredibly difficult and painful journey with breastfeeding that I.could.not.have.survived. without that book.  Having read it before baby (there's no time after baby gets here) - it put me on a kind of mind game that was absolutely critical to me surviving.  I would have given up much earlier without that knowledge as an undercurrent in my psyche.  

For all the people I know who tried and weren't successful, I can assume with 98% accuracy (haha!) that they didn't do any reading on breastfeeding prior to baby's arrival.  Considering how much I've seen people struggle with it, it's not something I want to try completely blind.  It seems simple.  Get baby to latch but it's soooo much much more difficult than that.  Reading up on it is important to me and I feel like this book is setting me up for the best chance.  Yes, it could still not work out and even when it does work, I've heard its terribly exhausting being the sole feeder.  But all you can do is try right?!       

caribbeanmama-2

Bumping for @Katie______

Katie______

@caribbeanmama
You rock! And why I couldn't find this...I don't know!  Thanks!!!!!!!!!

oheliza44

 I am really enjoying "Birth Day" by Mark Sloan. I am only a few chapters in, but I really like the tone of the book. It's informative but not preachy and doesn't send me into a complete panic about everything that could go wrong. A friend of mine bought it for me when she found out I was expecting. She read everything she could get her hands on and said this one was her favorite. 

Katie______

Thanks! @oheliza44

caribbeanmama-2

Bumping for @MrsN092714

Just in case some of these are helpful.