Call Her Daddy - My Pregnancy Story

Episode Date: June 10, 2026

Join Alex in the studio for a special solo episode as she opens up about her pregnancy journey. She shares the moment she found out she was pregnant, how she told Matt, and what ultimately made her feel ready to share the news publicly. Alex also reflects on her first trimester, dealing with anxiety, and how she navigated her timeline with motherhood. Enjoy! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What is up, Daddy Gang? It is your founding father, Alex Cooper, with Call Her Daddy. Okay. Are we ready? Here we go. What? Daddy gang. Welcome to a very special episode of Call Her Daddy.

I am pregnant and we're just going to get right into it today. I, oh my God. I have been so excited to share this news with you. you guys and I definitely went back and forth on when that would be and how I would even do it. But now that we are here, I cannot wait to share all of the fun and the emotional things that I have been going through during this pregnancy. The last time I spoke about my feelings around having kids was exactly a year ago. And for anyone who missed it, I basically came on the podcast and I shared that in the summer of 2024 right after Matt and I had gotten married and,

you know, we basically talked about how we were ready to start having kids. And that was our goal. And then shortly after that, in that summer, I decided actually, wait, no, I'm not ready. I'm not ready at all. And so we made the mutual decision to pause on starting a family in the summer of 2024 because I really wanted to prioritize our relationship. I wanted to prioritize work and I wanted, honestly, most importantly, to prioritize myself. And overall, I just felt like I needed a little bit more time and I was not ready to take on motherhood just yet. And so now, almost two years later, I lived. I did kind of what feels like everything I wanted to do. And now I am pregnant. And I am pregnant. And

I couldn't be happier. I couldn't be happier that I waited. And I couldn't be happier for this next chapter of my life. And so I want to do a little story time of how this all came to be. I do, before I get into it, I want to acknowledge, coming in here today, I was like, I'm so aware that the topic of pregnancy and the process of getting pregnant and everything that surrounds it can be very understandably sensitive and difficult for a lot of women. And so I just want to be really mindful today that as much as this is a very exciting time and a celebration, I also want to

hold space for the women who may be on a different part of their own journey right now. And I'm thinking about you and I'm sending you so much love. And I love you, Daddy Gang, and I support you. Okay, so let's rewind a little bit. So throughout the period where Matt and I had put the decision to start trying to get pregnant on hold, we were having constant check-ins. And as more and more time went on and we traveled and we accomplished certain goals we had set for ourselves, your girl started to get the itch. And I remember the exact night. I remember telling Matt, we were in the hot tub. We were having one of like our whiskey nights. And I just looked at him and I said, we have had such an incredible time of pouring into our relationship, building a strong foundation, being with our family. Now that my family's out in L.A., like we spend so much time with them.

And literally all I can think about, the only thing that feels like it's truly missing right now is a child. and starting our own family together. And I have never felt more ready. And when I said that out loud in that moment, it was such an exciting feeling, but also I don't know how to describe it. Like it almost felt just like such a calm feeling as well, maybe calm. Yeah, I guess it was calm.

Because I think we both felt so together and so unified in our desire for this really big next step. And it was one of the most beautiful moments because Matt and I had been so intentional about everything we had done in our relationship up until that point. And I think we both felt so sure in the foundation that we had built. And there was really zero fear and finally saying out loud, okay, here we go. We are going to try and we are going to do this together. It was really only joy and excitement. And so we started trying. And let me. me let me let you in on a little something, ladies. At first, there is nothing sexier.

There is nothing hotter. There is nothing more connecting in this world than trying to make a baby with the love of your life. You're like, oh, let's go. Let's fucking go. Like, get in there. Like, enjoy, okay? It is great. And then, and then, once that, like, spine, spontaneous thrill has happened a few times. There's a little shift, okay? And that shift is just a little less sexy, in my opinion. And it's a little bit more of like a, it's like a scheduled meeting of the bodies, okay? Because there's a very small window where a woman is about to release that egg. It's about three days. So in those three days, you got to be locked in. You are laser focused. Okay. We are making sure that we are using every single opportunity to try to make this happen. And so I was obsessively

tracking my ovulation. I'm like peeing on ovulation strips. I got ovulation trips in every single one of my purses. And it basically tells me when I am peak time. And when I am peak time, that is when Matt, Matt, let's go. Matt, and he would be like, all right, I'm coming up. Let's go. Sometimes it didn't happen in bed, you know? Sometimes we didn't have that luxury. It was, boom, got to do it, let's go. Also, to be real for a second, whoa, okay, there is so much mentally that starts to happen when you are looking for your body to essentially perform and produce essentially at the highest level. Like, it's a really weird mental and physical battle that I personally found because when it doesn't work and you don't get pregnant, all I was left to feel was what's wrong with me?

And the longer it goes on, for me personally, my desire to get pregnant was only increasing, which was then making the disappointment hit even harder. And not only that, I would say, but like, then the anxiety that is created. because again, this is a really small window. And so every month you try and then you have to wait and see if it worked. And if that test comes back negative, you feel like you're starting from zero again. And it almost starts to feel like groundhog day where you're like, you're waiting, you're waiting, you're waiting, you're waited, you're disappointed. And for me, the importance of having a partner during this time who was supportive,

and loving and understanding, you guys, it was so essential because any time I felt down, Matt was there. And he made me feel like, nope, this is us. This isn't on you. This is on me and you. So if this is not working, this is something you and I are going through hand in hand together. And listen, men will never understand what we have to go through with our bodies and these psychological warfare and all of the emotions. But I will say it does make it a hell of a lot easier when that person by your side is not making you feel like for a moment that it is just you. It's all on you, even though let's be really kind of is. And again, I know everyone's journey to getting pregnant looks so differently. And so obviously, again, I just want to clarify today, I am only

talking about my personal experience. And I do want to acknowledge all of the women who have tried to get pregnant, who are still trying, who are pregnant, and it hasn't gone the way that they expected, who maybe you are someone who's watching, you took a different path than you originally planned. This is one of the most complicated and personal experiences you will ever go through. And I have so much respect and compassion and admiration for everyone, no matter where they're at on their journey. And to all of the women who have also decided that motherhood isn't for them, I see you and I respect you.

