Hey mama.

Welcome to Pregnancy unpacked.

I'm Trish, a labor nurse of 16 years, mom of seven, and your birth vesting.

I'm gonna be walking you through not just.

Baby bumps and fruit sizes, but the entire identity shift that pregnancy will be for you.

Each episode drops every Wednesday, and we're gonna unpack what's happening in your body, what to expect, what to do, what's normal, even when it feels extremely weird, and how to actually feel supported emotionally and physically.

You're gonna hear from me where I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, but I'm gonna be cheering you on along the way.

You can follow along each Wednesday because pregnancy deserves more than outdated advice.

And Google anxiety.

Hey mama.

Welcome back to Pregnancy Unpacked.

I'm Trish, your bestie labor nurse, your favorite nurse, right?

Your birth coach, and your voice of yes, this is normal in your earbuds.

If you're 33 weeks pregnant, congratulations.

Here's something that might give you peace of mind.

After 32 weeks, your baby has crossed a major milestone.

If baby were born today, they have an excellent chance of not just surviving but thriving outside the womb.

We're talking about amazing rates of 90% or higher at 32 weeks, which goes up even more.

At this point, babies' lungs have developed enough that while they might need some breathing support, they can usually handle life outside the womb.

Their brain development has reached a point where they can regulate some basic functions, and their organs are mature enough to function with some medical support.

This does not mean we want baby to come early.

No, we do not.

We want them to stay baking as long as they can, but every day they stay in there.

Still beneficial for brain development, weight gain, and lung maturation, but crossing that 32 week threshold is like passing a major checkpoint.

It's your body way of saying, we've got this.

Even if things don't go according to plant, now we're obviously aiming for a full term baby.

You can breathe a little easier knowing that if baby does decide to come earlier, modern medicine has incredible success rates.

Okay, let's go into today's episode.

You're 33 weeks.

Congratulations.

You are officially in the final stretch.

Your baby is now the size of a pineapple weighing about 4.2 pounds and measuring around 17 inches long.

Here's a fun, fa not only is baby the size of a pineapple, here's the list.

They are the size of a large butternut squash, a small watermelon, a two liter soda bottle, lengthwise, medium size laptop, bag of flour, five pounds, large loaf of.

Artesian bread, big bag of sugar.

A medium purse, not my size.

Purses.

A clipboard.

A hardcover textbook.

A family-sized cereal box.

What?

A large bag of rice.

A small chihuahua.

A large rubber chicken here.

Let's think.

What else do we have here?

A large pool noodle, widthwise, not length, and a big bag of dog treats.

Let's see what else we have.

Okay.

My daughter, who's also pregnant, would love this, a large jar of pickles, so you can have fun with that, right?

Your baby is the size of a pineapple this week.

Or if you wanna get weird with it, the size of a rubber chicken.

But here's what's really exciting.

About 33 weeks, your little being's brain is developing at lightning speed, adding billions of neurons every single day.

So if your partner comes home and they're like, why are you so tired?

What did you do today?

You can be like, hello?

I was building billions of neurons today.

How about you?

That's crazy, right?

Today we're diving deep into what's happening in week 33, why this week is crucial for both you and baby, and the essential steps you need to take right now, girl, not four weeks from now, not last week right now to prep for your baby's arrival.

This is happening and you're actually going to give birth.

To a human and you're probably thinking, oh my gosh, do I have enough time?

Here's the deal.

It will go faster than you think.

So we're gonna break it down and we're gonna get you prepped the right way.

So again, baby is about 4.2 pounds, 17 inches long.

You have a four pound little human inside there.

Let that land like there's an actual.

Person inside of you that is one day going to explore the world, become a scientist, create some crazy app or AI or robot right for our babies.

You have a little human that's gonna love people that might have their own little humans.

Like that is so crazy.

And what a huge.

Responsibility.

So here's some things that are blowing my mind.

Not only are we developing 250 k new brain cells per minute, your baby is literally getting smarter by the second in there.

Their bones are hardening, but this is good, right?

This is good.

