Trish: [00:00:00] Hey mama. Welcome to Pregnancy unpacked. I'm Trish, a labor nurse of 16 years Mama 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 You can follow along each Wednesday because pregnancy deserves more than outdated advice and Google anxiety.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. [00:01:00] Welcome back to Pregnancy Unpacked. We are in weeks 24 through 26 and by now your body is doing a million things, but so is everyone else's mouth. That doesn't sound very nice, does it? But it's true from strangers at target to your Andy who's sure she knows exactly what you should eat, where do, and fear and fun fact.

I'm experiencing this right now with someone who's pregnant in my own family, and I have to hold my mouth, y'all. I have to hold my mouth because today we're gonna get into some truths about this stretch of pregnancy, but also really all of pregnancy, what's happening in your body, what the science says and what actually matters, and.

What you can feel free to roll your eyes at, because the truth is, this is your pregnancy girl. So let's bust some myths and set you up with facts and a whole lot of trust in yourself. So first of course, we're gonna talk about your little peanut. Your [00:02:00] baby is about the size of an ear of corn. A corn, what?

13 to 14 inches long and close to two pounds. They're starting to develop fat stores, which we'll talk about later 'cause it's a little bit different than our own. But they're getting little cheeks. They're fine tuning, they're hearing they're. Sense of touch. They're growing stronger lung tissue because they're having to start to prepare for life outside the womb, although they're not using it yet.

They're opening and closing their eyes, and they're practicing breathing movements, which is so important. This is so, so important. Even though there's no air in there yet, the placenta and the cord, that's all given 'em what they need.

They're also drinking and peeing the amniotic fluid, but that's a whole nother thing. Baby's brain is in a rapid development mode, which means. You might be feeling more and more of those fetal little movements and jerky jumps and [00:03:00] hiccups and all the things which I 100% love hiccups. If you get any videos of those bellies doing hiccups, send 'em my way.

'cause I'd love to post 'em. They're my favorite. And this girl did not take any videos at all, but they're so amazing. Your little stomach goes boop. Boop, right up and down. Let's talk about what might be going on with you and for each and every one of you guys. If you listen to one of these episodes and you're like, Trish, uh, no, that's not happening with me.

Or you listen and you're like, every darn thing that you're saying is happening to me, everybody is different, and even each of my six pregnancies were different, so you might. Start having some shortness of breath and that is literally no fun. So what I found that helped me a lot was to really practice some deep breathing exercises.

And also if you find that it's a little bit overwhelming, get down on your hands and knees. Put your, your hand on your, your, I wish I could show you guys this, how do I say this? Like, [00:04:00] get down on your hands and knees and then. Make like put your hands together, lay down on your elbows, put your booty in the air, and sometimes that'll help you with that shortness of breath.

You can also lift your hands up into the air, but girl, this is something that a lot of us deal with and I'm so sorry. Carpal tunnel is another thing that pregnancy can really flare up because it can compress your nerves, especially for those of us who work at computers like nurses or creators like me or online business owners.

Carpal tunnel is a thing, so if you start feeling. Like some different, uh, like your wrists are swollen or you feel like your wrists are hurting or you feel like you just can't move them. Talk to your provider. There are some things they can do for you. I. Round ligament, lower back pain. These are all real leg cramps, especially at night.

If you are having some of these issues with pain and with leg cramps, try using some magnesium [00:05:00] lotion that can help with both lower back pain and also those leg cramps at night. You can also take some calm. Gummies, which have some magnesium in them as well, and we'll link to those in the show notes.

You're probably having some increased discharge or even some vaginal sensitivity. Joy, joy, joy of being pregnant. Now, this one is actually kind of fun. I like it. It's the belly button, weirdness, those things. Your belly button is gonna go through so many weird distortions and changes. It's not even funny.

Like it goes from being an any to a flatty to an Audi. And I would sit there and just play with like play an, this is, you guys are probably gonna think I'm a weirdo now, but I would just rub my belly button 'cause it's literally the softest skin that you've ever felt in your life. It's so weird. If you don't believe me.

Check it right now and then send me a DM and be like, Trish, you're Wright. It's the weirdest skin ever. I don't know. It was a weird fascination. But we're all weird, aren't we? So now I wanna dive deeper into a couple of those things that I [00:06:00] just mentioned. 'cause I don't wanna be like, oh, this might be happening, but there's nothing to do about it.

So let's talk about carpal tunnel. I had this with Grayson and with Laney, and it is so freaking real. And even though I mentioned some of the people that it might happen to, it actually can happen to more than just people who work on laptops or desk workers because we're all holding our cell phones and

When you're pregnant, you're retaining more fluid and that extra fluid can cause swelling in the tissues in your wrist, which will compress the median nerve, which is the one that's responsible for the sensations in your fingers.

