[00:00:00] Hey mamas, before we dive into this week by week, breakdown this pregnancy unpacked series, before we talk about morning sickness, ultrasounds in baby registries, I wanna talk about you and I wanna tell you a little bit more about me. I've been pregnant nine times. I've had six beautiful births, and I've also walked through three devastating losses.

And each one of my pregnancies changed me. I know some of you guys right now are very newly pregnant and you're scared and you're thinking, what if, what if this doesn't take, what if I don't end up with a baby? And I wanna tell you what someone told me when I was pregnant with Grayson after my three losses.

She said to me, girl, you are pregnant right now. You have the honor. Of hosting this baby right now, and if today's the only [00:01:00] day, I want you to love it. And honor it, and that changed a lot for me. Now, thank God I did give birth to Grayson, but I wish someone would've told me that when I was having the pregnancies where I lost my babies, because I really didn't enjoy one moment of it.

I was so full of fear and angst, and I wish I would've just honored those babies while they were still inside of me. Anyway, that's just a side note. So some of my pregnancies were planned, some were total surprises. Some ended in tears of joy and some ended in heartbreak, but all of them taught me this.

Pregnancy is never just physical, it's emotional, it's mental, it's spiritual, and it cracks You open all the way open, and if you let it, it can transform you. So if you're here right now, whether you're four weeks pregnant or you're 34 weeks pregnant, whether this is your first time or your [00:02:00] fifth time, whether you are feeling overjoyed, overwhelmed.

Or both in the same breath. 'cause there's room for both. I want you to know something. You are not alone. And I made this podcast just for you. This is pregnancy unpacked a week by week series where I'm gonna walk you through every stage of pregnancy, but this isn't your standard. What size fruit is the baby podcast?

This is Real Talk, nurse talk, bestie talk. I'm gonna give you the truth, the science, the symptoms, the what's normal and what's not. But I'm also gonna tell you this stuff no one else says out loud. The Ragy mood swings. The guilt for not feeling excited. The loneliness, even when you're surrounded, the moment you realize, wow, my complete identity is shifting and there's no going back, and I'm gonna do it with as much honesty and humor and heart.

You won't just hear from me. Throughout this series, I'll be bringing in real mamas expert voices, honest conversations [00:03:00] about what it really means to grow a human. You're gonna hear stories that make you laugh and cry, and breathe a little deeper and feel a little less alone. This series will be bingeable on purpose.

Whether you're driving to an appointment, laying on the couch with crackers, trying to feel better or taking a break in your car at work, I'm right here with you every week, every milestone, every weird, wonderful. WTF moment. And the reason I'm doing this is I spent years as labor nurse, watching people walk into the delivery room unprepared and unheard, and by then it's almost too late.

That's why I started teaching about birth. That's why I created my birth classes and calm mama. Society, the only pregnancy and postpartum membership of its kind anywhere for 19 a month, which is insane. And that's why I am here in your ears now because you deserve to feel educated, empowered, and like your part of the process, not just a passenger.

Wherever you're starting from, however you're feeling right now, [00:04:00] let this be your safe space, your education station, your weekly reminder that you're already doing an amazing job, girl. You are building a human being. You've got a baby growing inside of you. But you are also growing too. Let's unpack it one week at a time.

Okay, let's start out pregnancy. Unpacked, talking about am I pregnant and what to know before you know. So here you are, you're waiting. If you're like me, you're like dying for the moment that you can actually test. Maybe even you're testing before you know you should be testing. You're Googling, am I pregnant Before a missed period.

You're analyzing every little feeling, every weird craving, every crazy dream. If that's where you are right now, you're in the right place. Welcome to Pregnancy Unpacked where we're gonna break it down week by week. But today's episode is starting us off a little different because this is for the moms before they're sure. Whether you're [00:05:00] trying to conceive, you're scared that you might be hoping it's positive, hoping it's not, or just wondering what the heck your body is doing right now. I got you. I'm Trish, labor nurse for 16 years, mama of seven. And you are no fluff pregnancy bestie. Who's here to walk through this wonderful, weird, wild.

Crazy process. So today we're talking about that sacred space that's full of stress called maybe. And you're wondering like, am I pregnant? When should I test? How early can I know what you should be doing before the line turns pink? So let's unpack it first, a little nerdy nurse moment if you'll let me.

Pregnancy starts when the sperm meets the egg and that fertilized egg implants in the lining of your uterus, but you don't feel that happening, and most people don't actually conceive when they think they do. So here's a little bit of a timeline that you need to know.

So there's ovulation, which usually is [00:06:00] 14 days before your periods starts. Not after it ends. And this is really important because some of us have wacky weird cycles like myself, so it might be off a little different. Fertilization happens in the fallopian tube. Around 12 to 24 hours after ovulation implantation, six to 10 days after ovulation, and then HCG, which is your pregnancy hormone.

That's going to tell you on that stick if you're pregnant or not. That only starts after implantation happens, and so a pregnancy test won't pick it up until after HCG starts to rise, which means. Even if you feel that you might be pregnant, your body needs some time to catch up before a test will tell you.

So when should you test? The most accurate time to test is the first day of your missed period, and you [00:07:00] should be testing first thing in the morning, very first peak. 'cause that's gonna have the most concentrated amount of HCD, but I know. Because I was you. I know some of y'all are testing at eight DPO with three different brands and lining them up like a crime scene.