That little skull is going to stay soft and thank God, because that's what we want when it comes to birth because it allows the baby's head to be movable and fit through the birth canal, which we all appreciate.

Your baby's immune sys.

Is getting a huge boost right now because antibodies are transferring from you to your baby, and this is so stinking important because it's gonna help protect them in those first few months of life.

So I've been working with this company that they talk about probiotics and they talk about gut health, and I've learned so much.

It's called Perine, and they are a group of scientists that have been studying gut health and all the different immunity and skin disorders and all these things, and it all goes back to that first 1000 days, which includes pregnancy.

So this is so important because what you're doing right now in this immunity that you're transferring to your baby, it's gonna help protect them in those first few months of life.

And this is why it's so important for us to take care of ourselves when we're pregnant.

Not only all of that, but their lungs are continuing to mature.

They're making more surfactant, which is what helps their lungs expand and contract properly.

And if you don't know what that is, it's basically like a soap that coats the inside of the lungs so they don't collapse.

This is so important for our babies when they start using their lungs.

Now, right now they might be starting to practice, but prior to that, and up until birth, they're going to be drinking the amniotic fluid.

He and the amniotic fluid, which we're gonna talk about in a second, and they are not breathing air, but when they're born, the surfactant is so important.

I got off on a little tangent, didn't I?

Okay.

They're packing on brown fat for temperature regulation.

And if you don't know anything about that, go to my blog post that's all about skin to skin after delivery.

Read my blog post about delayed bathing.

All of this is freaking golden and so important, and we will link to those blog posts in the show notes.

They only have a little bit of brown fat for temp regulation when they're born, so this is why we really wanna.

Spite for skin to skin and not wiping off the verex when they get stressed out by crying.

If they get cold, that all burns off that brown fat and they can't regulate their temperature.

But here's fun thing, which you'll read in the articles.

You are the thing that regulates their temperature the most, so that's why they should be on you.

Okay, so last week we talked about babies distinguishing different voices and sounds, and their hearing is so developed that they know your voice, they recognize your voice from everyone else's.

This is another thing you'll read in those articles, but like it's so amazing when babies born to get them snuggled up to you and then just talk to them.

Ask them everybody to quiet the room, dim the lights, and you and your partner, they know your voices.

So get down in there and talk to them.

Their pupils can also dilate and constrict in response to light, and their taste buds are fully formed and responding to flavors in the amniotic fluid.

So whatever you're eating, baby is tasting.

Your baby now has distinct sleep wake cycles.

You've probably started to know more of a pattern with baby's movement.

So you're getting to know this sweet little baby and you can really start paying attention to that because fetal movement is one of the most important things that we can track to know how well baby's doing inside the womb.

If you haven't downloaded my.

Free third trimester birth prep pack.

We have a fetal movement count sheet in there.

Fetal movement is the one way that you can tell that baby is getting enough oxygen, so don't ever mess around with it.

We will never be upset with you for double checking coming in, whatever.

If your intuition is like, this baby is not moving as it normally does, or as much, just connect with your provider and get seen.

Don't blow it off.

Now let's talk about what's happening with you, which I probably don't need to really tell you 'cause it's happening unless you're listening to this ahead of time.

You know, you've probably gained about 22 to 28 pounds by now, and your uterus is about five inches above your belly button.

Your breast might be leaking some chorum.

If it's not, it's okay.

And I'm pretty darn sure your breasts are super duper sensitive.

Another thing that might be cropping up right now is shortness of breath.

This is gonna get a little bit worse before it gets better because your uterus and the baby is really crowding your lungs and pressing against your diaphragm.

So we talked last week about some positions, yoga, stretching, getting down on your hands and knees, doing some deep breathing techniques,

and also swimming can help get the uterus off your lungs.

It's just part of the end of pregnancy.

Girl.

You're probably also dealing with heartburn and indigestion because your stomach is all compressed and digestion is slowing down.

Eat smaller, more frequent meals.

Trust me on this one and my students.

All swear by papaya enzyme, and we will link to a link for those from Amazon.