Because I genuinely believe as long as you're making choices that feel right for yourself and your life, that is all that matters. Full stop. So, okay, I would love today to share the story of how I found out I was pregnant. it feels like yesterday and it also feels like so long ago um okay so i'm peeing on my good old ovulation strips and on the strips that you're using there is one side in the box that is blue for ovulation and checking that and then the other side of the box is filled with pink labeled strips and that is to test for pregnancy and so i remember i was two days away

from getting my period. And I don't know. I felt like there was like a small chance I could be pregnant because before almost every single time, like I am getting cramps. Okay, I'm getting cramps before this period. It is a surefire thing and I didn't have any cramps. And so for the next two days, I'm like, okay, I think this could be an option. We are going to finally open these pink strips, baby, and let's pee and see if I'm pregnant. And it just kept coming back negative. And I was like, okay, okay, we're keeping the vibes high. We're keeping it. It's fine. Maybe I'm just late. Also, for me, it always could kind of be for my period, a two to three day buffer. Either I'm late or I'm early. Like, that usually happened. And so I kind of went through the feeling of,

damn, here we go. We're starting from zero again. Another month of trying. Let's do it. And then two days past. Still no cramps. And like literally never has that happened in my life. Again, not the lateness, the lack of cramps. Like I was the girl, you guys who had to stay home from school because of how bad my cramps were. I have always had the worst cramps. And so I will never forget, it was a Tuesday morning. Matt had just left for a three-day work trip. And something came over me. And I was like, you know what? I'm just going to get one of the. the digital hard test. Screw these like pink little strips. Let's get the hard stuff here. Okay. So I go and I buy two. It's first thing in the morning. I sit down on my toilet in my

bathroom. I pee on the stick and it felt like the minute I peed on that stick. The minute that you're in hit that stick, it said pregnant. And I'm like, what? I was in, I was in complete shock. because again, I had been taking these pink little strip tests for almost a week. And it was telling me, so nope, girl, better luck next time, babe. Keep it fucking moving. So when I saw it read pregnant, I started crying with my pants down on the toilet. I'm like, oh, my God. I'm crying.

I remember then getting off the toilet, I sat down in my bathroom and I'm just staring at the test. I'm just staring at it. Meanwhile, Henry and Bruce are like freaking out. they're licking my face. They're like, what is wrong with our mother? Is she having an actual mental breakdown? They hate when I'm crying. And then I immediately got right back up. And I was like, I need to take another test. What if it's a false positive? Like, I need to see it again to believe it. Let's get back in there. And so there it was second test. Positive. And then I was so annoyed. Swerve. Not because I was pregnant. But because my husband,

had just boarded his flight. And there was no way in hell that I was going to tell this man over the phone. Like, I'm like, I need to tell Matthew in person. It, like, it had to be that way. I wanted us to be able to embrace and kiss and celebrate. And so I sat there going back and forth because my big mouth, you guys, it literally took everything in me, not to be like, Matt, hmm, babe, get off the plane. He's like, we're sitting on a hot tarmac. I'm like, get a tharmac. I'm like, get a the plane. I'm like, emergency. But I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I got to just, I calm myself down and thought, you know what, maybe, maybe this is going to be a beautiful solo journey that I have to go on for the next four days or so, okay? Just really sitting

alone with the news until my husband comes home on Friday night. I can try to really connect with my body. I can read some books. Download every single app there. possibly is to download. And I will say that it worked. It worked for about four hours. Guys, those next few days, we're actually torture. I am sitting alone with the fact that I am pregnant and I can't tell my husband because he's away on a work trip and I refuse to do it over the phone. And every single day and night that Matt and I talked on the phone, I was bursting. I was bursting to the point where he was like,

you're acting like a little off. Like, is everything okay? I wanted to scream because we're having a baby. I'm like, but I was like, no, yeah, just like so tired for work. It's just like hard day at work, literally. Turmoil.

And I will also say, once I commit my mind to something, I am locked in, okay? Matt was going to be the first person I told no matter what. I wasn't going to tell my friends. I wasn't going to tell my mom. I wasn't going to, you know, tell the random guy at the coffee shop. Because trust me, it was tempting.

It honestly really pained me. But no, it had to be Matt. Because why? I don't think anyone would ask why. But just to take you through my thought process, like I just had this feeling. Like, we did this together and he deserves to be the first person to know. And there's no one I want to tell more in the world than him. and I want us to just be able to hold this moment alone together before anyone else gets involved.

And so for the next four days, I lost my mind. Also, when I think back to this, I remember another added layer was like, the morning that I found out that I was pregnant, you guys, I had a call her daddy interview that day. And listen, I love my guests. Shout out if you're watching this. But that day, girl, I really, really struggled to focus. I remember walking into my studio saying hi to my team. And I just so badly wanted to blurt out.

