Being a mother is a calling. From the moment you conceive a child you have to start living for two. The mothers of today have a lot more at their disposal to help them along the journey of motherhood. Of course your Mum has the answers to almost everything but what do you do, where do you go when Mum is far away?
I asked a few mothers to share their experiences on apps that help them with their babies and apps they use to unwind, this is what they had to say:
Karimi Ireen is expecting her first child. She uses several apps to help her out on this motherhood journey. ‘I am currently using What to expect and My baby care center. For my workouts I use Pregnancy Workouts Power 20. “The workout app is great, it uses a pregnant woman who directs you on what to do for 20 minutes. It has brilliant routines that actually help. The other two apps are almost similar only difference is the layout but I prefer the What to expect one because it is always reminding me of how far along I am and what I am required to do during that period. The apps show a visual of the baby’s development and the mothers as well. They also give great advice on what to avoid and precautions to take. They give detailed information about labour and essentials needed in each trimester.
Lynnet Kasuku works in the hotel industry and is in charge of food and beverage administration. She is a mother of a beautiful energetic boy.She realised that she was spending a lot of money on the baby and she needed an app that would help her track her expenses. She uses Monefy for this purpose. Feed the baby is another app which helps her monitor everything from sleep patterns, feeding times and nappy changes.’ The Baby Center app is like my ‘bible’ in addition to my Mum.
With all these things to do I asked her whether she ever has downtime. ’Last time I had downtime was before my son was born.I do like Lumosity though.’ Lumosity is a brain game app that challenges your memory, attention, and more. ’I used to do Candy Crush but I got bored. I prefer word search apps.’
Eve Kwamboka works in the events industry.’When I need to do something I have an app called ‘Animal Sounds for Baby’. The baby just needs to tap on the animal and it makes a sound. It keeps him busy and allows me to work. When I want to unwind I have an app called Youcam Make up where everytime you take a photo you can edit it using the features there. I am on social media as well; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. For games I have Candy Crush,Fruit Ninja and Temple run. I also listen to music to unwind.
Grace Kinya, a software developer, has a daughter who turns one this year. ’I do not have apps on my phone, but what is there are mostly musical apps because she is still too young to grasp game concepts. When I want to unwind I play Solitaire.’
Muthoni Achoch ,works in administration at a Sports Company. She has a daughter who is currently in Kindergarten. When her daughter was younger she would play with her mother’s phone and she did quite some damage. ‘She started playing with my phone when she was one. She has locked it,blocked my sim, changed my theme and ringtone and even deleted contacts. I installed Applock to stop her going through my stuff. The app allows you to lock your applications like WhatsApp messages, gallery ,videos and even contacts via a code or pattern.She now knows better than to play with my phone.’
Rehema Wambui is a student and businesswoman.She has apps for her son who is three years old that are mostly educational .One for learning shapes and colours, ABCs and numbers,Learn ABC 123. I use it to reinforce what he has learnt in and out of class. I also have a kid’s Bible app because it tells the Bible stories in ways the child can understand with different sounds and songs. When I need to destress I watch series on my phone when he is playing outside. I recently got an app called Out of Milk which helps my shopping easier. My husband and I both have the app and we have a similar list so when either one of us gets something off the list it updates with the items left.’
Becky Anguka,is a high school Math teacher. ‘I use WebMd Baby so that I can check her symptoms to see if they are really worth a doctor’s visit.I have the What to Expect app so I can read about similar situations that other mothers have gone through.I use The Bump because it has a day to day calendar of different things to do with the baby as well as listing the different milestones. I use Whatsapp because it is the easiest way to share pictures and videos of the baby.
To unwind I am mostly on Facebook and I play games like Candy Crush.’
Motherhood has enough challenges,why not make your life simpler with these user friendly apps.Most of them are free and can be found on Play Store for Android Phones.