A guest post from Nerd HQ Manager (and New Mama) Molly Gardner:

Goodness gracious, there’s a lot to keep track of when you’re pregnant… a lot of questions and lists and things to buy and advice to follow (or not!). It’s easy to get overwhelmed by it all. But, boy, do I love to stay organized… and it’s all so important when it’s for your child. And, to be honest, this is our first kid and I don’t know a thing (you should see my Google search history).

Here are the apps and tools I used during pregnancy, but almost all of them are great for all of us… pregnant or not. 🙂

Calorie Tracker

No, I was not tracking my calories while pregnant (though, eating for two is a myth, you really only need an extra 300 calories or so a day, bah humbug). I did have to track my protein and this tool came in very handy in helping me get the recommended amount a day. [Note from Beth… I don’t know exactly which app she used that was called “Calorie Tracker,” so I put the link to MyFitnessPal.]

EveryDollar or Mint

Turns out these little suckers are expensive (and everyone loves to tell me that now) so I got to work on a new budget to include diapers, doctors and college funds. Both EveryDollar and Mint are fantastic, free tools to refresh your monthly budget and help you stick to your goals.

Evite or Paperless Post

My friend Kassi sent out the cutest Evite for my baby shower. Who needs paper invitations these days? She was able to track attendance, send out a reminder and receive messages — all for free with Evite. Evite also has a paid premium option for more formal events (no advertisements and the option to send paper invites). Paperless Post has gorgeous, similar options for showers and parties. [Beth’s Note: I ADORE Paperless Post.]

Thred Up

Have I told you about this yet? I tell everyone about Thred Up! I get serious joy from decluttering and Thred Up is an amazing company that will send you a bag for your old clothes, purses and shoes. They’ll do an inventory and allow you to choose if you want the proceeds to go to the charity of your choice, cash back, or towards used clothes. Why does this help moms-to-be? I used my $100 or so dollars towards used baby clothes. I stocked this kid’s whole wardrobe with awesome gently-used clothing (some with tags on) for a quarter of the price I might have at the mall. Who needs to spend big bucks on clothes that won’t fit in a few months, right?

Thrift Books

For the first six months of my pregnancy I bought absolutely nothing practical. Instead, I bought children’s books. Thanks to Thrift Books I could get previously-loved copies of all my own childhood favorites sent right to me.

Animoto

The video maker Animoto is an oldie at Nerd HQ, but a goodie. Just check out the video of baby Jack’s room. It’s so much fun to send a video to grandma in Colorado so she can feel like she’s here.

Groupon

I hadn’t looked at Groupon in quite a while before I was pregnant. I ended up finding a great deal on a prenatal massage and a newborn photographer. Don’t discount the original discount site when you’re expecting.

Amazon

We didn’t start a traditional “registry” per se, but I found myself keeping track of all the little items we needed on Amazon’s Baby Registry. When your list is complete, they’ll give you two 15% codes to use off your entire purchase… a great way to stock up on everything from wipes to Wubbanubs (yes, that’s a thing).

YouTube

Did I mention I don’t know a thing? I’m not exaggerating. Thank goodness for YouTube where I can enjoy prenatal yoga classes, swaddling tutorials and, well, everything. Again, watch out for the internet opinions.

BabyCenter and Ovia

These apps/websites were helpful from Day 1 of pregnancy. BabyCenter has all sorts of tools to help you follow along with your baby’s development, choose a name, learn about your pregnancy symptoms, start a registry, share pregnancy pictures (little known fact: they call these “bumpies” now), and even track your baby’s movement. After Baby is born, BabyCenter has tools to track growth, memories, sleep and feeding. It’s all free and I found myself checking something or other on this app daily. My husband and I liked looking every night to see how the baby was growing and how many days we had left. Ovia is a very similar tool with many of the same features, but I found myself liking BabyCenter’s design a little more. One note of caution: take the “community” threads with a grain of salt. Like any online forum, there’s a lot of well meaning users, but this is hardly medical advice, just internet opinions!