Like, I'm pregnant. When I was in the middle of my interview, I would be listening to what they were saying. And I would be locked in for a second. And then it literally reminded me of the dog from up. Do you guys remember every five seconds? The dog's like, squirrel. That was literally me. Every five seconds, I just wanted to be like, okay, yeah.

And so your childhood, heart, sorry, I'm pregnant. I'm like, it was like my brain. It's all my brain could think about. And it's almost like holding it in was making it worse. I just needed to tell one person, just one person. And then I would be fine. So yeah, it was a really tough day at work, guys. And then finally, after downloading like 12 different apps, and I'm not kidding,

I literally researched my future child star sign, how it would match up with my star sign, how it matched up with me and Matt Star Signs. I was like going. saying, finally Matt was on the plane to come home. Hallelujah. Man on the plane. Hallelujah. Thank you. And then this man has the audacity to be a good husband. While he's on the plane, he texted me and he said, oh my God, babe, I forgot to ask. Did you get your period? No. No, no, no, motherfucker. Now at this point, you guys, I had kept my mouth shut for four straight days. There is no way I was going to blow this whole surprise over a text message. So,

I ignored my husband naturally and I just like pivoted the conversation to something. And then he asked again, I'm like, Matt, the persistence. And I appreciate his attention to detail. But in this moment, I was like, so I ended up just responding to him and I was like, yeah, super heavy period. I like didn't need to be that dramatic, but I'm a very dramatic person. And that was unnecessary. But I wanted to sell it, right?

I did not want my husband to have any clue, any clue. And he's so sweet back. I remember him texting me like, it's all good. You know, we've got this. We're going to have a beautiful weekend together. I love you so much. I can't wait to come home and see you. And that's when I also realized, like, holy shit, my husband is genuinely going to be so even more shocked now.

Like me adding that little sprinkle, that little dash of like, oh, your girl got her, period. Now there's like zero percentage that Matt in his brain is coming home to a pregnancy announcement. So here's what I did. I cooked Matt and I, our favorite meal that I make. And by favorite meal that I make, I mean the one thing that I know how to make, which is like taco bowls. I lit candles. I put a little bit of music on. I poured us both a drink, which really I knew would throw him off even more.

And when he got home, I told him I had a little gift for him, which technically isn't really like out of the ordinary. Matt and I typically, if one of us is traveling, we do a little something for the other when they come home. And so I sat him down and I said, okay, put your hands out both of them and close your eyes. And he's like, what is this? Like what is happening? And I was like, I hope you like it because it is non-refundable. And so he put both of his hands out. He closed his eyes and I placed the pregnancy test in his hands. And when he opened his eyes, They immediately filled with tears. He looked so shocked. And then we both started crying. We didn't even say anything in that moment. There were just no words. He pulled me onto his lap. We were hugging and kissing and crying. And we just had the most incredible night that I will forever and always cherish. It was like, finally, I was.

able to share this with my person and celebrate it and talk about it incessantly. Again, also being able to say it out loud, finally, it made it feel really real. And we just kept crying and replaying the moment over and over and over. Matt was in so much shock that I was able to wait as long as I did to tell him. And he felt so bad. He was like, how did you keep this to yourself for as long as you did? Like, you could have told me. I feel horrible. And I will say, and I told him this, I said, listen, listen, sweetheart. Although those four days felt like a bit of torture, I am now able to

look back and be so grateful for the time that I had to genuinely sit with my thoughts and my feelings, I was able to kind of, I don't know, like, slowly. slow myself down, which I'm so bad at. And I think it really gave me this period of time where it felt like the world stopped. And in those four days, I remember having thoughts about how excited I was for this pregnancy because I feel like I am someone who really loves to push myself and challenge myself and I want to evolve. And I think it's so important to grow and change as a human being. And there was something so transformative with envisioning this new chapter for, yes, Matt and I as a family, but also individually myself as a woman. How will this

change me? What new perspectives will this give me? I'm not someone who has grown up from a very young age and envisioned having children. I just didn't. And so how will this? impact my identity? How will my body changing? How am I going to connect with myself? And growing a human being inside of my body, like how will that influence the way that I approach life and look at the world? And so all of these questions, I guess, kind of left me really excited for the future. There's also something I really loved about the feeling of the unknown. Now, I know a lot of people, people like to know the exact answers of what's going to happen. But like I really loved that feeling. I feel like I have done so much already in my life. And I am so proud of what I have accomplished.

And I feel so fortunate. But this to me just feels like the next beautiful blessing in life that is going to change me forever, obviously not holistically, but to some degree. Right. And I'm so ready to go on that journey and share it with you guys, honestly. I think this show has been my baby, no pun intended, but Call Her Daddy has been the biggest blessing of my life up to date. You guys are going to now share it, okay? And I would be nothing without all of you who watch every single week. And so now to have shared so much of my life for so long and have this new phase, I'm really excited. And so how did I decide I was ready to publicly share my pregnancy with the world? Girl.

Girl. The truth is my goal was to try to pull a Kylie Jenner. I really wanted to. I just one day wanted to come on and announce like, oh, I had a baby. But the unfortunate reality is that my job does require me to be seen either on my show or out at public events. And a sweatshirt can only do so much for so long, guys. And so I had told Matt my goal was to try and hide this pregnancy until August or September. I really just wanted to stay in this bubble and not, I don't know, not open it up for public commentary for honestly as long as I could.