So some of the symptoms in case you're like, what the hell is carpal 10? Tunnel and how do I know if I'm having it, is numbness or tingling in your fingers, especially your thumb, your index finger, and your middle fingers. I wish you guys could see me 'cause I'm such a hand talker and I'm literally got my hand up like doing all this stuff.

You might feel some burning or shooting pain up your arm. You might also notice that like you're picking things up and dropping them randomly because you have kind of like this weird, weak grip and you're like, [00:07:00] what in the heck just happened? These symptoms can get worse at night and they can also be worse right when you wake up.

So if you do experience any of that, talk to your provider. They may have you wear a wrist brace, especially at night, and you can grab them at drugstore. So if you're like, I already know this is me. I don't need to talk to my doctor. Go ahead and go grab one at, Walmart, or we can list one or link to one in the show notes.

Elevate your hands when possible avoid sleeping with your wrist bent. This is a weird one, but I noticed when I was having this that I do sleep with my hands bent in a weird way. Another thing you can do, and again, I'm doing this right now, y'all can't see me, but shake out your hands frequently and if it's really severe, talk to your provider.

You may need some physical therapy or maybe even a steroid injection if they decide that's safe for you. All right, now let's dive deep into the round ligament pain round ligaments are thick bands that support your uterus. So [00:08:00] like they're like a little brace holding up that belly of yours.

And as your uterus grows, these ligaments stretch and sometimes they get a little bit angry and they're gonna protest. So what that feels like is sharp stabbing pains on one or both sides of your lower belly or your groin. And this is usually brought on by a set of movements. So maybe you're sitting on the couch and you.

You get up really quickly or you roll over really quickly or you cough or you sneeze. So what I recommend is if you can with coughing and sneezing, kind of support your belly and. For sure you can control moving slower and getting up more intentionally so you can kind of put your hands under your belly and stand up slower.

You can also try a belly support band. We have some stuff for my second trimester moms, and we will link to our Amazon shop with all the goodies inside there. You can also try out some prenatal yoga, do some gentle stretching. You guys know movement. Movement. Gosh, get your booty moving, even if it's a low leisurely walk every [00:09:00] day.

Go for a walk. If it's hot as Hades where you are or if you're listening to this in the winter, go walk Target. That's what I did when I had Hunter in Florida and it was 110 out. I went and walked Target so much that they knew me and they'd be like, Hey, do we have a baby yet? No, obviously we don't. You see this big old belly, you can also try warm compresses.

Not hot to the area. When sneezing or coughing, again, bend your knees just a little bit and put those hands and support that belly. Now let's talk about the leg cramps. This is one thing that is really super annoying if you experience, if you haven't, you're like, I don't know what you're talking about, but if you have like, you're like.

I know this, if you know, you know they happen because of the pressure from your growing uterus and it's putting pressure on those blood vessels. It's also from your electrolytes like calcium and magnesium and potassium shifting around because you know you've got all this extra volume. So this is really, really important.

And I'm gonna say this till I'm [00:10:00] blue in the face and y'all have heard me say this. Dehydration during pregnancy can be a real B-I-T-C-H. You have to stay hydrated. That is one of the number one reasons that moms come into the hospital for preterm labor or whatever it is. We hydrate 'em, we send 'em on their way, so stay hydrated.

The other thing that can really cause these leg cramps is getting too tired and also pore circulation due to pregnancy. So one of the things you can do if you are on your feet a lot, wear some compression hose that can help you a lot. Stay hydrated all day. Not just at bedtime. Stretch your calves before you go to bed.

You can actually like stand up and flex your foot back towards your shin. Do that like maybe 25 times on each foot. You can also do the magnesium lotion or the supplement that I talked to you about. You probably wanna clear that with your provider, but it should be safe. I love the calm gummies, which also help you sleep.

Really well. Also use a pregnancy pillow girl. [00:11:00] Use the pregnancy pillow. Those things are so comfy, and I'll link to my favorite stand up. Press your heel into the floor. If a cramp hits. Don't point your toes. That's my big thing for you right now. Okay, now we're gonna talk about some old school. BS that we need to get rid of.

So some of this might ruffle some feathers, but we're gonna talk about it anyway. So you're gonna start hearing things like, oh my stars, you're carrying so high, it's for sure a girl. Then you're gonna walk around the corner and Nancy is gonna say, oh my gosh, you're carrying so high. It's a boy. How you carry has nothing to do with the sex of the baby.

