Kat Timpf’s breast cancer diagnosis left her “facing life and death in the same day,” but she’s ready for the next steps.

In honor of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Fox News contributor spoke to PEOPLE and gave an update on her health. The 36-year-old’s journey began in February when she was pregnant and days away from welcoming her first child. “I noticed a bump on my nipple and I didn’t really think that much of it because your boobs start to look crazy when you’re pregnant,” she recalls.

Around the time of her due date, Timpf was at home using a breast pump in an attempt to induce labor. She was showing her sister, who was immediately suspicious of the bump and told her to see her doctor as soon as possible.

“I showed my doctor, not expecting anything. She kind of jumped back and sent me to go get an ultrasound… and then they recommended I get a biopsy,” she tells PEOPLE.

“All those doctors were telling me to not worry about it, that it was unlikely that it was cancer. And I got kind of annoyed with them because I was thinking, ‘Of course it’s not cancer!’ ” she says. “I’m not even worried that it’s cancer. I was just worried that having this big whatever it was on my nipple would make it harder for me to breastfeed.”

Timpf says her mother had breast cancer, and because of her family history, she had already been tested for the BRCA gene. Her results came back negative, so she didn’t think she would be affected, certainly not this young or before menopause. That’s why her diagnosis came as a huge shock.

“I got a phone call from one of the doctors, and she asked me how I was doing,” she recalls. “So that’s how I knew right there that I had cancer because they never ask you how you’re doing. If everything’s good, they say everything’s good.”

Kat Timpf in the hospital.courtesy Kat Timpf

Timpf was diagnosed with stage zero breast cancer, also known as ductal carcinoma in situ, (DCIS), where the cells that line the milk ducts of the breast have become cancer, but have not spread into surrounding breast tissue.

“I was completely in shock. I kind of blacked out because I wasn’t able to process what was happening. And then I went into labor that night,” she recalls. She and her and husband Cameron Friscia welcomed their first child, a son, just 15 hours later.

Timpf admits that day is something she’s still trying to process.

Because her breast cancer was detected early, she was presented with two options: a double mastectomy or a lumpectomy with additional treatment and medication. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do — but it was an easy decision,” she admits, knowing that she wanted to do whatever she could to minimize the risk of her cancer returning.

So, Timpf underwent a double mastectomy on March 19.

“I got the mastectomy roughly a month after I gave birth. So that meant the first six weeks of my son’s life, I wasn’t sure exactly what my prognosis was,” she says.

“It’s scary, but it’s empowering,” she continues. “Losing your breasts forever is devastating, especially when you just gave birth and everyone asks you about breastfeeding. It’s heartbreaking. But I keep reminding myself that I chose this over the alternative. Because the alternative would’ve been much worse for me.”

Navigating breast cancer was a challenge for Timpf, but entering motherhood at the same time made her journey even harder, especially being unable to pick up her newborn son after surgery.

“As a woman, as a mother, that was extraordinarily difficult because even though I knew it wasn’t my fault and that I did what I did so I could be in his life for as long as possible, it made me feel like a bad mom,” the reporter and comedian says.

Kat Timpf at a doctor’s appointment during her breast cancer journey.courtesy Kat Timpf

Then, in mid-July, Timpf had to deal with not being able to hold her son again as she underwent breast reconstruction surgery. She says she tried to stay positive, but it took a mental toll.

“I think the key for me personally is when I’m having a low moment, I don’t talk myself up. I let myself cry and then I am able to — not to brag — function very well the rest of the time,” she says. “I’m human at the end of the day. Sometimes I’m like, ‘You know what, this sucks. I’m sad. I miss having nipples.’ And I cry and then I move about my day.”

“I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with letting yourself have those moments regardless of what your trauma is that you’re going through,” she adds.

Additionally, the last few months have been frustrating, since she hasn’t completed her breast reconstruction process.

“Philosophically, I’m ‘free the nipple’ through and through, but it is difficult to see all the nipples when you don’t have any of your own.”

Timpf is now gearing up for her nipple reconstruction surgery, which is scheduled for December 4.

“I’m very excited. I’m so so excited,” she says, teasing that she should throw a party to celebrate. “And then six months later I’m getting them tattooed.”

Kat Timpf.Jamie McCarthy/Variety via Getty

Timpf boasts that she’s been “overwhelmed” with gratitude lately, not only for her growing baby boy but for the ability to move forward in her recovery. But although she’s thrilled to have her nipples reconstructed, she knows that there “really is no other side” of breast cancer.

“I’m a changed person. I am not gonna be the same person that I was before I was told that I have cancer. I had a very unique experience being faced with both life and death in the same day — the birth of my son and then the diagnosis of a disease that could have killed me,” she explains. “And there’s the fear of it coming back. There is also the strength that I have now after going through all of that.”

“I never really fell into the ‘why me’ in the negative sense, because why does anything happen to anyone? But if it did happen to me and I have this platform, then maybe I can do some good in terms of raising awareness.”

Timpf tells PEOPLE that now talking about her journey so openly has been “freeing” and she recognizes that it can potentially help so many others.

“Like when I go on stage and make jokes about it, it’s freeing,” she shares. “I’m removing some of the power that this horrible trauma has over me. And if I can make any women out there who have been through something like this feel better about their own situation, then that to me is a win.”

However, she hopes that the biggest impact she can have is by encouraging other women to listen to their bodies and stay on top of their health.

“I almost didn’t show my doctor my bump at all. And if I hadn’t, we could be having a very different conversation right now,” Timpf says. “I want young women out there, not to be paranoid, but to check their boobs and to pay attention to things that seem different. It’s better to ask and find out it’s nothing than to not ask.”