But it was May when I announced. So obviously that plan didn't work as expected. And so the reason I chose to share my pregnancy when I did was because my bump was becoming too hard to hide, plain and simple. And the process of trying to hide it was literally causing me more anxiety than just putting it out there and being honest with the world. And I will say, no, guys, let me take you on this little journey. You ready for this one? the biggest turning point of when I knew I needed to tell the world about my pregnancy was the little recent trip Matt and I took to New York City.

There was this really, really big important work event that I was so excited about going to and I was going to have to walk a red carpet. And so I had prior put a lot of thought into my outfit the month before. I was like, I know what I'm going to wear. I tried on a bunch of different options. And then I found this suit. Oh, this suit that had this little, like, almost like peplum looking shape to it. And then like kind of had buttons.

And when I tried it on, those buttons like sat right above the bump where like the bump really gets big. And then the pants. Oh, God, the pants were incredible. The pants had this like elastic band that was like jewel encrusted that really like hugged and sucked me in. okay, it was black. There was like a lot of illusion going on. And I remember walking out of my closet showing Matt in L.A. being like, look at this. And he's like, baby, you don't even look pregnant. And I'm like, thank you. Hello. Red carpet. Let's go. And so I really felt like, oh my God, this is like a foolproof way to lock, lock it all in. Okay. Lock it all in and just keep that secret.

because in my calendar, I literally had the amount of public dates that I would need to be on like carpets and stuff like that. And then call her daddy, I was like, we could hide this. We could go real big in those hoodies, okay? We could really stretch this thing as long as we want. So the next month, I get to New York City. And my dumbass hadn't tried the outfit on since the first time it looked gorgeous, stunning. Oh, so delicious on me, okay? And your girl, she'd got a bigger. And that bump, that bump was bumping. And so the day of the event, I had meetings all morning in New York City. And then glam came. We rushed. I was ready. They left. I went to put on my outfit. I was alone in my hotel room. Matt was downstairs finishing his last meeting. And I started hyperventilating,

as one does, because I looked in the mirror. Actually, I didn't even need to look in the mirror. Actually, I didn't even need to look in the mirror at first. And I said, you know, this isn't fit. Yeah, no, this doesn't fit. This, this isn't fitting. This isn't fit and right. And this isn't sitting right. None of this was looking the same as it looked the first time that I tried it on. And so I'm adjusting. I'm unzipping. Like the side of the pants had a zipper. I just went, no, no zip. We don't even need the zip. And they wouldn't fall down. They just stayed right there. They just stayed right there. And I was so frustrated. I really was.

I was so excited for this work event. I was so excited for the people I was going to meet. There was so much business to be done that day and that night. And I didn't want people to know I was pregnant yet. I just didn't. I didn't want this work event to turn also into speculation. Like that is not the way I wanted this to go. I had done such a good job of only telling our closest friends and family,

no leaks, nothing. And I didn't want to also go to this work event and be uncomfortable in my body or in this outfit. So Matt comes up to the room. I am in tears. Shout it to my glam squad. You didn't have a chance. I am so I'm a mess. And he's so supportive. He's like trying to help me like rejigger the thing. I got my spanks. Literally hiked up to my nipples. Okay. We're about to be I am sucking in for dear life. I'm trying to make this work as we walk out the door, but the carpet was going to close at a certain time. I had to be there.

You guys, I'm in the back of this SUV. I am laying horizontal in the very back seat so that these buttons do not pop off as they continue to do. Anytime, if I was not standing perfectly straight up and sucking in, these buttons were blowing. Okay? These buttons, all I know,

knew is I was like, okay, I just have to get through this red carpet moment. That's literally, that's it. Because once I knew if I got inside, I knew I would be completely safe from like random cameras and I could just focus on the business. And so here we go. Matt and I get out of the car and he does the thing where he like gets out of the car. Shields me as if I have like a skirt on where you're going to like see the girl's badge. No, just shielding me to, you know, just bustow up and really cinch it in and suck in. I wipe my tears. I have so much powder underneath my eyes. I have like a four inch layer under my eye. And like, how do I look? Matt's like, I mean like the gleaming sun, you know, as a girl when you have like too much makeup on

and you're in the sun and it's hitting you. He's like, you've never looked more gorgeous. I'm like, shut up. And we get out of the car and my button bursts. The God forsaken button just bursts. And I am like putting it back in, burst, putting it back in, burst. I start trying to suck in so hard. You guys, I'm wiping away these tears. My PR woman comes over. They're ready for you. You got it to get on the carpet. Let's go to the carpet. I'm so emotional. I'm so hormonal. And I was not prepared for the energy of a red carpet. Okay. The energy of a red carpet, it is very loud. It's intense. It's intimidating. It's a lot of things. things, okay? And the last thing that I wanted was for me to get on this carpet and for those

buttons that couldn't stay secure for the life of them, she just boom, just a big boom, boom, hit him with the belly. Bam, hit him with the belly. Hit a little one, two, boom, flying off, hits a cameraman in the eye. Literally, that was, I remember the scene from Hannah Montana when she's with Jake Ryan on the carpet and she's wearing a jacket and she goes, boom, she's wearing the Swan costume, look it up. That was, I, it was like, that will, boom, me, me. I still, oh my God, in my head, you guys, I still, like a psycho thought that I was going to last until August or September. I was not ready to announce, okay? And I am sucking in by the grace of God, you guys, here we go. They pushed me under the carpet. I go solo at first. I shim me. I shim me under the carpet.