You're gonna be peeing constantly because baby's pressing on your bladder, and you're probably gonna start really experiencing some swollen ankles or swollen feet or maybe even your hands.

And let, let's talk about this right now 'cause this is very, very important.

Remember.

It's normal to have some fluid retention, but it should be gradual.

If you have sudden swelling, you need to let your doctor know.

I don't care how much you bug your doctor, guys, you guys can bug 'em as much as you want.

You have a right.

You're paying them a lot of money.

Another thing that might be getting harder is.

Sleep because finding comfortable positions is challenging.

I told you guys last week or a couple weeks ago, I really love the mom, cozy pregnancy pillow.

We'll link to that in the show notes.

And also the mom cozy cooling blanket.

They sent me that so I could do a reel.

I think I told you guys this.

Sorry if I digress, but they sent me these two things for real, and I ended up, I still have the cooling blanket on my bed.

It's amazing.

You're gonna have more and more Braxton Hicks contractions, which are practice contractions.

And I wanna talk about that because a lot of my patients that come in for a non-stress test, or NST or an ultrasound at the hospital in triage, they're like, oh, I've not been having any Braxton Hicks.

And I put 'em on the monitor and sure as heck they are and they don't feel 'em.

So you may be having them and you just don't know.

Your back is probably killing you from changing posture, and you might be getting leg cramps, especially at night.

I recommend magnesium, and we'll link to that in the show notes.

Here's what we'll do.

We will link to our second trimester and our third trimester Amazon.

Checklist in the Amazon store so you can see what we recommend for pregnancy pain, all the things.

Another thing that a lot of people don't talk about is vivid dreams.

And I'm talking like weird ass dreams.

They can be so bizarre.

Keep a journal.

'cause you're gonna look back and be like, what in the.

Actual was I dreaming the, the dreams can be really weird, so if you share 'em online, tag labor, nurse, mama, emotionally, your nesting instinct might be kicking in hard, like suddenly you need to organize everything and get ready.

You might also be dealing with some birth anxiety, which is totally normal.

I was talking to one of my business coaches and.

She's pregnant with her first.

And I was like, how are you feeling about that birth?

And she said, one minute.

I'm like, yes, I can do it.

And the next, I'm freaking the freak out.

So this is why.

I created my birth classes and y'all know we now have the birth pod, so if you don't want the full video course, which is incredible, and we've had thousands and thousands of moms take it.

It's amazing.

If you want the full course, of course, go to labor nurse mama.com.

Slash calm CALM.

But if you want something quick and easy, we took the entire full birth course, we turned it into an audio course.

It's like listen to a podcast and you have lifetime access to either one.

You can grab the birth pod@labornursemama.com slash guide, G-U-I-D-E.

Okay.

Here's what we wanna also talk about.

You are probably wondering.

What about my partner?

What can my partner do?

So this is for your partners right now, so you can go grab 'em and listen up 'cause mama needs you right now.

So the first thing that you can offer is practical support.

Take over any heavy lifting.

She should not be lifting anything over 25 pounds.

Help with meal prep.

You know, she's dealing with heartburn, maybe even nausea and vomiting still.

So give her some small, frequent meals.

Get her extra pillows for sleep support.

Ask her what you can do to serve her and love on her right now because she's building your little human start coming to more appointments because they're gonna be every two weeks now, and there's gonna be more discussions about birth preferences and hospital procedures, and also help her with the nursery setup.

You may be thinking, well, we've got.

Plenty of time, but just getting that nursery set up really helps her and decreases her stress.

For emotional support.

Listen actively.

You don't have to fix things.

Just listen.

Validate what she's feeling about birth and parenting.

Don't try to fix it sometimes.

She just needs you to hear her, encourage rest and help her prioritize sleep and relaxation and also sit down and plan together.

If you take my classes, I want you listening to them.

With her.

You need to know what she knows, because during labor, her job is to labor.

That's it.

Your job is to speak up, to do the things, to put things into action to make sure that you're her guard dog.

Discuss her birth preferences, pack her hospital bags with her, talk about postpartum support.

