The big 2 (pregnancy hormones)

What you need to know:

• Estrodial and progesterone are the driving hormones of pregnancy

  But remember: there are 200+ different hormones regulating our body and mind (digestion, circulation, emotion, libido, hunger, stress-response and more) throughout our brain and body, triggering and stimulating, slowing and suppressing in accordance with our bodily needs... even when we're not pregnant.

• Estrodial is a stimulating hormone

  It reaches all-time highs during pregnancy and is involved with 300+ different bodily functions. Most importantly, it promotes brain development and dilates vessels to increase nutrient delivery to your baby.

  During pregnancy estrodial improves mental clarity, sharpens your senses, improves your mood and acts as an antioxidant by protecting cells from damaging free-radicals. Estrodial levels start to rise as your due date nears in anticipation of all the stimulating work it'll be doing during labor.

• Progesterone is a potent relaxant

  This is the other big-time pregnancy hormone that counteracts the stimulating effects of estrodial. Basically, it's like a warm beer in the brain and the one to blame for all your fuzzy brain moments and increased body temperature.

  In the stomach, progesterone slows digestive muscles to increase nutrient absorption and keeps your uterine muscles relaxed as they stretch and grow. As your due date approaches, a new weaker form of progesterone is released which blocks the relaxing action in preparation for all the systems that need to be stimulated and triggered during labor, including your uterine muscles.