Trish: 00:00:10

Hey mama.

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Welcome back to Pregnancy Unpacked.

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I'm Trish, your bestie labor nurse.

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I hope your birth coach and your voice of yes, that.

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Is normal in your earbuds.

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Today we're covering weeks 31 and 32, and this is a stretch where things are gonna really start getting real.

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This is happening girl, and you are actually going to give birth and you're probably thinking, oh my gosh, do I have enough time?

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And it's gonna go faster than you think.

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So let's break it down so you know what's coming, what to prep and what to ignore.

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So let's talk about your little baby.

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Bean Baby is about the size of a coconut.

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16 to 17 inches long, three and a half to four pounds.

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That's insane, right?

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You have a four pound little human in there.

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They have had major brain and nervous system development.

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Their eyes are opening and closing and your baby.

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Remember last week we talked about the baby is starting to sense light and dark, but they're also tracking.

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Which is insane, right?

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Their bones are hardening again, that little skull is gonna say soft.

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This is why we have the soft spots and this is why it's movable, so it can come through the birth canal.

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Thank God They are also practicing breathing and swallowing, amniotic fluid, fun fact, they actually swallow it and then pee out more.

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So they are actually the one responsible for making amniotic fluid.

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They are packing on that brown fat for temp regulation, and if you don't know anything about that, go to my blog post that's all about.

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Skin to skin after delivery because this is so stinking important to know that they only have a little bit of brown fat for temp regulation.

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I don't wanna go into that now, but it's really, really crazy.

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And why you should really fight for skin to skin and not wiping off that.

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Vernix, you're probably starting to know more of a pattern with the baby's movements, like you're getting to know this little baby, right?

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So really be paying attention.

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That is one of the most important things that you can do.

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If you haven't downloaded my free third trimester birth prep pack.

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We have a. Fetal movement count sheet in there and talk about the importance of fetal movement.

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

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

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If your intuition is like this baby's not moving as much, or what have you, just make sure that you connect with your provider and get seen.

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

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Shortness of breath is gonna up the ante right now because your uterus is really crowding your lungs.

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

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Swimming can all help get the, the uterus off of your lungs and get the baby down and movement and all that thing.

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It's just part of the end of pregnancy.

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You're probably gonna start really experiencing some swollen ankles, possibly your feet or your hands.

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But remember that is normal with fluid retention, but it's gradual.

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

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Or if you're concerned about it, let your doctor know.

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I don't care how much you bug your doctor, you have a right.

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You're paying a lot of money.

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You're gonna have some back and hip pain, some more and more.

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Braxton Hicks, which we talked about, another thing that a lot of people don't talk about that happens from the get go is vivid dreams, like weird ass dreams.

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They can be very bizarre.

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Keep a journal.

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'cause you're gonna look back and be like, what in the actual, so I would keep a journal.

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You also might be experiencing more and more pregnancy, insomnia.

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And this can be due to just hormones, your mind racing.

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And it can also be discomfort.

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Uh.

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I really love the mom cozy pregnancy pillow.

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They sent me one for a reel and my daughter actually sleeps with it, so it is so stinking comfortable.

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If I didn't like to snuggle with my husband, I would probably sleep with it too, but we'll link to that in the show notes.

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It's really, really comfortable.

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Also, fun fact, if you're having a lot of night sweats or you're just getting hot at night, they also have a cooling blanket that they sent me, and I actually do use that even though I'm not pregnant.

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I love it.

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Because your center of gravity is shifted.

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You might be a little more clumsy and have some balance issues.

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So take caution.

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Be careful when you're getting up and down and where you're walking.

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Mentally, you might be going from, oh my God, I'm so excited to, oh my God, I can't do this.

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And that is so normal.

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You might also be like, I love everyone too.

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I can't stand anyone.

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This is really, a lot of it is so normal and hormonal.

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It's like being on your period on crack.

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Okay?

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That's all part of the journey, so just give yourself some grace.

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You don't have to be perfect.

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Period.

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For your appointments and what to expect.

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You're probably seeing your provider every two weeks.

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They're gonna be measuring your fundal height.

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They're gonna be checking your baby's heartbeat.

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They're gonna be asking about movements and symptoms, and they might even ask you some questions about your birth plans and hospital procedures.

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So I want you to actually bring these up if they're not, like, if you have a question, ask it.

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You have every right to ask a question.

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Remember, you hired this.

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Provider, take notes throughout the week so that you don't forget.

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Because what I would do is I'd have all these questions and I'd get there and I'd totally forget them all.

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So write 'em down, maybe keep a note in your phone and that way you can talk to your provider.

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And if they seem to be rushing you.

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Call it out.

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

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Hopefully they won't say no.

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If they say no, I'd be a little concerned if you're having any complications.