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry. It's not gender prediction. It's actually your abdominal tone. So some of us have better tone and we carry high, and then the more babies you have, the worse the tone and you carry low. I've had five boys and one girl and I carry differently with them all. The other thing that I've heard, these are just some funny ones, I wanna make you guys laugh today, is don't raise your hands or the [00:12:00] cord will wrap around the baby snack.

Now come on. N come on. Al cords do not happen because of you raising your hands. I promise you al cords happen when the baby is small enough to like do some somersault and move around in there and they get tied up in their cord and they're actually very, very common. But they aren't always dangerous. So don't let that freak you out.

Okay, here's another one. Heartburn means your baby will have lots of hair. Okay, so a 2006 study did show a slight correlation. Tiny, tiny, tiny one. I'm not even gonna quote it because whatever, but let's be real. Your hormones have slowed down your digestion, which equals reflux, period. But one thing that I have had a lot of my students, and we've had a lot of students, over 15,000 students taught.

I've heard this over and over again is papaya enzymes, so you can try that as well. 'cause that freaking heartburn can be horrible. Horrible. [00:13:00] I've only had that with two of my pregnancies and I, I thought I was dying. Okay, the other one is, you're too small, you're not eating enough, or are you eating enough?

This is body shaming, so we're gonna stop that. Your funnel height and your ultrasounds determine your baby's growth, not. Someone's eyes at the grocery store, so don't let that get into you. Sleep on your left side or your squished the baby. So we do wanna sleep on the left side, or we want to at least put a pillow under the right side, or it doesn't even have to be a thick pillow.

You wanna be propped to the left. The reason you wanna do that is because of the blood vessels. You're not hurting the baby, it's because of blood flow and your body really knows how to adjust you. So don't let that freak you out. Okay? You can just use a little blanket or a little pillow put on your left side and you can sleep on your back.

The other thing I wanna talk about is mindset. This part of pregnancy often brings some weird emotional blends. You might be feeling guilty. Maybe you have a toddler or another baby at home, and now you're starting to feel like, how can I love two [00:14:00] babies? Oh my God, what am I doing? I'm gonna make my baby like, my baby's not gonna feel as love because now I'm bringing another baby.

And I really wanna encourage you. You are giving your other child the greatest gift. A sibling like this is a precious gift to your entire. Family, and I know it's real, that guilt is real. I felt it with every one of my kids, all seven. But the truth is, you're bringing something, it's a gift. And those, those siblings are gonna be there for each other longer than we are actually gonna be here.

So remember, you're gifting your family. So you might go from excitement to guilt, to confidence, to confusion, to hope to what ifs. And you might also start grieving who you were, especially if this is your first baby, even though you're excited, you're like, God dang, I'm not gonna be able to do this or that.

But you're gonna have so many new things added to your life. And one of the things I really, really try to encourage my students and encourage my mamas and my membership is to start celebrating you while you're pregnant. Do some really amazing things for yourself, [00:15:00] and establish that from the get go when this baby is born, even if it's.

30 minutes, take 30 minutes and do something that you love. That means a lot to you. I want you to celebrate you, and I want you to remember how powerfully amazing you are, and that is gonna teach your children to also honor you. Another thing I really wanna encourage you with is a lot of people will be like, this is what you need to do and here's how you should handle your pregnancy, and here's what you should get done.

You don't have to have any kind of like perfect plan. You don't have to like do all the things, pick what's important to you and pick what it's supposed to look like for you. You get to decide what this pregnancy looks like for you, and if that means you curl up with pizza in one hand and birth affirmations in the other, no matter what it is, this is your journey and your pregnancy.

If you are really experiencing a lot of ups and downs emotionally, if your [00:16:00] mindset is just spiraling outta control, I really encourage you, number one, seek help. Talk to someone. Talk to someone who specializes in pregnancy and postpartum depression. Also get involved, like this is why I created Calm Mama Society, and we created it at a really low price for 19 a month so that our moms have access to us and they have access to each other.

Honestly, the most powerful part of my membership is the moms and how they support and love one another. But you need to be surrounded and you need to understand that what you're feeling is valid and that pregnancy is hard. So if you are feeling these things, please don't hesitate to reach out. Let's talk about your appointments.

I know I'm jumping around, but I wanna keep these episodes nice and short for you guys. So this appointment between 24 to 28 weeks, you are gonna get your glucose screening test. This is where you're gonna go in and you have a couple [00:17:00] options. So there are some different options. One is called the fresh test.