I'm not breathing. I'm not breathing because if I, the minute I would breathe, you know, what I mean? Hit him with a pop. So we got to keep it, we got to keep it tight and we got to keep it locked in. And that girdle, I don't know what brand it is, but I'll shout you out at some point because my God, the girdle, the girdle came through. Honestly, I don't know what happened after that. Like I blacked out a little bit. I remember they were like, Matt, come on. Matt comes on. I said to Matt in the car, I said, look at me in the eyes right now. You need to match my energy. Okay. We are going, we are going business. We are going professional, business professional, not business casual, business professional. He's like,

okay, babe, sure, whatever you say. I'm like, we're going to keep it tight. We're going to keep it, we're going to keep it serious. We're going to keep it quick. We're just going to keep it right here. Okay? We're going to keep it right here. We're going to get in and we're going to get out. I also told Matt, I was like, you know what? If all hell breaks loose, which it might. and if these buttons have a mind of their own and there's belly on the carpet. Imagine being in this car with Matt and I want to. And I'm laying down horizontally. If there's belly on the carpet, Matt, eyes are closed.

I need you to pivot, stop, drop, roll. Oh, we got to get out. Just do something weird. Just do something weird. Honestly. I said in that moment, Matt, you got to get in front of me. You got to get in front. You got to block the shot.

You got to back it up. Take your moment. If anything, Matt, shove me out. out of the way. Shove me. Get the angles. Get the one two shot. Take me to the ground. Fucking ground. Literally, anything just get me out of there. And Matt is like, Alex. And I'm like, I know, I'm being so fucking dramatic. But it felt this way to me, okay? So he's trying to stay calm for me. Honestly, guys, I remember I was on the carpet, sunglasses. They're like, take your sunglasses off. I'm like, oh, you want to see this powder? Babe, you better back up, sir.

Gink. Give me a little flash because my God, I don't know what's worse. The girdle or the powder. I am having a mental breakdown on this carpet. And then all of a sudden, it's over. And we exit. And I'm looking for my publicist. Because you just kind of black out on a carpet. I'm like, what happened? Was it okay? Is I'm on my button? She was like, you're fine. You're fine. Later that night. She texts me, you're all good. no pregnancy rumors, nothing from the carpet. The only rumors that actually came from the carpet is just how miserable my husband and I looked. I said, babe, that is a win for a win for a win. These people, you guys are dissecting Matt and my body language together on the carpet

saying, this looks like an arranged marriage. Like this relationship. This relationship. This relationship. ship looks like a business deal. I was like, Carrie, Carrie, come in and listen real quick. We did have a deal. Oh, this was, this was more than a business deal. This was a protect me at all costs, husband. So to see people over-analyzing Matt and I, as we are earnestly trying to hide this pregnancy, I was so relieved that they were talking about our dynamic, our supposed marital issues. And no one was talking about a potential bump. It was a win for the Cooper Kaplan's that day. Matt and I went to bed holding hands and we were like, we survived another day. Honestly, it is sad, though, guys, to take a pause from all the jokes. It is really sad

and just insane how crazy this industry is. You read those things. And Matt and I are like, no one in our life, our closest friends, our family is wondering those things. But then it is crazy to see the internet be like, oh my God, like they're on the rocks. And we're like, wait, we are. Like, what's happening? And so I think that is an odd part of the job that I don't enjoy. But like, Matt and I are good. No one needs to worry. Matt and I are great. And I will say after that event, which was such a success, thank God. We unveiled multiple new exclusive shows with Unwell and YouTube coming out with our partnership with them, which has been amazing and our partnership with Google, very exciting.

But I remember getting home that night and Matt and I, we kind of looked at each other and we just both felt it. And it was almost like we both knew. We knew that that was the last event I would probably be able to. go to and to hide this pregnancy. It obviously had gotten too crazy. I'm sucking in for dear life and to literally any woman who has been pregnant before, you know that that's not even a thing. You literally, there's no such thing as sucking in. But I was trying, girls. Okay, I was trying. And so Matt, I remember him sitting me down and he was like, Alex, I love you so much. And I know

that we had this plan and you had this vision in your head, but maybe it is time to announce so that you can just start living your life again. Like, this is not making you happy. It's causing you so much stress. And I started crying because I've never cried more in my life. But he was so right. Like the minute that Matt said that, I just felt so much better. Like, of course, it's so romantic and it's lovely to keep it a secret. But I was starting to lose it. I have so many work things coming up this summer that are obligations. And if I ordered one more dress that was going to make me look like a lufa, you guys, you got the dress. Oh, the layers. Because you, once it gets to a certain point, you can't just do like a big T because then it will still show. So you got to go

multifabriced on this thing. Okay. I was coming in box ready. And I'm ordering things for the south of France. I have to go in a couple weeks for this event. And I'm like, I look insane. And every single outfit was going to be a lufa. Like, oh, really? Like you're not pulling anyone, bitch. It just wasn't going to be enjoyable and it wasn't going to work. And so I said, you know what? You're so right. What do we do? Should I just upload one of my mirror selfie nudes? Honestly, fire. And he was like, well, you could do that. But why don't we also just take a photo in upstate New York this weekend? And I was like, okay, great idea. Matt and I were going to be in New York City for two straight weeks for work. And so Matt had planned for us to go out of the city for the

weekend. You know, so the bump could get a little fresh air. get a little privacy. And he was like, where we're staying is so gorgeous. Let's just take a picture there. Literally upload it that weekend. Okay. So we got out to upstate New York. And I remember we took the photo on Saturday.

So that would have been May 16th, Saturday, May 16th. And then the next morning I woke up. I was in bed and I posted it on Sunday, May 17th. And I was very upset that my dogs couldn't be in the photo. It really, guys, it just, The aesthetic would have been so much better if Henry and Bruce were just a little. I literally considered asking my mother to fly the dogs across the country so that they could participate in the family portrait.

