As a first time Mom, I have heard of all the expected symptoms during pregnancy but not much is said about some symptoms that can make anyone worry.  Thanks to the Smartphone app, I knew that during the 2^nd trimester of pregnancy it is common to have your heart race periodically.  This is due to your heart pumping blood for two.  Trust me, if my heart started to race and I did not have advance warning of the possibility of this occurring, I would have thought I had a heart problem. 

 The app also provides me great analogies for what is happening to my body – inside and out.  I knew when in the development stages my little bundle could hear me and when taste buds were developing.  This is when I knew to sing the Eyes of Texas and to be sure to eat my favorite veggies in abundance – brussel sprouts anyone?  Speaking of vegetables, according to the app, our baby is about two pounds and is about the length of a cucumber.  That is a mighty big cucumber.

Laura Hernandez

Hello, my name is Laura, and I am a wife and working mom who has been with AT&T for 13 years. I am a mom who is about to be a mom for the first time – sounds confusing. I have a stepson with a disability who lives with us, and my husband and I are expecting our first child together in May. My stepson is completely dependent on technology to communicate, so if we want to communicate with him when we are not at home, e-mail and texting is the way to go.  I use technology in every aspect of my life. Aside from using my Blackberry to stay connected to work issues, I use Navigator to get around my new city of Dallas, and I use multiple smartphone applications to manage grocery lists, get restaurant reviews or find important locations, like the shoe repair, tailor and, yes, even clean bathrooms. As two working parents juggling the demands our stepson presents us, we use technology to coordinate social schedules and yoga classes and to keep our friends and family up-to-date on happenings in our lives. More recently, I have used the internet to track how my pregnancy is progressing.

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Then there are the apps.  Amy is officially ‘addicted’ to apps.  She uses her smartphone to keep up with Facebook, check the weather, hunt for a new house, track workouts and food intake, play games, share pictures from our Flickr account, and keep up on parenting information, among other things.  She just might be on her smartphone more than I’m on mine, which is saying something.

Does anyone else have a significant other who fought the transition to a smartphone, only to become ‘addicted’ to mobile apps?

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At my prenatal check-up this week, my doctor measured my belly and listened to the baby’s heartbeat as per procedure. However, this time I thought it would be fun to keep the sound of my baby’s hearbeat with me instead of waiting another two weeks to hear it again. So I whipped out my Smartphone to use the Voice Memos app to record seven seconds of my little man’s heart beating away.

After my appointment, I sent the recording via text to my husband so he too could share in the reassuring sound of our little miracle. Take a listen yourself!

Nicole Anderson

Hello, everyone! I’m Nicole, an AT&T employee and soon-to-be-mom of a baby boy. My husband, Justin, and I are expecting our first child at the end of April. It’s been a year of big changes for us, as I relocated with the company last April from the San Francisco Bay Area to Dallas. Thankfully, my husband was able to maintain his career, working remotely from Dallas. I’m jealous he gets to go back to California every month or so, especially during the summer to beat the heat! Just as we started getting settled in Dallas – learning the neighborhood, what road led where, and I was getting up to speed on my new job – we found out we were pregnant! It has been an exciting, if overwhelming, journey for us. Critical during our relocation was the use of our smartphones. If we got lost, or if we needed to find a restaurant, e-mail our realtor or send a quick text, our smartphones didn’t let us down. Now with the text4baby program, I can get quick and informative baby advice sent directly to my phone. With all the hecticness in our work and lives, these texts create a quick moment to reflect on the big change coming in our lives and learn something about the new life we are forming. I look forward to sharing this experience with you through my blog posts, and learning more about how to use technology as a new mom. Is there an app that helps your baby sleep through the night?!

Standard charges apply to text messages, depending on your plan.

If you’ve already entered for the giveaway, please know that your entry will count when we bring back the program, so you won’t have to reenter.

Thanks for your understanding and stay tuned for the upcoming Twitter Party.

The soundtrack songs are available exclusively via download from the iTunes Store, and AT&T wireless customers can snag ringtones and answer tones through AT&T MEdia Mall (AT&T App Center). And, best of all, all proceeds from content purchases between now and March 1 will go to the U.S. Olympic Committee to benefit Team USA.*

Check out music videos and info on how to download here:  http://soundtrack.att.net/.