The other option is that you do your own thing where you check your own blood sugars at home for two weeks or so, where you're doing your own little finger prick. The other option is the gluc, which is the nasty sweet drink that they give you. There's also some alternatives to the gluc, but honestly, you just have to talk to your provider about that.

So the glucose screening test is checking for gestational diabetes, and I know that a lot of my students and a lot of my mama members, they feel like, like they're outta control or they did something wrong if they test positive. But I want you to know that you didn't. You did not, and you may even have it with one pregnancy and not with the other.

But it's a type of diabetes that only occurs during pregnancy. And again, they test you between 24 and 28 weeks. So how it works is you go in and you do one of the options I said before, or you drink a super sweet drink. [00:18:00] I've heard that the lemon lime is the best one. I don't know. 'cause I've only had the orange and it's horrible.

It's like flat soda. It's not good. It's nasty. Exactly. One hour later you'll have your blood drawn to measure. How did your body process that amount of sugar? If your level is elevated, you're gonna be asked to do a three hour glucose tolerance test, which involves fasting and then drinking a stronger version of the drink.

Then you will have multiple blood draws, and I have a lot of information about this. We can link in the show notes. Here's what it matters. You either have it or you don't. So knowing, having knowledge, we say this all the time, knowledge is power because gestational diabetes can increase some risks. Risk of a larger baby, which can complicate birth, which they do use a lot to scare y'all.

So don't hear me wrong here. Preterm birth, preeclampsia and baby can have low blood sugar after birth. So catching it early lets your provider help you manage it. If [00:19:00] you do. Test positive. You're gonna be recommended to speak with a nutritionist. You can also follow my friend Sarah, she's the gestational diabetes nurse, and we'll link to her information.

She has an amazing membership and I'll link to that as well in the show notes. Here's something I wanna say to you. If you're saying to yourself like, I eat healthy, how could I get this? It's not your fault. It's about how your pregnancy hormones affect your insulin, not what you're doing. Yes, the drink is safe for baby, but some people are not, you know, too fond of it.

So they ask for alternatives. It is, you know, highly processed. Here's a pro tip. Eat a balanced protein heavy meal a few hours before you go to get the test, and if they let you, sometimes they have you fast, but not usually, and just stay hydrated the day before so that the blood draws aren't as rough.

Okay, now we're gonna talk about the T DAP vaccine. If you follow me, if you're one of my 415,000 [00:20:00] followers over on Instagram, you know that I don't talk much about vaccinations, but we're gonna talk about the T DAP because they're gonna recommend it.

But again, it is your. Choice the Tdap vaccine. When you get it during pregnancy, it protects you and your baby from tetanus, diptheria, and pertussis, which is the whooping cough. Your provider will most likely recommend it anywhere from now until 36 weeks. The reason they do that is babies don't receive their first whooping cough vaccine until they're about two months old, so this gives them a passive immunity.

Now, I'm not gonna go into whether you should or shouldn't vaccinate inside my membership. I'll talk to my moms about that and tell you guys what choices I made, but I believe that's a decision that each and every parent needs to make for their own children. Passive immunity means that the antibodies pass through the placenta and help protect them until they can be vaccinated themselves.

Pertussis whipping cough is very deadly in newborns and I actually did have a. Friend whose [00:21:00] baby died of whipping cough when I was pregnant with Grayson, and it was very scary. It's not something to mess around with. So they do say that vaccination during pregnancy is the most effective way to protect the baby.

So some of the questions that I get asked is, well, I already had the T dap. Do I need it again? Yes, you need a fresh dose during every pregnancy to transfer the immunity to the baby if that's the route you choose. Is it safe? Well, according to CD, C. ACOG and who World Health Organization, they say yes.

It's been extensively studied and it's recommended. So talk. Talk to your friends. Do your due diligence. I never tell you what you have to do or should do. I just give you the recommendations. And you know, they also recommend that if you do choose to do it, that the people who are gonna be around the baby in the first two months should also be vaccinated, which is called cocooning.

So you're protecting that little baby. If you need any information, just do your own research 'cause this is definitely something you need to decide [00:22:00] for yourself. Just to continue talking about your checkups and your appointments. You're still going every four weeks. Still soon, that's gonna change, and it's so exciting, and you can also really talk to your provider about fetal movement.

We really recommend around weeks 27 that you start tracking fetal movement. So I want you to snag my third trimester prep pack. If you go to labor nurse mama.com/. Third, or you comment on any poster reel on Instagram, the word third, you'll get it sent to you. We'll also put it in the show notes and we have a fetal movement tracker.

When I say fetal movement, we're not just counting kicks, so I don't wanna say a fetal kick count because it's about movement roles and swishes and, and our movement. The only thing you don't count is hiccups because that is, it's an autonomic nervous system movement. I believe I'm saying that right, according to one of the PDs that I talked to.