And that's okay. It's okay. Many of the early results tests claim to detect pregnancy up to five to six days early. But here's what you need to understand. The earlier you test, the more likely you'll get a false negative. Now here's the thing about a positive.

A positive is a positive. Even if it's faint, it is very unusual to get a false positive. A negative, though it might just mean not yet. So be patient. So if you get a negative and you still don't get your period in a few days, test again. Here's a little story for y'all. When I was pregnant with Lainey, 'cause it was so unexpected, and I'm gonna tell more about my own pregnancies throughout this pregnancy impact series.

But I had thought that I was [00:08:00] pregnant years before I had her. 'cause she was, seven years younger than Gavin. Is that right? Let's see. Yeah. Seven years. And so I had thought I was pregnant and I had a bunch of tests, but I thought in my head, oh my gosh, I spent so much money on tests, y'all. I thought those tests must be expired.

There's no way I'm pregnant. When I was pregnant with Lainey, I did like nine tests. I should have just saved the money. But finally I was like, okay, this is real. There's a faint line, and chances are if there's a faint line, you are pregnant. So let's talk a little bit about HCG, which is human chorionic gonadotropin, that's a mouthful. It's the hormone that turns your pregnancy test positive, and it starts being produced after implantation, and then it doubles every 48 to 72 hours in your early pregnancy. But everyone's baseline is different. Some people have a slower rising HCG, and they won't get a positive.

[00:09:00] Until later, my sister in fact, never got a positive urine test. She always had to have a blood test. Go figure. I don't know why some other people can test early and get a positive right away. More HCG does not mean a stronger pregnancy. And lower HCG doesn't mean something's wrong. It's not about the number, it's actually about how it's rising

unless your provider, maybe you've had losses, your provider's probably not gonna track it to see if it's doubling or not, unless there's a problem. So what's most important right now is you just take care of yourself. This is huge because those two weeks after ovulation, whether you're waiting for a test to be positive or you're hoping it's negative, can feel like an emotional torture, especially if you've been trying for a while or you've had losses.

So here's some ways that you can take care of yourself no matter what, especially if you are pretty sure you're pregnant or you've been trying to get pregnant. Just act like you're pregnant. Take your prenatals. Avoid [00:10:00] alcohol for sure. Avoid smoking. I hope none of you guys are smoking or vaping. Eat nourishing, balanced meals when you can stop taking any kinda weird, you know, herbs or different things from the gas station, how they have all that crap lined up at the gas station and people take it.

Don't be taking it. Start getting enough rest. You may not be able to handle that. You may be sleeping all the time anyway, which is probably a good sign. Be gentle with your body. Stay off of random forums because they might make you anxious. I want you to protect your mental health and just give yourself permission to not obsess.

Try journaling. Try meditating. Try EFT tapping. If you aren't in the membership, get in the membership. Come hang out with us. We'll wait for that positive with you. You can go to Labor nurse mama.com/cms.

Call Mama Society and join us. Now, here's what I want you to say out loud, whether you're scared, whether you're hopeful, whether you're grieving or you just feel numb. It's okay. [00:11:00] Say it out loud, say it to a friend, say it to your partner, journal it, or just say it to yourself.

You don't have to hold it, all of it alone. I know some of you guys are really hoping for a positive and I'm here with you, girl. Send me a dm. Now if you test and it's negative, here's what you don't need. Shame, blame or being told stories from other people on what you might have done wrong. If you're trying to conceive, you're not broken.

It's not your fault. There's still time. If you were hoping it wouldn't be positive, you're allowed to feel relief and confusion. You might feel a little confused 'cause maybe your heart kind of bonded to the thought that you might be pregnant. You're still allowed to feel emotional, even if you were hoping for a negative.

And if you're just plain disappointed, even if you told yourself you wouldn't be, that's valid too. I've had three losses. I've had cycles where I've tested 10 times before I finally got a faint line. So I've had pregnancies that have caught me off guard and others that I prayed, prayed, prayed for, and I [00:12:00] promise you, your body is so amazing.

You're not behind. You're worthy of the tenderness, the care, the love, the hope. You're not alone. So whether your test is positive, negative, or still too early to tell, I want you to know that you're seen here. This podcast exists to support your entire journey from the exact moment of waiting through the trimesters and all the way to postpartum.

And if you want a place to get more hands on complete support, check out com Mama Society. Click the link in the show notes or go to labor nurse mama.com/cms. This is my pregnancy and postpartum community. Most insanely amazing women in the world inside of there. I love each and every one of them, and we've got space for every kind of emotion, every kind of journey.

We have three times a month we hang out with our pregnant moms on Zoom three times a month. We hang out with our postpartum moms. We do EFT, tapping, we have all these extra special parties and we just adore you guys. So come join us. Test it. And stick around. Some of my moms have been with me [00:13:00] for years, since 2021.

Okay, that's it for today. Love, no matter what the test says or when it turns positive, you are so incredible. You're already showing up for yourself in a powerful way. You're already doing the work. You're already worthy of support, and I'm honored to walk this with you. So next episode. We're gonna talk about those first four to six weeks of pregnancy, the physical changes, the emotional whiplash, and how to start making some positive choices, and I will see you there.

As always, I'll see you again next week. Bye for now.