I don't want the judgment. I just want the, I just want you to know how much I love my dogs. Okay. Obviously, we didn't end up deciding that because it was excessive, but I needed to work through it. And Matt held my hand and said, that's insane. But I did think about photoshopping them in. Yeah, that kind of fucked.

That upset me. But anyways, the photo was cute, I think. We didn't really put much thought into it. And we threw it up on Sunday morning. And I will say, oh, guys, when I press post, I felt so much relief. I felt so free. It made me so excited to just lean in and be able to connect with other women over this, to be able to start to finally wear cute outfits and like own the bump and take pictures,

not be stressed being out in public. And so I am really, really happy that I made that kind of spray. decision and I didn't wait until August because now I get to share all the fun and the not so pretty details of my pregnancy journey with you guys. So here we go. More more story times. Let's talk about that first trimester. Who wants to talk about their first trimester? No one? Okay, me either. You know, you can read about things. You can watch videos, but nothing prepares you for anything in life other than just living through it yourself, right? So the first few weeks of my pregnancy, I could have eaten an entire family.

I was, oh, I was so hungry, you guys. I was ravenous. I felt like a vacuum. I couldn't stop myself. I would eat everything and anything in my line of sight. I remember, oh my God, this was a sad one. And at dinner with Matt, we're on like some work trip. We go to this restaurant where everyone was recommending, like, you got to get this one steak, this like wagoo, whatever, da-da-da-da-da. And I'm ready. I'm like, okay, let's get the stick. Bear down.

Ready to go. The waiter ends up bringing me my plate. I ate every single piece of bread at the table, did my optizer, my steak comes. And he puts it down in front of me. He walks away. And I start crying. I look at Matt. I'm like, why is this steak so small?

This poor man, my husband is like, it's fine, baby, you can have mine too. He like gives me my steak. He's like, just have both the hormones and the hunger mixed. I felt like an animal. I was crying in public over my steak being too small. And in hindsight, it really wasn't that small. Like, as annoying as it was, girl, okay, crying over being hungry, I would have paid. Let me say this. Very loud and clear, I would have paid to live in that state. So I did not need to enter the phase of drum roll, please. Morning sickness. You know, it's so fun because this is my first baby. So I've heard about it. Oh, morning sickness. You rub the woman's back. You're like, oh, babe, I'm so sorry. No. No. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, my God. I have seen some women now because my whole algorithm is this talk about this. And I want to double.

down for you, okay? I want to be very clear and I want to say it myself on my platform. We got to knock it off. We got to knock it off calling this monster. Morning sickness. Because you know what? Morning sickness, it almost sounds like a little bump in the road to start your day. Just have a little morning sickness on the side. This is a manhole in the middle of the street that you can fall into and you cannot crawl out. of for the entirety of the fucking day. I morning sickness my ass. Guys morning. Also, mine didn't even really come in the morning. I'm like, oh, babe, hit me at noon and take me to midnight. Okay. Hit me with a little 12 hour combo. Boom. Like, are you fucking kidding? Morning sickness sounds

like you're having your morning coffee with a side of morning sickness. I will fuck it up. Oh my God. No one explained this to me. And it's crazy. because now that I'm out of it, you do have revisionist history because now I'm talking. My mom was like, oh, did you? I can't remember if I did. Uh-huh. I'm sure that's how birth feels too. You're like, we all, we forget, we forget so we can survive. I was so miserable, you guys. I was going to my office every day taking meetings and wanting to absolutely projectile vomit on everyone. People were talking to me about analytics and I could barely keep myself upright. Everyone, I love you, but my God. In between every single meeting.

Oh my God. I think my assistants were like, I don't know if she's having a mental breakdown. Something's happening in between every single meeting. I would go into my office. I would curl up on the floor and rock myself back and forth until I had the next meeting. And then they would like knock on my door. Honestly, they now obviously know I'm pregnant. But in the beginning, I think they're like, oh, she's losing it. Oh, she's losing it. Because reminder, no one knew I was pregnant. And so I was trying to be, you know, happy go lucky Alex who skips down the hallway and is, cheery, but deep down, I was hanging on by a thread, babe. Oh, oh. And so what no one told me, and maybe they did, and I just, like, didn't listen until it was like applicable to me.

I didn't realize this to all the women who are maybe one day going to get pregnant or are pregnant right now or going to look back on this with nostalgia. Here we go. I didn't realize until a couple weeks of living in this hell that in order to try and fight the overwhelming an extreme nausea, you have to eat, which to any rational brain would make no sense, right? Because the last thing you want to do when you're nauseous is chow down and eat. Like, but there, apparently there's a science to this, okay? The more that you eat, the less nauseous you become throughout the day. I could barely stomach anything.

