9 months of your life will fly by and before you know it, your little bundle of joy will be gurgling away in your arms. During that 9 months however, there are many changes that are going to take place within yourself (mind and body) that you need to consider and take care of to ensure a healthy mom and a healthy baby.
When you first find out that you are pregnant the excitement is extraordinary. Then slowly but surely, doubts and worries may start to enter your mind. One of the most common worries of a newly expectant mother is about maintaining their health and doing everything within their power to make sure they are doing the right things for their growing baby. We all want to deliver a healthy, strong and happy baby!
Gaining weight during a pregnancy is also a worry for expectant mothers. It is almost like you start to tell people you are pregnant and they want to see the evidence before their eyes. The other thing that can often happen is that you start to feel like you can eat anything! A few extra pounds here and there can easily be passed off as pregnancy weight, right? I wish I had a dollar for everyone that told me I should start eating for two during my pregnancies!
On the flip side, there are some expectant moms who have great concerns about maintaining their weight and who are looking for ways that will help them to continue with a healthy eating and healthy lifestyle plan. Doing so can really help your body and mind to bounce back to great shape after your baby is born.
Let us get real and step on those scales!
If you are concerned about how much weight you should be “gaining” each week or month, or perhaps your concern is about the amount of weight you have already started to put on, then get yourself a pregnancy book that can give you details on all of the important things you need to know.
You will be having regular check-ups with your doctor or healthcare provider and some women are happy with this simple amount of care and tracking. There is nothing wrong with that! However, if you want to get involved in your progress and tracking as much as you can and if you are looking for an idea, plan or gadget that will help you track your weight and keep you healthy during pregnancy, then here are my top 3 picks.
A smart scale with a difference!
Weight gain or weight loss during pregnancy relates to the food we eat, the amount of physical movement that we do, how sick we are during the pregnancy and other factors such as water retention and fluid build-up. Many women are looking for reliable tracking of their weight during this time and it is common to worry about what is the right amount of weight to gain and what would be considered unhealthy.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) have a comprehensive amount of research about pregnancy weight that is so specific you can find information based on your current weight at the time of your pregnancy. This is great for women who might start a pregnancy in the underweight range or overweight range. The information presented is a great read and it is backed by medical research.
The Withings Body+ smart scale is perfect to track the weight of the whole family, so it can be used during pregnancy, and then continue to be used in the years that follow, by your growing family. This smart scale links to your portable device and a Pregnancy Tracker App to provide you with valuable information derived from obstetrician-reviewed advice and allows you to track weight gain throughout your pregnancy.
This smart scale and linked app will definitely keep you on track for the months of your pregnancy. The bonus is that it also has a baby mode that you can set in order to keep track of the youngest members of your family. It will save user information and is a clever scale to use for everyone.
You will receive great advice and tips throughout your pregnancy and will also be provided with a week-by-week overview of your progress. What more could you ask for in a scale?
Apps for your devices
Apps are the perfect way to record your weight loss or gain and can also provide you with interesting insight about how your baby is developing and progressing through the stages of your pregnancy.
How will you narrow down the choices when there are so many pregnancy apps to choose from?
If you are like me, then you will want to know everything and anything about being pregnant, but are you really going to need to download every single app to your phone? You might choose to download quite a few and then check them out and see which ones work best for you.
Here are just some of the things to look for when choosing the weight-tracking pregnancy app that is right for you:
- What to expect through each trimester of your pregnancy.
- Visual images of what your baby looks like inside of you as the weeks progress.
- Intake of water and food tracking.
- Weekly weight tracking.
- Exercise and additional nutrition advice.
- Ability to keep track of your prenatal appointment dates and times.
- A personal diary that can allow you to make notes and even take belly bump progress pictures.
- An interface that is user-friendly.
- An app that allows you to be social and connect with other pregnant mothers if you enjoy being social and connecting with others.
- If you need to purchase an app, look at the cost and make sure it is affordable.