Listen, if you just do those things, I promise you you're getting tons of points.

Stay connected with regular check-ins.

Ask her every day, like have a little time where you're like, Hey, how are you feeling?

Are you, are you feeling anxious?

You feeling calm?

Tell me where you're at again.

Learn with her.

Take her classes with her.

Read the books with her.

If you haven't taken your class yet, shame on y'all.

You need to do this.

You can't wing your birth.

You get one chance to birth this baby.

Make the most of it.

Okay?

So.

We're also gonna talk about your doctor's appointment for your appointments and what to expect.

You're seeing your provider every two weeks.

Now.

They're gonna do routine checks, your weight, your blood pressure monitoring, fundal height measurement, checking baby's growth, fetal heart rate check, baby's wellbeing, urine testing for protein levels, and signs of preeclampsia.

And they're also gonna check baby's position to see if baby is head down.

But I want you to know that at 33 weeks, if baby is not head down, it is a okay.

One of the things that I want you guys to really know are some signs of preeclampsia.

So this would be any kind of vision changes, sudden swelling, a pain on your upper right side that doesn't go away with treatment, a headache that won't go away with Tylenol.

If you have anything unusual going on, just check in with your provider.

That's.

That's the most important thing I can say.

The other thing they're gonna start talking about is your group B strep test.

That's scheduled for weeks 35 to 37, and we'll start linking to that in the show notes as well 'cause we have a really good blog post on that.

You might wanna start talking about your birth plan with your doctor, your pain management options hospital pre-registration.

You might go in and do the paperwork and logistics, and they're also gonna tell you some warning signs of when to call in and signs of preterm labor.

Now, I know that you guys are probably thinking of all things birth, but you also need to start talking about postpartum planning, like.

Pediatrician selection and who's gonna help you.

One of the things, if you join the full birth classes, you're also going to get 30 days free of My Mama membership.

Now, if you get the birth pod, you can add on the Mama membership.

It's $19 a month.

Inside there.

We have several classes and help you with that.

Postpartum planning, we have pregnancy hangouts, postpartum hangouts, EFT, tapping and all the things.

So if you need any help, we're here for you.

Me and my do list.

Here's some questions that you could jot down for your doctor.

So what are the signs of preeclampsia?

When should I call if I think I'm in labor, what's your policy on going past my due date?

Remember, that's their policy.

Doesn't mean it's set in stone.

Can we discuss pain management options during labor and what should I expect during recovery?

Those are very brief little questions.

So I want you to write all your questions down as you're watching the birth.

Classes or listening to them, jot your questions down and remember you hired them.

You can slow them down and you can get your questions answered.

Take notes throughout the week before you go to the appointment, because what I would do is I'd have all these questions and I'd get there, and I totally forget them all until I got back in the car.

So write 'em down.

Keep a note in your phone.

If they seem to be rushing you, I want you to call it out.

Say, Hey, I can tell you're in a hurry, but do you mind sitting down and talking through my questions with me?

That's gonna, you know, that's gonna work.

I promise you.

I want you to also watch how they respond, because that can be a telltale sign.

You guys, you know that, right?

Like you've had these conversations with people.

Use those human clues.

If they're tensing up or they're brushing your questions off, they're like, oh, we don't need to talk about that right now.

Then you need to deep dive a little, and if you feel like you need to, you can switch providers.

Okay, so another thing we're gonna talk about is setting boundaries.

I wanna talk about this because there's a lot of things that are gonna happen around the countdown pressure, where the world starts pushing, asking you all the questions.

Do you have the nursery ready?

Have you had the baby?

How are you?

Sleeping like, here's what's coming, and you're gonna get all these negative things like, oh my gosh, just wait.

This is A, B, and C is gonna happen.

You need to set boundaries with family and friends.

So when they give you unsolicited advice, if you don't want it, try saying, Hey, thank you for caring.

Put your hand up like you're saying.

Stop and say, thank you for caring, but we've got this covered.

If they criticize your birth plan.

You know, you can say, Hey, we've made informed decisions, we're educated, and these are the decisions we're standing by.

