Overview of My Pregnancy Story
In this deeply personal Call Her Daddy episode, Alex Cooper shares the full story of her pregnancy journey—from initially pausing plans to start a family, to deciding she was ready, to the emotional moment she found out she was pregnant, and finally to why she chose to announce before she originally planned. Along the way, she reflects on the realities of trying to conceive, the mental and physical toll of early pregnancy, and the importance of trusting your own timeline as a woman.
Why She Waited to Start a Family
Choosing to pause in 2024
Alex explains that after marrying Matt Kaplan, they initially thought they were ready to start trying for a baby in summer 2024. But she realized she wasn’t ready yet and made the decision to pause so she could:
- prioritize her relationship
- focus on work
- invest in herself
- feel more fully prepared for motherhood
Feeling ready later on
Nearly two years later, she says she felt a natural shift. There wasn’t one big event—she simply knew in her body and mind that she was ready to begin a family with Matt. She emphasizes that this timing felt right for her, and she’s grateful she waited.
How She Found Out She Was Pregnant
The testing process
Alex describes obsessively tracking ovulation and testing for pregnancy with strips that kept coming back negative. She was only a couple of days away from her expected period when she started suspecting something was different because:
- she had no cramps, which was unusual for her
- her period was late beyond her normal buffer
The positive test
While Matt was on a work trip, she bought a digital test and got a positive result immediately. She was in shock, cried on the toilet, and took another test to confirm it.
Telling Matt in person
She refused to tell him over the phone and waited four days until he returned home. She kept the secret through work, a podcast interview, and multiple phone calls, nearly slipping several times. When Matt came home, she gave him the pregnancy test as a “gift,” and they both cried and celebrated together.
The First Trimester Experience
Intense hunger
Alex says the earliest weeks of pregnancy made her ravenous. She was hungry constantly, emotionally overwhelmed by small things like portion sizes, and felt much hungrier than she expected.
Morning sickness
She strongly rejects the phrase “morning sickness,” saying it is far more intense than it sounds and can hit at any time of day. For her, it caused severe nausea, exhaustion, and occasional near-panic during workdays. She describes curling up on the floor between meetings just to get through the day.
Anxiety between appointments
Alex also talks about the anxiety of early pregnancy, especially the time between ultrasounds when she couldn’t know whether the baby was okay. Once she began feeling the baby kick, that anxiety eased significantly. Feeling movement became one of the most reassuring and emotional parts of pregnancy.
Why She Announced When She Did
Hiding it became too hard
Alex originally wanted to hide the pregnancy much longer—possibly until late summer—but her bump became difficult to conceal. Between her public appearances and work events, secrecy started creating more anxiety than relief.
The New York red carpet moment
She says the turning point came during a major New York event. She wore an outfit she had hoped would hide the bump, but by the day of the event it no longer fit properly. She describes:
- panicking in her hotel room
- using Spanx and posture tricks to hold everything in
- having a button burst on the red carpet
- blacking out through the stress of making it through the event
Ironically, she says the internet focused more on her and Matt’s body language than on pregnancy speculation, which felt like a win.
Matt’s support
After that trip, Matt encouraged her to announce sooner rather than later so she could stop stressing and start enjoying the pregnancy. Alex agreed, and they posted the announcement photo from upstate New York on May 17.
Alex’s Reflections on Readiness and Womanhood
Trusting your own timeline
One of the episode’s biggest themes is that there is no universal timeline for motherhood. Alex passionately argues that women should:
- trust their intuition
- change their minds if needed
- prioritize themselves without shame
- define success on their own terms
Her 20s were necessary
She says she wouldn’t be the person she is today if she hadn’t fully lived her 20s—dating, making mistakes, having fun, getting hurt, and learning about her body and self-worth. She believes that experience helped prepare her for this stage of life.
Partnership matters
A major reason she felt ready was because of how secure she felt in her marriage. She repeatedly credits Matt for being supportive, understanding, and deeply committed throughout the process.
No one “right” way to be a woman
Alex makes clear that motherhood is not the only valid path:
- some women are never ready to have kids
- some will choose solo parenthood
- some will live happily child-free
- some will become mothers younger or later in life
Her message is that women should not let societal pressure dictate their choices.
What’s Next
Alex closes by saying this pregnancy won’t turn the show into a “mom podcast.” She plans to keep sharing the many layers of her life, including:
- pregnancy updates
- body changes and body image
- work and business decisions
- boundaries around sharing a child online
- mental health and identity shifts
She ends by thanking the Daddy Gang for their support and expressing excitement for this new chapter.
Key Takeaways
- Alex and Matt delayed trying for a baby because she wasn’t ready yet—and she’s glad she listened to herself.
- Her positive pregnancy test came after a week of negative strip tests and intense suspicion.
- She waited four days to tell Matt so she could tell him in person.
- Early pregnancy brought hunger, nausea, anxiety, and exhaustion.
- She planned to hide the pregnancy longer, but a red-carpet appearance made that unrealistic.
- Her larger message: women should make reproductive and life choices based on what feels right for them, not outside expectations.