It’s scary enough finding out you’re going to be first time parents but to go through the usual trials and tribulations of a first time pregnancy during a pandemic is on another level of crazy! This series is a reflection on our pregnancy journey and everything we’re finding out along the way now our little one is here.

So, 2020…where do we even start? A world where everything was flipped upside down and everything that we took for granted changed. Without all the modern tech we have at our fingertips nowadays it’s hard to understand how we would have got through the 9 months of pregnancy. Here’s a little insight into all the things that either kept us connected, sane, comforted or made us feel that little bit less alone on the journey.

Separated from family, friends and business associates (and for two really awful weeks each other!) we have relied and still are heavily reliant on WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype portals to ensure we can maintain both business continuity and face to face contact with our family and friends. With many healthcare providers carrying out the more informal appointments over the phone or facetime it’s one less worry / outing to a hospital setting which can be anxious enough. It’s important though to remember to attend all your face to face appointments and scans etc as these are crucial to yours and your little one’s health.

Super impatient to know the gender of our baby (Mum – not Dad!) we booked a private scan at Window to the Womb at the 16 week mark. Our package included access to all of our pictures and videos via the Bumpies app via a unique code which we could share with family to save having to download and send individually to them.

There’s some great pregnancy apps out there (and some not so great ones). Personally, our preference was for Pregnancy+ . A brilliant free app which isn’t completely driven by ad’s and pushy sales and promotions. The app offers updates daily, blog articles, size comparisons (bit worried at the lion cub stage and beyond!), 2D and 3D sample imaging in multiple ethnicities and much more. We also found the Bounty app good but much more sales / commercially orientated.

On a separate note, plagued by insomnia we would also rate the Calm app, subscription based but with different payment options we subscribed for the full year. The range of guided meditations, calming music and bedtime stories is superb for anyone of any age.

The ever growing number of social accounts dedicated to pregnancy really does help fellow mums and dads to be feel part of a community. Some channels are devoted to sharing other peoples stories and journeys (the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly) and others there to provide helpful information videos, infographics, fitness tips etc.

Here’s a few of our faves from Instagram;

We took two free online antenatal classes via Zoom which were amazing (classes were free at the time and may be subject to charge now);

• Birth and Labour class by The Honest Midwife (www.letstalkbirthandbaby.co.uk)
• Baby Care Workshop by The Baby Academy (https://mybabyacademy.co.uk/)

We survived pregnancy though Covid and our little one was born at 9 months and 4 days. Stay tuned for the next in this series.

*Any services, platforms or accounts we mention or recommend aren’t adverts just simply personal endorsements from our first-hand experience

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