They're not your decisions.

If people are disappointed about the gender, which hopefully not just protect your joy from people's reactions, and you might wanna start talking about visiting expectations.

Now, maybe you could say something like, well, we're not sure yet what we're doing, but we'll let everyone know when we're ready for visitors after the birth.

If you don't wanna share the baby's names, just say, Hey, we're not sharing the baby's name, but we're excited when we will at work.

You're gonna need some boundaries too.

You need to finalize your maternity leave dates and handover plans.

Don't over commit as you get closer to your due date.

It's okay to limit travel meetings, meetups, whatever.

And when colleagues ask you personal questions, just keep your responses brief and polite.

They usually will get the drift with your healthcare providers.

Don't be afraid to ask the questions.

We've.

I already talked about that.

You deserve a clear, complete answer and you have a right to say, can you explain more?

You have a right to second opinions, and you have a right to ask for proof.

If they say, Hey, this study says, okay, go print that study for me and bring it to me, please.

You have a right to advocate for your birth preferences okay?

Let's go over a couple scripts that you can use.

We appreciate your excitement, but we're keeping our birth plan private.

Or thanks for this suggestion.

We'll talk it over with our doctor.

Or we're not ready to share baby names yet, but we're excited to when we're ready, when we have the baby.

Or again, we'll let everyone know when we're ready for visitors after the birth.

Just remember, you don't owe explanations and how people take it.

Like their reaction, their emotion is on them.

It's not on you.

Okay.

Action items for the week, mama.

Your immediate priority is to finalize some nursery essentials, like crib setup, car seat installation.

Start thinking about packing your hospital bag.

You don't actually need to do it right now, but it is a good time.

And we do have a list in the third trimester prep pack, or if you get the courses, of course you'll get the list.

Choose a pediatrician, schedule a meet and greet.

You can interview them.

Find one.

Find one that you really connect with and finish your birth class sessions just in case baby comes early and then start.

Thinking about work, transition planning with handover, and just getting yourself in order for health and wellness.

Monitor your fetal movement.

Establish baby's normal patterns.

Practice relaxation techniques and I teach over 50 different types of pain, coping and relaxation techniques inside the courses, like breathing, meditation, visualization, and stay hydrated with that, at least eight to 10 glasses of water daily.

Keep up your general exercises and prioritize rest.

Really quickly, before we get off, I wanna give you some red flags to watch for.

So call your doctor immediately if you experience any of these severe headaches With vision changes, sudden weight gain more than like two pounds in a week right now, severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, decreased fetal movement, bleeding or leaking fluid, severe swelling in your face or hands or sudden swelling anywhere honestly, or difficulty breathing more than the norm.

But if you feel like it's different, let your doctor know.

Or any chest pain, just don't mess around with any of these.

Trust your gut always.

We will never be upset with you.

Double checking.

I want you guys to connect.

Connect with me.

I have a free group on Instagram called Is It Normal, where you can get some audio drops and some special trainings from me.

You can always send me a DM and let me know in your review, like leave a review for this episode and tell me what's one thing you're doing this week to prep for baby.

Also tag us in your nursery progress photos on Instagram at Labor nurse dot mama.

Next week we're covering week 34 when babies' lungs make huge developmental leaks.

We'll discuss the signs of preterm labor and when not to worry.

Mama, you've got seven weeks roundabout to meet your little one.

This week is all about embracing your nesting energy and.

Setting healthy boundaries.

Remember, you don't have to justify your choices.

I just want you to know that you are everything your baby needs.

You don't need a Pinterest perfect prep list.

What matters most is being prepared through knowledge and having support.

So don't spiral.

You're getting so close, you're not behind.

I hope you loved this episode.

I love spending time with you guys, deep diving into your pregnancy and unpacking all the things.

Please hit subscribe and I am begging y'all write a darn review.

Tell me what you love and tell me what topics you wanna hear more of on our Friday episodes.

I always check them and we adore you guys.

Until next week, trust your instincts, take care of yourself, and remember you've got this, okay?

As always, I will see you again next week.

Bye for now.