*All proceeds from the purchase of participating ringtones and answer tones from February 12, 2010 through March 1, 2010 will be donated by AT&T to Team USA. All proceeds from the purchase of musical compositions from February 9, 2010 through March 1, 2010 will be donated by the record labels to Team USA. For more information about Team USA, visit www.teamusa.org. Standard data transport charges apply (and are not included in proceeds paid to Team USA).

Well, I have always struggled with taking self-portraits using my Smartphone. I would think I know where the button is and then end up only capturing my chin, then go the opposite direction and only capture my forehead. (Maybe it should have been a clue to just stop taking pictures of myself, but that would be way too easy!) So I learned something new today and can’t imagine I’m the only one that did not know this piece of valuable information. When you go to take a self-portrait, press and hold, the key word is hold, the button down that captures the picture. It actually doesn’t take the picture until you release your hold! Uh -huh! Go ahead…try it now! 

So, you can look at your device, get your finger in the right spot by placing it on the capture button and holding it down, turn your device and release when you are ready Bam! The picture has been captured.  Genius, I tell ya! And I thought I knew a ton about the Smartphone. 

Friday night, just to name one time, I carried two devices because I can’t leave home without my Smartphone, but also needed my Blackberry to capture self-portraits of me and my girlfriends. My life just got simpler as I continue to stay calm, cool and connected (or so I think on the cool part). Happy photo-taking!

Message and data rates may apply.

A car seat is supposed to keep your baby safe in an automobile. All models claim to have a variety of safety features. But not all are created equal, and much depends on your own vehicle, not the car seat brand. 

We started our search with a handy book (yes, a book – does anyone use those anymore?) that rated all baby equipment. This allowed us to determine the seats that are highly rated on ease of use, durability and accessories. We then visited carseatdata.org, where we searched for the best car seat from those compatible with our automobile. By cross-referencing between the book and the recommendations at carseatdata.org, we narrowed our options to a few. We then made our decision based on aesthetics. After all the legwork, the final decision was easy.

All of this sounds simple, but we have an extra step because our second car is a wheelchair van, which we use to transport my stepson. This vehicle is modified to meet my stepson’s needs and is not listed at carseatdata.org. For the car seat in this vehicle, we will visit a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) to determine which seat will be best. Locating a CPST is easy – simply visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website at nhtsa.gov to get a list of locations for technicians in your area. You can look it up on your Smartphone and then use your Smartphone to navigate to the nearest CPST. 

Believe it or not, this was much easier than deciding on how to decorate the nursery!

Laura Hernandez

Hello, my name is Laura, and I am a wife and working mom who has been with AT&T for 13 years. I am a mom who is about to be a mom for the first time – sounds confusing. I have a stepson with a disability who lives with us, and my husband and I are expecting our first child together in May. My stepson is completely dependent on technology to communicate, so if we want to communicate with him when we are not at home, e-mail and texting is the way to go.  I use technology in every aspect of my life. Aside from using my Blackberry to stay connected to work issues, I use Navigator to get around my new city of Dallas, and I use multiple smartphone applications to manage grocery lists, get restaurant reviews or find important locations, like the shoe repair, tailor and, yes, even clean bathrooms. As two working parents juggling the demands our stepson presents us, we use technology to coordinate social schedules and yoga classes and to keep our friends and family up-to-date on happenings in our lives. More recently, I have used the internet to track how my pregnancy is progressing.

Do you have any Smartphone applications that are helping you stay fit?

We plan on visiting family this coming weekend to share our little valentine in person versus through the cameras on our phones as we so often do. Though Sunday is Valentine’s Day,  for us, every day before and after will still be Valentine’s Day.

And if you are at a loss for what to get for your Valentine (or better yet, would like to “gently suggest” a Valentine gift for yourself!), check out or share the following link, to get a new red phone – FREE on att.com through Monday, February 15: bit.ly/Free-Red-Phones!

A two year service agreement is required.  Other restrictions apply. A $30/month data plan required for all Smartphones.