Rumer Willis Reveals How Pregnancy Has Changed Her People-Pleasing Nature: 'It Was Like a New Equation'

Rumer Willis is experiencing more than just bodily changes with her first pregnancy — the actress is undergoing major behavioral shifts as well, and we’re rooting for her newfound boundaries just as hard as we cheered her on to victory during her Dancing with the Stars jaunt.

During an exclusive preview with PEOPLE of Peggy Rometo and Kimberly Van Der Beek‘s podcast Bathroom Chronicles, Willis explained the changes in her mindset after becoming pregnant. “It’s made me upgrade so fast, like things where I used to have such a nature to be people pleasing or to not stand up for myself for little things that then would kind of get under my skin,” she shared.

Willis continued, “I would say literally, maybe even a week after I got pregnant, all of a sudden, it was like, no, no, that’s not going to work for me anymore. This is what I need to do to reorient this and speak up for myself.” She explained, “It was like a new equation and a new puzzle all of a sudden downloaded. And I had a different operating system.”

The eldest daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore also shared that becoming a mother is something she always envisioned for herself. “It’s like one of those weird things that I know sometimes people have such clarity about, like ‘Oh, I want to be a musician, I want this,’ and it was never a question for me that I wanted to be a mom,” she said. “And that just felt like such a divine purpose and something that when I started thinking about it, felt like such joy.”

Willis also gushed about how excited she is for moments big and small with her child, sharing, “I was talking to my partner the other day and saying, ‘You know, when I go to the farmers market, I call it church because I leave and I feel so excited.’ And the idea of being able to bring my kids in like a little cart or something brings me so much delight, I can’t even … I can’t wait.”

The House Bunny actress announced that she’s expecting her first child with her partner, Derek Richard Thomas, in December 2022.