Gina Rodriguez Says Pregnancy Makes Her Feel Like a 'Superwoman': 'I Have So Much Appreciation'

HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 04: Gina Rodriguez arrives at the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

Life for Gina Rodriguez is about to get a little more hectic — and she wouldn't want it any other way!

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Rodriguez — who currently stars in Netflix's live-action animation series Lost Ollie — opens up about her pregnancy journey thus far and what she hopes to bring to motherhood.

"I'm very excited and overwhelmed and feel like a superwoman," says Rodriguez ahead of the premiere of the Netflix miniseries — a computer-animated four-part limited series that is based on the 2016 children's book Ollie's Odyssey by William Joyce. "I feel like every day is bizarre and different, and I have so much appreciation for every human being that has brought a child onto this planet. Anytime I see somebody with a child, I'm like, 'Congratulations, you're a superhero.'"

In July, the Jane the Virgin alum, 38, announced that she and husband Joe LoCicero are expecting their first baby together.

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"I'm trusting my body and I'm trusting that I have incredible human beings around me to protect me and help me and support me," she says of her journey thus far. "I have incredible women that have taught me so much — so many mothers that I'm learning from."

For the mom-to-be, starring in Lost Ollie could not have come at a more perfect time.

"Lost Ollie is a very nuanced animation/live action that follows a young bunny who is in search of his human friend, Billy, who had him as a little boy, since birth," says Rodriguez, who plays Billy's sick mother alongside Frozen's Jonathan Groff. "And throughout his quest of finding his buddy, he goes back and sees the life his buddy had. And the memories he shared."

Diyah Pera/Netflix

"It is a conversation around grief and joy and imagination," she continues. "It is about a young boy and his toy, and about a mother and son. It is about holding on to that which we believe is lost, or gone, but it's always so near and dear to us and close. So we just use our imagination. I think it is both heartfelt, emotional, but also extremely uplifting. It really discusses change and growth and evolution in a way that speaks to children and not down to them."

Rodriguez says this particular role gave her the opportunity to really reevaluate her own journey to motherhood and better appreciate the little things.

"I have the best time when I'm talking to my nieces and nephews like they are my age, and they just get it," she says. "They get so much more than we give them credit for. They understand their emotions because they're just right there, and they haven't been shut down. And they haven't been shamed for them, and they haven't been guilted into feeling like they can't feel. So it's just so apparent. It's just so palpable."

SteveSands/NewYorkNewswire

"Then I think about my own journey I'm about to go on, and how much I want to ignite my child's imagination and never take it away," she adds. "I want to allow my child to live in those spaces, while also living in our culture that is real and of the flesh, and you have to play by certain rules. But how do you still keep that? As an actor, I get so lucky because I get to play. That's what my job is, is I get to always live in imagination."

At the end of the day, Rodriguez says she's fully embracing the present — and looking forward to the future.

"I feel very lucky, very blessed that my dreams have come true from my childhood," she shares. "And that feeling is pretty stupendous. There is nothing more stupendous than this feeling."

"This beats out every red carpet," she adds. "It beats out anything you can do. I love my husband, and I loved our wedding, but it beats out the wedding. It beats at all!"

Lost Ollie is available to stream on Netflix.