I will say, again, and I would love to hear other people's experiences, but for me, weeks seven to 10 were like peak hardest for me when it came to nausea and exhaustion and just overall not feeling great at all. But I do want to talk about anxiety when it comes to pregnancy because I have had a lot of women write in and ask me what my experience has been with anxiety throughout my pregnancy thus far. and here's what I will say. I am not by nature an anxious person. I have not struggled with anxiety throughout my life. But that definitely changed since pregnancy. For me, where it was showing up the most was, I would say, in that first trimester and a little bit into the beginning of the second, like the time in between doctors,

appointments when you go to see your baby on the ultrasound and it is like this incredible euphoric feeling, right? You know, hearing the heartbeat. It's all very fun. Then I would leave. And it almost felt slowly like a come down where you start to get in your head like, is the baby still okay? Like, what's going on in there? Am I going to show up to my next scan and not hear a heartbeat? Because you just have no way to know in those beginning days, right? And so that feeling, was hard to sit with because I also didn't want to speak it into existence. And I know that sounds so crazy to just say out loud, but like these are the thoughts that go through your head as a woman and it's anxiety inducing. It's just like a feeling. There's so much at stake. And you're just going

through so much mentally and emotionally and physically. And you just want to know that everything is okay and the baby is safe. And you're putting your body through all of this and you're still okay. and it's still okay, right? What I will say, though, is the anxiety was alleviated when I started to feel the baby kick. Guys, it is the craziest feeling. Oh, my God, I will never forget. Like, my favorite thing to do is just lay down and put my hands on my stomach and just wait to feel the baby. Like, oh, I think heads down by the bladder, like, we're good. It's also fun. I remember the first time that Matt was able to feel the baby by putting his hands on the belly because for a while only the mother can really feel it internally, but now I'm at the stage where it can be a shared experience and it's very fun. Okay, here is a topic that I do really want to talk about though today.

Something that a lot of people have asked me right when I announced my pregnancy was, how did you know you were ready? How did you know, Alex? Was there something specific that happened? did something change? And so I do want to talk about that a little bit. How did I know I was ready for a baby? So like I said at the beginning of this episode, for me personally, I am so happy that I listened to my intuition and gifted myself time and was able to be honest with my partner that I wasn't ready to start a family in that moment that we thought we wanted to start a family. Because now having almost a

and a half since pausing. It really granted me so much more than I probably could have ever asked for. And again, I recognize that is not going to be everyone's situation. So please remember, I'm literally only speaking from my own personal experience. But when Matt and I got married, we had our wedding. There was so much momentum and excitement from that moment. And into the honeymoon, I remember genuinely talking about it on that honeymoon where we were like, we're going to be ready to try, you know, this summer, 2024. And when I changed my mind that summer, it was not because something tangible had happened. There was no big event.

I could just feel in my body that I wanted more time. And I needed that time. And Matt couldn't have been more. supportive. And so we did that. I had a vision of what I wanted that year to look like. And I talked about it in that solo episode. I did. It's called I'm not ready for a baby. I focused on work. I poured into my relationship romantically. I poured into my friendships. And most importantly, like I said, I poured into myself. And also, a year later, I remember telling the world, I waited because I wanted women to hear from me on that topic and hear that it is okay to not be ready or to not know if you even

want a baby or it's okay to change your mind and it's okay to express whatever it is your feeling with your partner. All of this I knew was going to allow me to grow and ultimately allow me to get closer to living a more authentic life no matter what the decision I ended up making was and I hope that for the daddy gang you can see that too as scary as those type of moments are where you're like, wait, I know I said this, but I want to do this now. It just allows you to prioritize yourself more, the more that you advocate for yourself, the more that you listen to your gut. And I'm not saying sometimes you're not going to go wrong.

But I think as women, we can get so wrapped up in what society tells us, obviously, and, you know, the timelines that look the best. And it's just a crock of shit. What do you want? What feels right to you? That is all that matters. And so I did see some people confused saying, well, I thought that she just said she wasn't ready for a baby this past year. Why then is she having a baby? Was it an accident? No. If you listen to that full episode, if you go back, you hear me say, I made the decision to pause having a child back in 2024. It is now 2026, which is honestly probably longer than I thought I was going to wait. So how did I know I was ready after all that time? First, I will say it's honestly kind of similar to how I made the decision to pause on having

kids. When I knew I was ready, there was no big tangible thing that happened. There was no big obvious change in my life. I could just feel it. I was ready. And I don't think you'll ever fully be ready for a child. And I think that's also part of like the beauty of it, right? but aside from my gut and my body telling me you're ready and me just feeling it, I also will say, for me personally, having the independence to explore the world, build a career, understand myself before having kids, I believe will make me a more stable, mature, and emotionally ready parent. and I absolutely encourage all women to focus on themselves for as long as they need to discover

what they want in life and in a partner. I have always said that here on Call Her Daddy. Never Settle. Daddy gang, never settle for less than you deserve. Having a strong foundation, I have to believe makes bringing a child into this world a little easier. And it makes me so happy that I've met so many of you in person and you have all, whether it's in person or you've messaged me online, that when you choose yourself and when you prioritize yourself, you all tell me, you're like, you can feel it, right? There's such a difference in the quality of what you demand and what you expect and what you find within yourself and in a partnership. And so I will say, yes, I felt ready mentally, physically, and emotionally, but I would be lying

if I didn't say a huge reason that I also knew I was ready was because of the partner I chose in life, my husband. I have never felt more sure and confident in our partnership and us as individuals as we take on this next chapter together. Again, I think it's important to emphasize. I am speaking from my experience. So I want to add, like some women are never going to be ready to settle down and get married and have a baby. And that is their choice. And what a beautiful choice. Because it's their choice. Some women will be better off as a solo parent. Beautiful choice. Some women will live a beautiful child-free life and then find a great

partner when they're 57. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to how to be a good woman. Every single person has to live the way they want to and to compare all the people around you guys. It's just to rob yourself of true happiness and freedom. And so today, as I'm sharing my story and timeline, if yours looks different, that is okay, guys. This isn't like a guidebook on how to live, this step by step. It is just what is right for me and I'm sharing with you. I also think something that has become just really clear during this time is I would not be in the most wonderful, happy period of my life right now had I not lived the life I chose in my 20s. I would. I would wouldn't change a thing about the choices I made in my 20s, who I slept with, who I dated.