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Let's say you've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, whatever.

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They might do some more things like growth scans or non-stress tests.

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We teach all of these things in the birth class, but I will tell you, a non-stress test is a test where they hook you up to the monitor.

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They're gonna check for contractions and they're gonna check for the baby.

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What they wanna see is that you don't have contractions happening, but that.

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They're not, they're not even looking for contractions.

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They wanna see how your baby is doing when you're just chilling and it's normal.

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And we wanna see that their heart rate is having what we call reactions.

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And so we keep you on the monitor until we hit a certain parameter.

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And I teach all this in the birth class, so if you're one of the students, it's inside the birth class.

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Here's some questions to ask right now.

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How will we monitor baby's growth from here?

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What are the hospital's labor and delivery policies, and who will actually be attending my birth?

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Because you may assume it's your doctor and it ends up that it's not your doctor.

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So go ahead and ask that.

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I want you also to know that you have every right to ask all the questions, but also watch how they respond because that can be a telltale sign of someone who, like you guys know, right?

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You've had conversations with people.

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Use those human clues, right?

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If they are tensing up or they're brushing your questions off, then you need to deep dive a little, and you may even need to switch providers, which I can help you with that if that's what you need to do.

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The countdown pressure.

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This is where the world starts pushing.

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Do you, you know, asking you all the questions, do you have the nursery ready?

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Have you packed your hospital bag?

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You better sleep now.

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Here's what's coming.

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Here's what you're gonna have.

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Like, oh my God, get ready.

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And it's really negative in some ways.

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So I, I just want you to know that all your baby needs is you, you don't need a Pinterest perfect prep list.

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I mean, I'm OCD, like a checklist.

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Good checklist.

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But your prep matters, obviously, but matters, most is.

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Being prepared through knowledge and through support and not all the things.

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So don't spiral The baby needs you and a boob or a bottle, right?

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Some diapers and somewhere to sleep.

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What matters really is understanding your options, feeling supported, and knowing how to speak up and advocate when you need to.

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Those are really important things.

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So here's your little action steps for weeks 31 to 32.

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Start thinking about your hospital bag, but you don't have to assemble it and you don't have to stress over it.

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Review your birth preferences and share them with your partner.

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If you have not taken a class yet, girl, you can't write your birth plan just based on a checklist you download from the internet.

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Even from me.

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You need to be educated because what goes in your birth plan?

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Is the power behind the knowledge that you have.

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So make sure you're knowledgeable.

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Obviously, I want you to take my class and we've got different choices for you.

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My audience of over 400,000 mamas voted and said We want something quick and easy.

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So we redesigned the birth course.

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We've got the full birth course, which is.

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Magical and amazing, and we've had thousands and thousands and thousands of moms take it over the course of the years.

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But we also created the calm labor birth pod, which is really quick.

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It's audio only.

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It comes with a guide where it's got some information, but the audios is where the power is, and it is 97.

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The full birth course is two ninety seven.

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Both of them come with some measures of support.

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The full birth course comes with more support, but.

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You do you whatever you need.

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Both of them, you have the option of adding on your labor bat signal, which if you don't know what that is, you can always ask me on Instagram, what is the labor bat signal?

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But it is a 12 week DM connection with me and a doula where we give you virtual labor support.

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It's a magical, and it's under $9 a week, so it's a little bit of a no-brainer.

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So getting prepped, you also need to be prioritizing hydration Gentle movement.

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Really start thinking about your postpartum plan.

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You need to know who's on deck, right?

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Who's gonna help you?

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How are you gonna have help?

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What are you gonna prep?

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What are you gonna do?

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Have all the important numbers listed on your fridge.

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Start thinking about that now.

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Find out different things from your insurance.

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Do they provide mental health?

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Right?

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Find these things out now, because when you're in the midst of it, you are not gonna be wanting to search anything up.

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My son says, search it up so you're not gonna search it up.

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Practice resting without guilt.

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You have a right and a little bit of a sneak peek.

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We're gonna start doing one week at a time, so soon we're gonna be shifting into one week at a time.

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Deep dives, starting with week 33 onward.

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It's packed with its own questions, its own emotions, and its own prep.

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So you're getting so close, mama, but you're not behind.

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You're right on time.

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You are not just ticking the boxes, you're becoming this brand new, powerful version of yourself, and I am so proud of you because even though it's messy, it's swollen, it's overwhelming, you're so magical and you're so powerful, please don't forget it.

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You are so powerful.

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You are building an actual factual human.

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Let that land.

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All right you guys, I hope you loved this episode.

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

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I am so happy that you're here.

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

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Tell me what you love and tell me topics you wanna hear more of.

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I. Always check them and we adore you guys.

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As always, we will see you again next week.

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Bye for now.