Pregnancy Confidential

Before things get even busier in your third trimester, Week 24 is a great moment to take stock of what you appreciate in your life and put together a list of quality things to do with your partner, or kids, before you bring a (rather disruptive) new life into your world—whether this means scheduling that camping trip your daughter’s been pining for, or getting a reservation at that hot new restaurant, having a pre­-baby list of to-­dos is a fun way to bond with your soon­-to-­be growing family.

At Week 25 it’s easy to start feeling a teeny bit overwhelmed by this whole baby thing: After all, you’re a mere three months away from being a real, live parent. Sure we talked about what to put on your baby registry in an earlier episode, and yeah you’ll need all kinds of stuff, but today we get down to the bare essentials. What do you REALLY need when you have a baby? Turns out, not very much. But there are a few things (and people!) you’ll want by your side in those first weeks home with your newborn.

If pregnancy felt like a dream in the early days, at 26 Weeks it definitely feels like reality: you’re sporting the belly to prove it and you’re probably well aware of there being a real, live baby inside with every somersault you feel. This real baby has gotta eat when he comes out, so now’s a good time to think seriously about how and what you’ll feed him. You’ve heard it a million times: breast is best. But is it always? In this week’s podcast, we take a look at the formula/breast milk debate. 

For Week 27, we’ll tackle birth plans: what goes into them, how you make one, what NOT to put in one, and whether it’s even something you’ll use when, ahem, push comes to shove. 

As you enter your third trimester at 28 weeks, your thoughts are likely drifting towards what’s happening in three months—um, pushing a baby out—and how you’re actually going to manage it. First, know that many billions of women have birthed babies and it can be done—of that we promise you—but how you decide to do it can vary, and depends a lot on your personality, pregnancy and, well, pain tolerance. Over the next few episodes, we’ll discuss different ways of giving birth, starting with this one, where we get real about what it’s like to have a natural unmedicated birth.

To continue on the path of getting you prepped for your big day, at Week 29, we’ll tackle the C­-section—what really happens and how you’ll recover from the surgery. Whether a cesarean is something you know you’ll have or not, it’s always a good idea to go into birth prepared for anything, since it’s nearly impossible to predict how your labor and delivery will go down. The good news is if you do have a C­-section, we live in a time when you have a very high chance of it going smoothly and delivering you a baby quickly and efficiently.

As you start into your last 10 weeks of pregnancy, you might want to know a little more about the most common way to give birth: vaginally, with an epidural. It’s no surprise so many women end up delivering this way—childbirth is painful and it is the 21st century after all, so why shouldn’t we medicate ourselves? While it’s a perfectly acceptable way to do it, of course there are pros and cons, which are worth weighing up before you make your birth plan. While you should always expect the unexpected when you’re expecting, it’s still worth knowing your options.

At Week 31, while the physical realities of having a baby are surely present in your thoughts, you’re also bound to be curious about what goes on around you when you’re giving it the ol’ heave-­ho. Who do you let in the room with you? Will you really do something as horrific as poop in front of everybody? And will you even care? This week’s podcast lets you in on the deepest darkest secrets of the delivery room, so you know just what to expect when you’re done expecting.

At 32 Weeks, you’re probably well aware of how unpredictable pregnancy can be—from losing all sense of balance, to forgetting what it means to have a waist, you’re never quite sure what’s around the corner. This feeling of lack of control happens throughout pregnancy and sometimes it can really throw you for a loop. So how do you prepare for the unexpected, especially if you take pride in being super-organized? Can you even prepare for the future? Or is pregnancy a lesson in rolling with the punches? The answer is most certainly a combination of the two.

It’s Week 33 and you can just about see your due date on the horizon. But, since babies can be about as unpredictable as everything else in your life, it’s a good idea to do what you can to prepare (which believe us, isn’t as much as you think). If your idle hands are itching to do something in preparation for so much busy­ness around the corner, it might be time to put them (and your partner’s) to work packing that hospital bag. But what exactly should you put in it? Opinions differ and we’ll discuss the essentials this week.

If you’ve subscribed to a pregnancy newsletter or downloaded an app, everything is based on one thing: your due date. It’s also the first thing people ask you when they find out you’re pregnant. But what if we told you the whole idea of a due date is bogus? And that the whole idea of counting down is basically pointless. Sure it’s great to know where you are in your pregnancy for the essential stuff, like scheduling ultrasounds (and listening to this podcast), but when it comes to the final countdown, it may not matter as much as you think.

As the big day approaches, you may be wondering what those bedroom antics will look like after you give birth. There’s a lot to think about: Your recovery, the baby, the logistics, the lack of sleep, your body image... It’s easy to get overwhelmed and worry that you’ll be waving goodbye to your sex life. We’re here to reassure you that while that’s not true (think about how many mamas you see with two under two), things might change and shift a little, both physically and emotionally, and not always for the worst.

Parenting is a tough job—one of the toughest you’ll ever have. And, of course, it’s rewarding. But entering into the new world of parenting, especially if this is your first, can feel totally overwhelming. First, know this: You WILL make mistakes. Also know this: Everything will be OK. Luckily, there are a few things you can learn now, while you’re still pregnant, that will help smooth those initial bumps in the road—whether that’s helping you avoid some easy mistakes, or simply knowing when to relax (a little) when the you­-know-­what hits the fan.

Welcome to Week 37 of your pregnancy—and eek! Your baby is almost here. This has probably dawned on you no less than 30 trillion times in the last week and you might be starting to feel that panic over what this parenting thing will really be like—and how you’ll really feel that week post­-birth (will you even know what to do with a baby?). In this episode, we get real about what that very first week back from the hospital will be like, and we’re not holding back...

It’s Week 38: you’re probably desperate to get this darn baby out one day, and terrified of the reality of being a mom the next. It’s an exciting/nerve-wracking time with lots to keep you up at 4 a.m., thank you very much. It’s often the fear of the unknown that can be the scariest of all, and one major unknown is how you’ll really feel when the dust settles and you’ve got a newborn to take care of. With more celebs, like Hayden Panettiere, opening up about postpartum depression, you might be wondering: Will it happen to me?