I've always loved coming up with ideas.
A business idea, a better way to do something, a small change that could make everyday life a little easier. I'd write them down, imagine what they could become, and get excited about the possibilities. But most of the time, that's where they stayed — in a notebook, waiting for a moment that never came.
During university, a friend and I even tried to build a QR code ordering system for restaurants, years before it became commonplace. I still think it was a great idea. We just didn't have the technical skills to bring it to life back then.
And so, another idea went back in the drawer.
But the desire to create something useful, something that could make someone's everyday life a little easier, never really went away.
I just didn't know yet what it would become.
Chapter 01
Then I Became a Mom
When I became pregnant, I imagined maternity leave as a chance to slow down a little and finally have some space to think about something new.
I never imagined that something would have anything to do with baby apps.
Then our daughter arrived, and my days filled with a whole new set of questions.
- When did she last eat?
- Did I give her vitamin D?
- Was that the seventh wet diaper today… or the eighth?
- When did she fall asleep?
Like many first-time parents, I quickly realized that even the simplest days could fill your mind with a hundred little things to remember.
A friend recommended a baby tracking app. I tried it, and it helped. But before long, I found myself thinking:
- I wish it could do this, too.
- I wish this were a little simpler.
- I wish it felt a little warmer.
And one evening, somewhere between feedings, diaper changes and bedtime, a familiar thought came back to me:
What if I built the app I wished existed?
That was the beginning of heymama baby.
Chapter 02
Built After Bedtime
I still remember telling my husband about the idea while we were giving our daughter a bath.
Within minutes, we were brainstorming names. That very evening, we bought the domain.
At first, heymama baby existed only on paper. I sketched screens, wrote down ideas and imagined what a baby tracking app could look and feel like if it were designed around the everyday reality of being a parent.
When our daughter turned one and life became a little more predictable, I finally opened my laptop and started building.
Usually after bedtime.
- Sometimes for two hours.
- Sometimes for fifteen minutes.
- Sometimes much longer than I should have.
There was just one small problem: I had no idea how to build an app.
Coding was completely new territory for me. Modern AI tools helped make the process less intimidating and allowed me to turn my ideas into something real. But the vision, the decisions and the countless little details came from one question I kept asking myself:
Would this genuinely make life a little easier for a parent like me?
There were frustrating evenings, tiny bugs that took hours to fix, and moments when I wondered what I'd gotten myself into.
And then, one evening, the Sleep screen finally worked.
I saved my very first sleep record.
It was just one screen. One tiny step.
But for the first time, heymama baby wasn't just another idea in my notebook. It was real.
Chapter 03
More Presence. Less Overwhelm.
Somewhere along the way, I realized I wasn't simply building another baby tracker.
I was building the kind of companion I wished I'd had during those first months of motherhood.
Something that could keep track of the little things, so parents wouldn't have to keep them all in their heads.
Something simple enough to use in seconds, so they could put their phones down and get back to what mattered.
Their baby. Their family. The little moments that make these early years so special.
That's the idea behind heymama baby.
More presence. Less overwhelm.
Because tracking isn't the point.
It's about making a little more room for everything that matters beyond it.
Chapter 04
A Little Note From Me to You
I've learned that great ideas don't always come from sitting down and trying to invent something extraordinary.
Sometimes, they begin with a small, everyday frustration. A moment when you catch yourself thinking, There has to be a better way.
You don't have to reinvent the world. Sometimes, making something a little simpler is more than enough.
Most ideas will remain just that: ideas. And that's okay.
But if there's one sitting quietly in a drawer, waiting for its chance, maybe it's worth taking another look.
You never know where it might lead.
Most of my ideas stayed in that drawer for years.
I'm really glad this one didn't.
—
Paulina
Founder of heymama baby, mom & creator