And so [00:23:00] you don't wanna count that. But we also wanna start prepping for your birth education. So, girl, I'm gonna say this over and over again. Join my birth classes. You guys can get $50 off the full birth courses, which includes. All the kitten caboodle, all the goodies. Use Pod 50. You're gonna go to Labor nurse mama.com/calm.

Use the coupon code POD 50 and that's gonna get you every dang thing you need. Plus it gives you 30 days free and my mama membership after the 30 days. It's a $19. You can cancel at any time, but that's where you're gonna have access to my doulas, to myself, to the most incredible tribe of women. I have ever met in my life.

Oh my God, I love my women so much. My mamas. You also get to come on Wednesdays to our pregnancy hangout, so I would love to meet you. If you join, come to the Hangout, we send you the Zoom link. Come hang, let me see your face. Tell me who you are. Tell me how you are. And I'm so honored to be on this journey with you. Again, that's labor nurse [00:24:00] mama.com/calm. Use the coupon code pod of 50 and that takes $50 off calm labor, confident birth, or the VBAC lab. If you don't want the full kitten caboodle with all the things and the videos and all the demonstrations and all the prep, you can also go to labor nurse mama.com/guide and get my fully audio.

Birth class, which is streamlined, you can listen to it on the go, and that is. The full birth class. It's just not all the videos and all the support and all the things, it's your choice. You do what you want. But take a class. Please do not wing your birth. The reason I started educating women and doing what I do is because of all the women that I saw bullied, including myself with my first birth, this, this actually chokes me up every stinking time I talk about it because we fight so hard, we fought so hard to have our rights as women, and the fact that something so.

Natural. We have to fight for our [00:25:00] rights is just ludicrous. It's just insane. So join me, let me help you. I know y'all get nervous about speaking up and standing up and you shouldn't because you have every right to have the birth that you want. I love y'all so stinking much. So here's some questions to ask at your right back to get on topic.

Y'all know I get off track. Some questions to ask is, ask your provider, any questions you wanna ask them, write them down before you go. 'cause we all know Prego brain, we forget. But ask them like, what happens if I test positive for gestational diabetes? When do my appointments start going to every two weeks? What is your thought on medicated birth induction? All the things that you wanna know. You should be asking them early and often so that you can see what does my doctor really feel about this?

Use your instincts, mama. Watch their body language. If they get all tense or they say, oh, we don't need to talk about that, that is a bad sign. You should be able to talk about whatever you want at every appointment. You know that is your right. You hired them, you're paying them, they work [00:26:00] for you. Okay? So you might feel right now like super seam, but also invisible because right now everybody's seeing that belly and asking about that baby.

But they may not be asking about you and they may all have an opinion, but they're not asking like, how are you doing? So I wanna ask you right now, like, how are you? Do you feel safe to vent to bitch, to moan? Do you feel seen? If you're not happy about the pregnancy, that's also okay. If you're over the moon unhappy, that's okay.

I just want you to know that I. You are still such an important person, like you are building a human, and I just want you to know that we see you and we value you and we adore you. Thank you so much for being here with us. So here's your action list this week. You're gonna schedule or prep for your glucose screening.

If you wanna find out the different options, call the doctor's office, ask, find out. You can also order the fresh test and take it with you. [00:27:00] Some doctors say no to that, so find out ahead of time. Book your birth class. I prefer that you join mine, obviously, but you can also go to one in person on demand online, whatever fits.

But please just get educated. Do not wing your birth. Start building a list of people that you trust that can be around you and be there for you to help carry the load, challenge, those myths that you hear from all these random people and rest. Take a rest. Honor you, celebrate you. Do something fun that you love, and shoot me a damn and say, Trish, I honored myself.

I did something fun this week.

Okay, you guys, that's it for this episode of a Pregnancy Unpacked. Remember that you are so freaking important because you know what? You are you and you're also building an actual factual human. And I know it's getting real, y'all, you're gonna be pushing that human out, [00:28:00] but that's okay because you've got this.

And just like your body started beating that little heart and forming those little toes, your body is going to birth this baby beautifully. You do not have to be scared about birth. Birth is amazing and your body was. So built for this. Okay, you guys, as always, hit subscribe. Leave a review, please. If you're listening on Spotify, leave a comment.

Tell me what you wanna hear more of. If there's like a specific topic, let me know. I wanna do it. And as always, if you leave a review, send us an email and tell us and we do a drawing at the end of every month. Okay, you guys, I will see you again next Wednesday. Bye for now.