I wouldn't be who I am today had I not had fun and explored and gotten my heartbroken and gotten fucked over and fucked and made some mistakes and dealt with the consequences. Like, that's what I personally needed in order to be ready for this next phase of my life. but choosing motherhood in my 30s doesn't erase the right to have enjoyed my 20s. It just doesn't. And I want every woman watching today to know you have the right to make the choices that are best for you to live your best life. You can have both freedom and family commitment if and when it serves you. I promise you.

You can have both. as I am definitely going to teach my kid, your body belongs to you and no one gets to make your choices for you. Period. End of statement. I do not believe we should let society and it's absurdly extreme judgment on us as women dictate how we operate, how we move, and the choices we make. So I really hope me sharing a little bit of my timeline and how I knew I was ready. And also, again, if there is anyone who's at the place I was at where it's like you actually realizing you're not ready, that's beautiful too. Again, because what do you want? Stop reading what other people are doing. Stop seeing your mother-in-law who's like, well, you're this years old, so you have to do it.

What do you want? That is the only way you're genuinely going to be happy in life is if you go based off of what is internally telling you what will make you the happiest. And so it's not for you to copy and paste when you even watch me on here right now telling you this story, right? But I hope that my story can be more of just like the sentiment and the feeling of giving ourselves as women the grace to live life on her own terms and to grow and evolve as we do it. Who I was in my 20s, Oh my God. I love her. I am, will always be obsessed with Alex in her 20s. I, I had some of the best experiences. I learned so much. I learned about my body. Like, there's so much repression. Guys, if you are a woman, the way that we feel about our bodies, again, everyone's different and your upbringing and dependent, but I was someone who did grow up very, very religious. And it was like, shame. and you're going to die if you have sex before me, all of it for me.

And so I really needed to learn about my body. No one told me that after he, when he's coming, you're supposed to have also came and enjoyed yourself. Like, no, I didn't understand that. So I had to have partners who disregarded my wants and my needs and then finally found one who actually cared about it to be like, whoa, that's an option as a woman to actually feel safe in your body, to feel safe in a relationship, to feel seen,

to feel heard, to feel respect. it's an option to put push pause on your personal life because you are such a motivated individual. You are bright. You are intelligent. You're charismatic. And you're climbing the ladder at work. Oh my God. What a concept.

You want to wait to have kids. There's no shame in doing that. Or you're young and you've known from a very young age. You want to have those kids. So you're going to do it young. What a beautiful decision. Like we're so fucking judgmental of women. And I've seen the rhetoric online around it of like, oh my God, Alex Cooper, this and that and who she

was back then. and she's selling the load of garbage from, oh my God, I would never, ever, ever be sitting where I'm at. And I don't mean this chair and this career. I mean I wouldn't be where I'm at with the person I chose as my partner and the person who was sitting here carrying a child had I not lived the way I did in my 20s. I got fucked over. I put myself first. I was hurt all the things that you have to go through, in my opinion, to now be the strongest version of myself who is so capable of bringing life into this world now and is so capable to take on parenting because I know, trust me, I've heard from everyone, my God, is it a journey? A journey is actually like a nice

word to use. My God, is it more than a full-time job? So ladies, I will leave you with this. Obviously, there's still so much to discuss and get into when it comes to pregnancy for me personally, like how am I going to handle work? You know, body dysmorphia, mental health, boundaries, posting a child on social media. It's endless. There's a lot. And I am so excited to talk with you about it and keep you updated on my pregnancy journey. I also promise my OGs. I think what's been lovely about this process of podcasting since I was in my early, early 20s, like this is not going to become just now a mom podcast, right? This is another layer to me that I'm going to be exploring in my life and I'm so excited to connect with women who have also gone through it or have people on who

have struggled or whatever it be. But again, guys, women are multifaceted and we can do multiple things, right? So this doesn't now need to just be, call her mommy. Okay? There's a part of it that is, but I can also talk to you about the business decisions I'm making and how I am as a woman navigating business independent of having a child. But now, yes, adding on another level of complexity because I do say complexity because we have a lot of shit as women to think about that men will never, ever, ever have to think about. And so when people make you feel crazy for pausing and questioning, okay, am I ready? Is this the right time? Or am I feeling? Or am I feeling depleted or am I feeling unseen? No, no, no. Not only are you not crazy. You are so valid

in what you are feeling because of how much more we have to fucking deal with. So, oh, whoa, guys, that was like a long journey. And I hope everyone feels like they got some answers because I know I just kind of like popped out and was like, we're pregnant, guys. Daddy gang, we're having. a baby. But thank you guys so much for the support last, I will say. It has been such a crazy year. And I feel so blessed where I'm at with the daddy gang and my personal life and my business life. And there's just like a lot of guys, it's, what is it? Isn't it like the year of the fire horse or something? I take it back. It doesn't matter. Okay. It's going to be a good year. And I'm very excited and oh my god this belly i can't wait to literally get out of this chair and go heat the

upper part of my back because the back pain has started and let me just tell you something i still would pick this over the nausea but like oh my god there's a lot women are incredible the fact that we have to go to work and be pregnant and like it's just a whole fucking thing we we should run the country what a concept um okay daddy gang i love you guys so much i will be back write in more questions that i answer and you guys know the drill. I will see you fuckers next Wednesday. Goodbye.