With millions of downloads, the Pregnancy Week by Week app should be one to add to your download list! It is free to download but it comes with ads and in-app purchases. It has a great range of features including weekly tracking, calculation of your current week of pregnancy and calculation of your due date. You can even track when you feel your baby kicking you!
The daily and weekly updates are pretty cool and you can clearly see the baby’s potential weight, length and comparison to a piece of fruit. For example, at 15 weeks pregnant, your little one is the size of a cute little apple!
If you are looking for an app that you can use during pregnancy as well as after your baby is born, then you might like to consider downloading the Pregnancy Tracker and Baby App – What to expect. This handy little app has also had many downloads and some great reviews. It has also been created by the “What to expect when you are expecting” brand which has been a household name for many expectant mothers and parents over the years.
One of the extra bonuses of this app is that it does allow you to be social with other expectant mums. You could join a group of like-minded expectant mothers based on your birthing month. I have developed many fabulous friendships and still remain friends with mothers that I connected with while I was pregnant with my children. Some I met in the hospital during the process of giving birth, others during prenatal and antenatal classes. These friendships have been a wonderful addition to my life over the years, as well as for my children who had same-age play mates from a very early age. This is the perfect way to build up your child’s social skills when they are young. Having these friendships has also allowed me to be more social instead of being in my home by myself without feeling like I had anyone I could reach out to.
This app is free to download but it comes with ads.
If you are looking for another fun app that has been downloaded millions of times with lots of star ratings, then look at the Pregnancy+ tracker app, week by week in 3D. Sounds fancy!
With this popular app you will receive baby development information, pregnancy guides and information, tools for pregnancy, and a section to organize and plan your life. This app really does have it all and one of the most unique aspects is the 3D model showing your baby’s development that is interactive!
The baby size guide is a cute addition that will allow you to view your growing baby as a fruit, animal, or sweet! Now that is a great feature, especially if you need to sit and rest or are looking to pass some time while you are waiting at the doctors for your appointment.
I really think this a special app that is worth downloading and giving a try. It is free to download although it comes with ads and in-app purchases. Nevertheless, I think you will be amazed with the wealth of information that is presented to you.
Do you have dreams of being a fit mum?
Have you ever looked at those celebrities that have just given birth and think “how is this even possible?”, when you see them looking fabulous just hours or days after giving birth. Yes, me too! Photoshop may have a lot to do with it if we are to be really honest about it, but still, it plays on my mind.
If you already have a certain level of fitness when you first become pregnant you can definitely continue with a fitness routine throughout the pregnancy. Make sure you let your doctor know what types of exercises you are currently doing and the frequency of your workouts so that you can be guided by their opinion.
Maintaining your fitness during pregnancy will help you spring back into shape after the birth of your baby. It will also help you as you start to gain baby weight in regards to your body overall, as well as your sleep patterns, posture and mental state during the pregnancy.
Have you ever tried Pilates? It is a great whole-body program that can help get your body ready for the delivery and provide you with some great stretches and a calm mind. Pilates during pregnancy is a safe and effective exercise and there are many programs or apps you can follow. I personally enjoy a good book and like to have it in front of me.
Now, you have probably heard about your pelvic floor muscles. Pilates is the perfect way to keep them strong and to also improve your abdominal strength at the same time. We do not always want to talk about it, but it is important!
If you need some more ideas about the best way to keep your body in shape during pregnancy and bounce back like a celebrity after giving birth, then you might like to take some advice from Lindsay Brin in her book about achieving this goal. Pregnancy Fitness is another great read and provides important advice about exercises during pregnancy and after.
Have the time of your life!
This is such an exciting, interesting and important time of your life. There are so many new things to learn and consider as you are growing a new little human inside of you. You will likely receive advice from everyone! Your health and mental wellbeing are so crucial when you are pregnant and being able to monitor your weight, track your progress throughout the trimesters and to know what type of exercises you can be doing to improve your health and fitness during pregnancy is fabulous. You are on the right path by researching for great ideas, innovative apps and gadgets that will see you through your pregnancy as your body changes and your baby develops.