As is often the case with me, I didn’t set out to write an entire series on baby-related subjects. The Finish Line Blog gets its inspiration from things that I, your humble blogger, encounter in the real world. As you probably already know, my wife and I welcomed our daughter on February 10th. Like our former pastor once said, “There will be good days and bad days.” He was referring to marriage at the time, but these words certainly apply to parenthood as well. To recap, the need to sort through the thousands of pictures taken of the baby spawned (no pun intended) “Picture Organization“. From those pictures, we created a photo blog to share with family and friends. “I’ll Tumblr for Ya” was the result. Concerns about the baby’s well-being while we slept were eased thanks to the Owlet monitor. If you “Give a Hoot About Your Baby“, you’ll be interested in reading that post. Last week, we took baby monitoring into the 21st century by introducing the Snug Baby Monitor. Thanks to your smartphone, you’ll know your baby is “Snug as a Bug in a Rug.” Today we wrap up our series (unless I come up with something else for next week) with a couple of apps that any expecting family member could get a lot out of. One covers pregnancy as well as postpartum, and the other is strictly for the end of the pregnancy. Both apps are available from the App Store as well as Google Play. Let’s take a look.
“What to Expect When You’re Expecting” is a brand that’s been around forever. Mothers the world over have sought its guidance. It’s only fitting that there would be a convenient and personalized app in the year 2017. The What to Expect app is one we personally turn to regularly. When you input your due date, you unlock a wealth of information. A countdown begins detailing the number of weeks and days remaining in the pregnancy, and each week your child’s length and weight is given, with the size compared to a type of fruit. The most interesting part of the app to us was the weekly video that shows what the fetus looks like in the womb, and details everything that is developed during that particular week. I don’t want to start a war, but when you use this app, you’ll see that life truly begins at conception. Moving on, there are helpful articles that are catered to the stage of pregnancy you’re currently at, and you can sign up to receive articles directly in your inbox. There’s a helpful community if you’re feeling alone and have questions that need to be answered as well. Even though our daughter is now five weeks old, the app is still useful as weekly updates detail her development and what we, her parents are going through. At least we know we’re not the only ones who have thought about leaving our baby on the side of the road. We haven’t really gotten to that point yet. It’s been close, but not quite. Just kidding, Sweetheart (if she ever reads this post).
Fewer things can freak out a prospective father more than the thought of labor. As soon as the doctor gives her guidelines about how many minutes apart contractions need to be before you can head to the hospital, there is no more rest. I know that I didn’t take my wallet and license out of my pocket for the last five weeks of my wife’s pregnancy! Because there’s so much going on as a pregnancy comes to an end, I bring you the Full Term app. This thing is a lifesaver, let me tell you. It’s a contraction timer. As soon as a contraction begins, tap the start button. When it ends, tap the end button. Simple as that. The The app lists the duration and frequency of the last contraction, the average duration and average frequency of the last hour, and the same information over the last six hour period. There’s no more guessing how far apart contractions are with this app. The results can be e-mailed as well if you’d like to share it with others. While we used the app strictly for the contraction timer, there’s also a kick counter, weight tracker, and handy reference information pertaining to the health of both the mother and baby. I only found one glitch in the app: my wife didn’t always tell me the truth about how frequently her contractions were coming for fear of knocking me off the rails. That’s really not the app’s fault though, as it’s only as good as the information it’s given…
I have no idea how the pioneer women were able to have babies without technology! Technology has certainly changed our lives in more ways than we can count, and in ways we never could’ve imagined. Pregnancy is such a special and unique time that you’ll want to soak it up as much as possible. The more you know, the more you’ll get out of it. Thank you for indulging me in our baby series. I’ll try not to bore you with too many pictures!