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Kourtney Kardashian Barker is known for not holding back—and when we gather over Zoom to talk on a Friday afternoon, she’s nearing the end of her pregnancy with her fourth child (first with husband Travis Barker) and isn’t censoring herself one bit.
“I’m one of those people who is obsessed with being pregnant,” Kardashian Barker shares—something easily inferred by anybody who’s watched her carry kids Mason (13), Penelope (11), and Reign (8) on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Kardashian Barker’s still obsessed with being pregnant, but this baby boy comes a decade later and with an important caveat: She now falls into the category of a geriatric pregnancy. “That word is just so wild. But my doctors are so cautious and I’ve had so many more restrictions than my other pregnancies. The first trimester was no working out, no flying on airplanes, no sex. Then the second trimester, I could do anything. Now, I am back to all the restrictions.”
The limitations are, in part, because Kardashian Barker and her baby boy underwent emergency surgery to save the baby’s life this past September.
“That experience opened my eyes to a whole new world of pregnancy that I didn’t know about in the past,” she says. “It was terrifying. After, I learned that insurance typically only covers two ultrasounds when you’re pregnant, I had no idea. I’ve always been lucky enough to do more than what insurance covers, and it’s one of those ultrasounds that saved my baby’s life.”
This baby comes after a long, failed experience with IVF, which was documented on Hulu’s The Kardashians.
“I felt really pressured and pushed into doing IVF,” Kardashian Barker shares “It went against my intuition, and I didn’t feel fully prepared for the mental or physical toll is takes.” It was when the couple took a break from IVF—for their Portofino wedding—that they decided to close that chapter of their journey. “We just got pregnant naturally. It was an indescribable feeling. Shock, then super-happy, fear sets in, worry, but I remembered then to have gratitude.”
Now, gratitude is paired with some planning. She’s going on long walks while listening to uplifting audio books and plans to do attachment parenting style (“that’s what I did for my last two kids, we didn’t leave the house for the first 40 days. After, you’re super-connected and I love that.”). But one thing you’d expect Kardashian Barker to have—a birth plan—isn’t really on the table.
“I’ve actually never had a birth plan in the past,” she says. “I was so chill when my water broke with Mason, I shaved my legs and put on makeup. This time, I still don’t have a birth plan except for talking to the baby all the time and telling him ‘Everything is going to be amazing.’”
She’s sharing all of this, and more, in the hopes of connecting with other future mothers and new mothers out there. “I am surprised so many things haven’t changed since my previous pregnancies. Jen Atkin sent me her list of all her must-have baby things I was like, “Are you serious? This is all the same stuff from 10 years ago.”
One new innovation in the space is Lemme Mama, the new multi-vitamin from Kardashian Barker’s supplement brand, out November 2. She started formulating the capsule, which has more than 25 different nutrients for pre- and postpartum support, when only she and Travis knew they were expecting.
“I feel amazing when I’m pregnant, and I wanted to figure out a way to bottle that up and keep it for afterwards. Doctors say it’s the biggest hormone drop right after you give birth.”
With her baby boy’s due date drawing nearer, Kardashian Barker has one thing on her mind: staying calm. “I ve finally been able to let go of the fear and worry that everybody else put in us because of this pregnancy,” she says. “I’m ready to go in, have the baby, and have the experience we’re meant to have.”
Sign up for the Lemme Mama waitlist here.