Day 13: Pregnancy apps are scams, but I can’t get enough of them
Just don’t pull your credit card out.
On Saturdays I “turn” a new week in pregnancy.
At first it felt like the weeks were all going by so slowly. I felt like I was forever 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 10 weeks pregnant. I could see the first trimester marker in the distance, the first lap of a marathon I was running in slow motion.
But the weekends were (and still are) a celebration. Every Saturday morning that I wake up still pregnant feels like an accomplishment, another milestone and assurance that this baby is here and he’s here for good.
And so, a new ritual began in those early days: waking up at the turn of my pregnancy weeks and opening up all the pregnancy and baby apps. Finding out what fruit or vegetable size he is that week, what my body is helping him grow next (a heart! the lungs! eyelashes!), and his amazing abilities womb-side, like being able to detect light or control limb movement or hear our voices.
Each Saturday I skim the suggested articles and pop in to see what the baby forums are clucking on about. I text my parents the update of the week, and hand my phone over to my stepdaughter who marvels at these things just as much as I do, completely in awe of the process it takes to create her little brother.
They say pregnancy apps are scams — spreading disinformation and exploiting pregnant people and expecting parents when they are at their most vulnerable. I don’t doubt it. Fertility, pregnancy, and parenting are no longer just phases in life but incredibly lucrative industries and opportunities for profit.
I like to think I tap these apps open on my phone with a wary eye. I ignore the ads and the heated debates in the forums and the drama of clickbait headlines. I quickly archive the daily flood of emails urging me to get my free breast pump and secure the best deal on cord blood banking.
My primary information and learning will continue to come from well-vetted books, experts, and doctors. But I don’t deny myself the joy and privilege it is to track my journey through pregnancy and connect with my baby through these apps.
Pregnancy apps are scams, but they keep it feeling real.