You’re pregnant! Woohoo! Congrats, mama. As you’re quickly finding out, there is so much to keep track of—your symptoms, your appointments, the baby’s size. How can you stay on top of all the never-ending things to keep track of? With apps, of course!
But the apps don’t start (or end) when you conceive. There are myriad apps that can help you get pregnant (hello, timed sex!), and keep you sane during early motherhood.
Here are our top picks.
Best Apps for Ovulation Tracking
Glow Ovulation
The Glow team has several apps for various women’s health needs, from ovulation to fertility and pregnancy to baby’s first year. Glow Ovulation is their app designed to help you get pregnant (or not get pregnant). Its super easy navigation system can help you get on top of your cycle. Glow Ovulation allows you to track your cycle and set medication, ovulation, contraception, and period tracker reminders. “It was really helpful to be able to keep track of temps while trying to conceive,” says L.A. mom Rosemary Dardick. “After a few months of trying on our own, we got pregnant after a month of using the app.”
Download Glow Ovulation free for iOS and Android.
Ovia Fertility
For a mama-to-be who wants to infuse a little science into this project of conceiving: Ovia Fertility teaches you to track your cycle and moods, cervical fluid, nutrition, weight, exercise, blood pressure, sleep, sex, and fitness routines (it syncs with other apps, like your FitBit)—all information you can then bring to your doctor. With a staff of physicians behind it, this app has it all.
Download Ovia Fertility free for iOS and Android.
Fertility Friend
I used this one and found it super easy (and empowering!) to navigate. Fertility Friend helps you keep track of your cycle and all sorts of other things—cervical fluid, mood, cravings, and basal body temperature. With graphs to watch (of your temp going up and down, mostly) and online tutorials, you’ll easily know which days to “aim” for.
Download Fertility Friend free for iOS and Android.
Best Pregnancy Apps for Week-by-Week Tracking
Glow Nurture
Glow Nuture is beloved by mamas-to-be because it is so comprehensive and easy to navigate. Plus, unlike some apps that only focus on you or baby, you can track your little one’s growth while also keeping track of your own symptoms. You can also socialize with other expectant mamas and track your appointments all in one place!
“I used Glow Nurture to track my baby’s growth and track all my symptoms, which was so helpful,” says Mindy Melgar of L.A.
Glow even has a feature in case you miscarry, allowing you to track your symptoms and stay on top of your emotional well-being.
Download Glow Nurture free for iOS and Android.
Ovia Pregnancy
What’s great about the Ovia Pregnancy app (other than that it was founded by a doctor) is that it actually remembers mom! So no more of the whole, “Your baby is the size of a peanut this week, the end.” Ovia puts the focus back on you. You get real-time alerts about your own symptoms (is it serious or not?), it helps you track your own wellness (food, sleep, exercise), and has a feature that allows you to look up whether certain foods and medications are safe. It can also sync up with your FitBit.
Download Ovia Pregnancy free for iOS and Android.
Babybump Pregnancy Pro
Are you a documentarian? This is the app for you. With wonderful photo-sharing capabilities and plenty of mommy groups to join, this is a do-it-all app.
Bonus features: It keeps you up to date on baby’s growth, helps you write a birth plan (with prompting questions like: Do I want my partner in the room with me all times?), and allows you to time contractions when the time comes.
Download BabyBump Pregnancy Pro free for iOS and Android.
Best Apps for Raising a Newborn
Glow Baby
Glow Baby is massively popular because of all it allows you to do—which is basically stay on top of everything. “I used Glow Baby to keep track of feedings, sleep, and diapers. Can’t say enough good things about this app, especially for the type A mama,” says L.A. mom Mindy Melgar.
Glow Baby also allows you to track doctor visits and baby’s height and weight, and it has sharing capabilities that are great for partners, grandparents, and nannies.
Download Glow Baby free for iOS and Android.
The Wonder Weeks
Why is my baby crying? Experts on baby development created the Wonder Weeks theory to help you decode the crying and fussing (hooray!). When you’re stumped (and exhausted), their app can step in, helping you understand how your baby is changing week to week—and why the soothing you did last week may not be working anymore.
Download The Wonder Weeks for $2.99 for iOS and Android.
Baby Connect
Baby Connect is an app for those obsessed with data. (I was personally addicted to this one.) Having a newborn can feel like throwing your life into total chaos, so having a place to keep track of everything—feeding, sleeping, activities, diaper changes—gave me some semblance of control. You can detect patterns and plan accordingly. It can also sync with other phones, so your partner, nanny, and other caregivers can share info (no iPhone needed).
Download Baby Connect free for iOS and Android.
Best Pregnancy App for Timing Contractions
Full Term Pregnancy
Count your baby’s kicks, time your contractions, and see graphs of your progress! This is the most popular contraction counter on the market.
Download Full Term Pregnancy free for iOS and Android.
Best App for Mom’s Mental Health
Headspace
So this isn’t a pregnancy-specific app, but Headspace is so very helpful in calming your mind and body. With guided meditations of all sorts of subjects—self-esteem, stress, compassion—you can start feeling supported wherever you are.
Download Headspace free for iOS and Android (various subscription packages available, $7.99–$12.99/month).
Best Pregnancy Apps for Baby Names
BabyName
Dubbed the Tinder of baby name apps, BabyName works—you guessed it—like Tinder. Sync the app with your partner’s, then swipe right for the names you love and left for the rejects. The names you both love appear with their meaning and origin, so no extra research is required. The winners are filed on a shared list you can revisit later (and argue over).
Download BabyName free for iOS and Android.
Baby Names
This wildly popular baby naming app has it all: 60,000 names you can sort by origin, meaning, country, and popularity. It will tell you (by year!) what your desired name was ranked. You can create and change your list as many times as you like and narrow it down based on your preferences and predilections!
Download Baby Names free for iOS.